Green Avenue in Greenville in Greenville County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Claussen’s Bakery
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, February 23, 2021
1. Claussen’s Bakery Marker (front)
This two-story trapezoidal plan industrial building is one of two surviving Claussen’s bakeries in S.C. Built in 1930, the bakery initially employed forty workers and produced 45,000 loaves of bread a day. In February 1967 twenty-two African American employees, including organizer and spokesman Horace Butler Sr., who would later serve as the first African American foreman at the bakery, went on strike to protest discrimination in hiring and promotion practices.
The Greenville branch of the NAACP, led by Rev. D.C. Francis, called for a boycott of Claussen’s baked goods in protest. Jesse Jackson, then working as director of SCLC’s Operation breadbasket, helped bring Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Greenville. On April 30, 1967 King spoke to a crowd of 3,500 at Greenville Memorial Auditorium. King preached economic justice and support for the Claussen’s workers who “had been called boys… then they stood up like men.”
Erected 2016 by Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, The Greater Sullivan Neighborhood, and the Greenville Branch of the NAACP. (Marker Number 23-74.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical date for this entry is April 30, 1967.
Location.
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Upstate. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Chancellor Waddy Thompson (within shouting distance of this marker); Berlin Wall Concrete Pipe (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Greenville High School (about 800 feet away); Clay Buchholz (approx. 0.2 miles away); Jim Rice (approx. 0.2 miles away); Tommy Lasorda (approx. 0.2 miles away); Lou Brissie (approx. 0.2 miles away); Al Rosen (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Greenville.
Also see . . . Claussen’s Bakery. Wikipedia (Submitted on March 13, 2021, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, February 23, 2021
2. Claussen’s Bakery Marker (back)
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, February 23, 2021
3. Claussen’s Bakery Marker
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, February 23, 2021
4. The Claussen Bakery
Credits. This page was last revised on August 12, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 13, 2021, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 3,129 times since then and 472 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 13, 2021, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A link to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form with a citation of the bakery's historical significance. • Can you help?
