Eddie Ganaway grew up in Charleston Heights and graduated from Bonds Wilson High School in 1962. After graduation he attended Benedict College in Columbia briefly, becoming the first member of his family to attend college. However, a lack of funds led him to enlist in the United States Navy where he served as a medic in Viet Nam for four years. After his discharge and seeking to expand his horizons, Eddie considered attending the College of Charleston. As a youngster the College campus had a certain allure but it was also a somewhat foreboding place also. The College had only admitted its first African American students in 1967. After writing to the College, he made contact with Fred Daniels the Director of Admissions who encouraged him to apply. Ganaway followed through and matriculated in January 1968. His experience was replete with personal and academic challenges. Fortunately he developed special friendships with a number of faculty members who encouraged his efforts. Among them were, Michael Thorn and George Heltai of the History Department and they made a real difference in his experience. Despite the relative isolation he experienced as one of the few black students on campus, Ganaway came to see the College experience as deeply enriching and rewarding. When he graduated in 1971, with a bachelor’s degree in history, he became the first African American to complete a degree at the College of Charleston. He subsequently enrolled at Duke University where he took a master’s degree in history and went on to teach at Illinois State University and South Carolina State University. Later his professional life assumed a different direction and he took a position with Allstate Insurance Company as a claims adjuster. Over the years he maintained contact with the College. He spoke to alumni groups, gave a lecture on Martin Luther King Day and participated in the January 2008 program, commemorating forty years of desegregation at the College of Charleston. He also contributed financially to the College. In December 2007 he was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the College and the degree was presented by Dr. Ted Stern, who had been president when Eddie took his undergraduate degree. He credited the College with awakening him to “this tremblingly wonderful sense of possibility we all have as human beings” and he encouraged students to step out boldly and faithfully with that knowledge. The Eddie Ganaway Distinguished Alumni Award has been named in his honor. Eddie will be missed but we in the College of Charleston family must always remember his life and strive to embody his legacy.
Viewing
Date: Friday, January 18, 2013
Time: 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Location: William A. Holmes Memorial Chapel/Suburban Funeral Home, Inc. – 2366 Meeting Street Rd., North Charleston, SC 29405 http://www.suburbanfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/suburb0/obit.cgi?user=865942Ganaway#
Funeral Arrangements:
Sand Hill United Methodist Church, 1961 Summers Drive, Ridgeville, South Carolina. 11:00 a.m. Saturday January 19.