27 February 2023 , 16:27
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Eerie images provide a snapshot from inside an old funeral home once run by a sponsor of Martin Luther King, who defied the KKK by campaigning for black voters to register.
One image shows an abandoned Cadillac hearse turning green in the yard, while another shot shows the plethora of wigs available to the morticians for dressing the bodies. There is even a shot of a toe tag that would have been allocated to the corpses.
This funeral home has a rich history, with ties to Martin Luther King. The co-owner of the funeral home, who ran it during the tempestuous years of the US Civil Rights Movement, was Virgil Eugene Dimery Sr.
Mr Dimery also sponsored Martin Luther King, Jr.'s first major appearance in South Carolina.
He invited Martin Luther King Jr to Kingstree to encourage voter registration among African Americans.
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At the time, Mr Dimery was running for seat in the state senate, a campaign which would eventually be successful.
Wig options for the deceased (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)These images were captured in Kingstree, South Carolina by urban explorer Leland Ken - known by his online alias, Abandoned Southeast.
"In March 1948, eight local Black benevolent societies founded a hospital for African Americans at this site in Kingstree, South Carolina," said Leland on his blog.
"It was housed in a former residence that was remodelled and expanded to include rooms for treatment, exams, consultation, and operating, as well as a dining room, kitchen, lobby, and offices.
The morticians work space (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)"For many years, the Benevolent Societies Hospital was the main provider of medical care for African Americans in Williamsburg County.
Doctors and nurses at the hospital often treated patients suffering from conditions related to poverty, the blog read.
When it closed in the 1970s, it became a funeral home.
"Rev. Virgil C. Dimery and his wife Esther L. Dimery were married in October 1911 and had six children James, Bertha, Virgil, Leroy, Walter, and Johnie," according to Leland's blog.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his "I Have a Dream" speech (The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)Along with co-owning Dimery and Rogers Funeral Home, Mr Dimery also implemented the first head start program and the food stamp program in Williamsburg County.
He was a member of the S.C. Democratic Party and a former candidate for the S.C. State Senate. and editor and publisher of the Carolina Sun newspaper.
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Leland's blog added: "The 1960 Williamsburg County census counted 14,000 whites and 27,000 blacks with more than 6,000 whites registered to vote. Of the county's 27,000 blacks, only 234 were registered.
The service room in the funeral (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)"As executive director of the Williamsburg County Voters League and an active member of the NAACP, Virgil Dimery sponsored Martin Luther King, Jr.'s first major appearance in South Carolina.
"He invited MLK to Kingstree to encourage voter registration among African Americans. At the time, Dimery was running for seat in the state senate.
"He was so determined, in fact, he took up residence outside of King's Atlanta office for three days until he could convince King's secretary to let him talk to King. Dimery emerged from the meeting victorious.
"On Sunday, May 8, 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to a crowd of approximately 5,000 people on the grounds of Tomlinson High School in Kingstree.
The ceiling is falling down in the casket show room (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)"Rumours circulated that the Ku Klux Klan would be watching, according to residents who were there. Women and children had been encouraged to stay home out of fear of their safety, but many risked the exposure anyway.
"People began arriving three hours before the rally was scheduled to begin, waiting through a steady rain that lifted before King was brought to the field. In his speech, King encouraged voter registration and black participation in politics."
Leland claimed that by 1964, Dimery had registered 1,933 new black voters in Williamsburg County.
Sealant for eyelids and lips found in the funeral home (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)After Virgil Dimery died at the age of 69 in 1987, Dimery and Rogers was owned by his brother Johnie, before being passed on to his daughter Lorraine.
However, by 2015, Lorraine Dimery was a widow living in a state nursing home in Columbia suffering from severe dementia.
A pink coffin being loaded into the hearse (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)"Due to these circumstances, Dimery and Rogers Funeral Home eventually became seized by the IRS for unpaid taxes. For reasons unknown, the property was never sold to satisfy the debt and remained vacant and abandoned," Leland's blog read.
"Now condemned, the structure suffers from years of neglect.
"Water damage can be found throughout the building causing the floors to become weak and portions of the roof to collapse.
The exterior of the property (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)"Cobwebs stretch across the hallways inside the chapel and the dark casket display room. In the rear of the building, an embalming room sits in total darkness.
"Old caskets, funeral records, furniture, embalming chemicals, and even cremated remains were left inside.
"As of May 2022, the funeral home office next door has been demolished. By February 2023, Dimery and Rogers Funeral Home had been completely cleared out."