Former Charleston, S.C. mayor Joseph Riley will speak at a gala dinner honoring the Houstons and Woodwards this Thursday.

by Brendan Sample

This Thursday, June 9, Joe Riley, the former mayor of Charleston, S.C., will be speaking at the Woodward Celebration Gala Dinner at Chestnut Hill College.

While Riley is certainly well-known in his hometown, having served as mayor for 40 years before stepping down earlier this year, residents of Chestnut Hill may not be quite as familiar with one of the longest-tenured mayors in the history of this country.

While most of Riley’s political career has consisted of holding one position, his first job in politics was as a state representative from 1968 to 1974. Serving as a Democrat, he then went on to become mayor of Charleston the following year, and didn’t look back for the next four decades.

One of Riley’s first acts as mayor was to renovate Charleston’s business district. About 10 years of planning went into the downtown redevelopment before Charleston Place was officially opened in 1986. This eight-story building was to serve as a conference and retail center, as well as a hotel, and while it certainly took plenty of time to be completed, it also allowed for Riley to leave a significant mark on the city during the first part of his tenure.

As his time in the mayor’s office went on, Riley pursued other public works projects, including adding a visitor center to the upper part of town and providing access to Charleston’s waterfront for all citizens. In 1994, after building up a 20-year resume, he ran for governor of South Carolina , but ultimately lost the Democratic nomination.

During the second half of his tenure, Riley sought to help improve his city by means beyond Charleston itself. He became a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a national, bipartisan organization, and was president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors from 1986-1987. Even after his time as mayor, he still is a member of the conference’s executive committee.

Another notable aspect of Riley’s tenure was his fight against racism, both in Charleston and in the state of South Carolina as a whole. When he first became mayor, he hired African Americans to fill city administration positions, something the city had never done before. Years later, in 2000, Riley responded to the South Carolina statehouse flying a Confederate flag by putting together a protest walk of several hundred citizens into Columbia.

While he certainly left his mark on Charleston after 40 years, Riley’s legacy is not quite finished yet, as one of his last initiatives was to plan out the International African American Museum. Calling this the most significant thing he ever did as mayor, the museum is set to open in 2018 on the site of Gadsden’s Wharf, a historical location where nearly half of all slaves brought into the United States stepped on American soil for the first time.

In recent years, Riley has received national attention not only for his extended term, but also for what he’s done to improve Charleston during that time. With an eye for public works and combating racism, Riley showed that there was more to being one of the most well-known mayors in the country than simply serving for a long time.

For more information about both the importance of the Woodward family to Chestnut Hill, be sure to check out the Local’s pieces on the Woodward legacy.

What: Woodward Celebration Gala Dinner

When: Thursday, June 9, 6 to 9 p.m.

Where: Chestnut Hill College, 9601 Germantown Ave.

Who: Chestnut Hill College history professor and author David Contosta will present “The Tale of Two Cities: Charleston and Philadelphia.”

Former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley will give a talk called “A Mayor’s Fond Reminiscences of Betty and Charles Woodward and How They Enhanced Our City.”

Tickets to the gala dinner are $125 and are available at woodwardcommunitycentre.org