Ford loses Civil Rights memorabilia

State Sen. Robert Ford lost irreplaceable memorabilia from the Civil Rights movement and a valuable collection of neckties in a Sunday fire that destroyed two rooms in his West Ashley home.

But Monday, Ford wasn't letting the fire keep him from taking care of business. He went ahead with a planned grand opening at his campaign headquarters Monday evening. Ford is running against challenger Dwayne Green for the Senate District 42 seat.

Ford said he's most upset about loosing items from the Civil Rights movement.

Among his memorabilia were photographs of himself with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rev. James Orange, Ike Williams, Rev. Joseph Lowery and Jesse Jackson, he said. "My whole past is gone," Ford said.

He said he had kept the papers and photographs in a safe deposit box at the Bank of America on King Street. But he brought them home when the branch closed last year.

Read more in Tuesday's edition of The Post and Courier.