Eugene B. Sloan Civil Rights collection

Eugene Blakely Sloan (1922-1969) was born in Clinton, South Carolina on February 22, 1922 to Janie Pressley Lindsay and Eugene Blakely Sloan. His father served as mayor of Clinton. Sloan attended Clinton High School attended Erskine College where he majored in history, joined the Euphemian Literary Society and was the president of his freshman and sophomore classes. He served on the yearbook and newspaper staff while at Erskine and was a manager of the football team.

In 1942 Sloan enlisted in the Enlisted Reserve Corps to serve in the United State Army Air Corps during World War II. He trained at Camp Croft in Spartanburg, South Carolina at the Army Air Force Navigation School in Monroe, Louisiana. In 1943 he was appointed Second Lieutenant and entered active duty. Sloan completed 42 combat missions and was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant in 1945. Later that year he enrolled in law school at the University of South Carolina and studied there for two years.

Sloan began working for The State newspaper part time in 1946 and remained there for the rest of his life. At The State Sloan served in varying capacities including editor of Colorgravure magazine for which he worked closely with artist Jak Smyrl from 1949-1955. He also edited The State Magazine, an outgrowth of Colorgravure until 1959, when he became the editor of the Sunday edition of The State.

From 1960-1962, Sloan briefly left journalism and taught mathematics and physics at Dentsville High School. Upon returning to The State he became a reporter and covered politics including city council and school board meetings as well as the county, federal and supreme court. This led to his coverage of the civil rights movement in South Carolina including the visit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Charleston, the Orangeburg Massacre, and activities related to the Poor People's Campaign in Greenville, South Carolina. Sloan also covered desegregation and colleges and universities across the state.

Sloan was a self-taught photographer and his images appeared in a variety of local and national publications including the Washington Post, The Digest and Travel Magazine. He also published a book of photographs called Scenic South Carolina and his images of the South Carolina Sea Islands were featured in America the Beautiful by Reader's Digest.

Sloan died of a heart attack on April 6, 1969, less than a week after covering Ralph Abernathy's visit to Charleston during the Hospital Worker's Strike. He was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery beside his parents.

Sloan was posthumously awarded the Ambrose E. Gonzales Award for Distinguished Journalism on June 10th, 1969. His wife Kathleen Lewis Sloan and daughters, Laura Sloan Crosby and Mary Sloan Roby accepted the award on his behalf.