James Felder

Sumter native James Felder has a long civil and voters’ rights history in the state of South Carolina. After returning to the state in 1967, Felder directed the SC Voter Education Project (VEP) and during an eighteen-month period coordinated a statewide registration drive placing more than 200,000 Blacks on the voting rolls.

In November 1970, Felder, along with I. S. Leevy Johnson and Herbert Fielding, were the first Blacks to be elected to the South Carolina Legislature since Reconstruction.  In 1973 he was appointed the first Black Assistant Solicitor in South Carolina.  He is the past Vice Chair of the South Carolina Department of Youth Services.

In addition, Felder is the past president of the Columbia Branch NAACP and served on the Board of Trustees at Allen University. He is a member of the National Bar Association, the American Business Law Association, and the SC Black Hall of Fame. 

He has authored numerous books, including: “I Buried John F. Kennedy,” in 1994; and, “Civil Rights in South Carolina,” in May, 2012.  His third book, “The Making of an AME Bishop”, describes the process of becoming a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and was released in July, 2016. His most recent book, “The Life and Times of Dr. Luns C. Richardson,” former president of Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina for an historical 43 years, was released in May, 2019.

During his military tour of duty, 1962-64, he was selected to head the casket team that bore the body of the late President John F. Kennedy during those “four dark days” in November 1963. He received the Army Commendation Medal for his performance.

Felder holds a BA Degree from Clark Atlanta University and a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law.  He also earned a Master of Laws from the Atlanta Law School and holds the Doctorate of Humane Letters from the College of Charleston.