Councilwoman, educator and activist Lillian Brock Flemming will deliver the L.D. Johnson lecture, “What Really Matters?” on October 20, at 7 p.m. in Daniel Memorial Chapel on the Furman University campus. A reception follows her address.
Flemming’s talk is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Office of the Chaplains. The event is part of a series of programs commemorating 50 Years of Desegregation at Furman. It is also part of Furman’s Cultural Life Program.
The L.D. Johnson Lecture Series was established to honor the life and work of the late L.D. Johnson, Chaplain at Furman from 1967 to 1981. Each year, the lecture series invites a Furman graduate and a Furman faculty member or administrator to answer the question, “What Really Matters?”
Among the first African Americans to be admitted to Furman, Flemming graduated in 1971, earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In September this year, Furman awarded Flemming with an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities. She is a Professional Employment Recruiter for Greenville County School District where she taught high school mathematics for 23 years. Flemming is married to Rev. J.M. Flemming, and is a proud mother of ten outstanding young men and women.
Elected to City Council in 1981, Flemming served as President of the Municipal Association of South Carolina (2003-2004), becoming the first City of Greenville Councilmember to be named President. She has also served as municipal representative to several National League of Cities Conventions, Past Trustee of Furman University Board of Trustees, Past President of the Greenville County Education Association, and served on the Board of Directors of SC Technology & Aviation Center (1988-2013).
Flemming is currently City liaison to the Board of Directors for the Greenville Transit Authority and chairs the Boards of Directors of Brockwood Senior Housing and the Southernside Community Center.
Flemming is associated with a number of service organizations including board positions for Advance South Carolina and SHARE (Human Services Agency for the Poor); and memberships in Southernside Neighborhoods in Action, Phillis Wheatley Postfellows, National Education Association, Greenville Democratic Women, and West End Lions Club (charter member). She has served on the Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors, and Year of Altruism Steering Committee among others. She is also a member of Mountain View Baptist Church.
Flemming has received dozens of awards and honors including: 2013 Furman University Alumni Service Award; in 2008, one of the 21 Jewels of African American History by Beyond Differences; 2008 YWCA Women of Achievement Award for Community Service; 2007 Women Making History Award recipient of the Greenville Cultural Exchange; Furman’s Baptist Heritage Award; Greenville County’s Human Relations Cooper White Humanitarian Award; W.F. Gibson NAACP’s Leadership Award; Old Ninety Six Girl Scout’s Regional Woman of Distinction Award, and several local and national education awards.