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Throwback: Clyburn remembers meeting wife

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks at an April legislative retreat in Leesburg, Va. (File Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks at an April legislative retreat in Leesburg, Va. (File Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

House Majority Whip James Clyburn’s wife passed away Thursday morning at the age of 80. Over the years, the congressman has occasionally talked about their first time meeting … in jail during the civil rights movement. In a 2011 interview with South Carolina Education Television (SCETV), he remembered meeting Emily Clyburn when she brought him half a hamburger to his jail cell after he was arrested for his part in a 1960 student protest in Orangeburg, South Carolina.  He added to the story seven years later in an interview broadcast on C-SPAN, sharing his wife’s perspective on the events that lead up to their first meet.

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