History of the United Way of the Midlands
Description
Singing “We’ll fill the chest, we’ll fill the chest, we’ll fill the chest, Columbia,” volunteers departed the ballroom at the Jefferson Hotel and began the first campaign drive for the Columbia Community Chest on March 30, 1925. Just over a century later, Historic Columbia unveiled a digital project that traces the organization’s history, beginning with its origin as a single, annual fundraising drive “for all the deserving causes in Columbia.”
Generously funded by Colonial Life, this project details the institution's transformation into United Way of the Midlands, as well as its funding mechanisms, partner agencies, and key leaders over the last ten decades.
In Partnership With
Project Deliverables
Long-form Essays (StoryMaps)
Oral Histories
Presentations Available
Project Images
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Representatives adding a United Fund sign to a Southern Bell truck, c. 1960. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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“Little Miss United Torch Fund,” 1962. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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Mike Gray, Jim Bird, and Tommy Little at a United Way event, 1988. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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Emma McGraw Myers, 1988. Image courtesy News Journal
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John Folsom updating the United Way fundraising thermometer, 1991. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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Officers of the United Community Services of Lexington and Richland Counties, including Gayle Averyt and George Herbert Hart on the far left, 1962. Image courtesy The State Newspaper Photograph Archive, Richland Library
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Torch lighting, c. 1970. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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John Heins, c. 1990. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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Officer standing with Hope the Kangaroo and Jesse Washington, 1994. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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Jesse Washington and Charlotte Berry with school children, 1995. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
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100 Years of United Way of the Midlands, 2025. Image courtesy United Way of the Midlands archive
Research Team
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