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African American History

Learn about the achievements of African Americans who have shaped South Carolina and American history.

Black History Month is celebrated every February to honor the achievements of African Americans who have shaped American history. Historian Carter G. Woodson hoped to raise awareness of African American's contributions to civilization by establishing Negro History Week. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that included both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass' birthdays. The week was later expanded to a month in 1976 during the United States bicentennial.

PHOTO: On March 20, 1969, Black hospital workers at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston went on strike to protest the firing of twelve employees and to call for higher wages and union recognition.

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 Freewoods Farm | Reconstruction 360

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Freewoods Farm | Reconstruction 360
Reconstruction 360 is built on a 360 degree video platform that features a reenactment set on a farm in 1865. The reenactment was shot at Freewoods Farm, a living farm museum in the Freewoods...
 Forty Acres and a Mule  | Reconstruction 360

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Forty Acres and a Mule | Reconstruction 360
Historian Kate Masur explains the origins of 40 Acres and a Mule, a famous phrase that many have heard but may not fully understand. It originated in the early days of Reconstruction, when General...
 Lottie Gibson | SC African American History Calendar (2019) 3

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Lottie Gibson | SC African American History Calendar (2019)
Episode 3
For over sixty years, Lottie Gibson fought for Greenville County’s poor and disadvantaged. As a life member of the NAACP’s Greenville Branch, Gibson was an outspoken civil rights activist. As a youth...
Mann-Simons House Photo Gallery | Let's Go!

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Mann-Simons House Photo Gallery | Let's Go!
Mann-Simons Partial Family Tree Mann-Simons Family Portraits Case of Excavated Artifacts, Including A Rubber "Bouncy" Ball Photograph of John Lucius Simons, Sr.'s Sons: John Lucius Simons, Jr. (Left)...
 Mann Simons Site | Let's Go!

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Mann Simons Site | Let's Go!
The Mann-Simons Site, home to the same entrepreneurial African American family for nearly 130 years, traces the journey of Columbia’s African American community from enslavement through urban renewal...
3D VR - Mann-Simons VR  | Let's Go!

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3D VR - Mann-Simons VR | Let's Go!
The Mann-Simons Site, home to the same entrepreneurial African American family for nearly 130 years, traces the journey of Columbia’s African American community from enslavement through urban renewal...
 Congressman Jim Clyburn, Part 1 | The Big Picture 1

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Congressman Jim Clyburn, Part 1 | The Big Picture
Episode 1
To say that Congressman Jim Clyburn is a driven man is an understatement. Clyburn had been involved in politics, one way or another, ever since his youth. It was during his time as South Carolina...
 Congressman Jim Clyburn, Part 2 | The Big Picture 2

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Congressman Jim Clyburn, Part 2 | The Big Picture
Episode 2
While serving as the head of the human affairs commission, Jim Clyburn was unsuccessful in his two attempts to be elected South Carolina’s secretary of state. Clyburn’s determination to win put him...
 Congressman Jim Clyburn, Part 3 | The Big Picture 3

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Congressman Jim Clyburn, Part 3 | The Big Picture
Episode 3
With Clyburn’s success in Washington, he does not have as much time for golf like he used to. Clyburn’s rise through the ranks has been steady, and marked by his ability to reach across the aisle, and...
 Matthew Perry 102

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Matthew Perry
Episode 102
Upon returning home to Columbia, Matthew Perry established the Jenkins and Perry Law Firm, and became the chief legal counsel for the S.C. NAACP, where he began the battle toward the desegregation of...
 Matthew Perry 103

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Matthew Perry
Episode 103
In 1975, after a nomination from Senator Strom Thurmond, then President Gerald Ford nominated Matthew Perry to a position on the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. Perry discusses what the Court of...
 Matthew Perry 101

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Matthew Perry
Episode 101
Matthew Perry was born in Columbia, South Carolina, on August 3, 1921. Perry grew up in Columbia, and attended South Carolina State University, where he studied business administration. His education...
 Dizzy Gillespie, Part 3 103

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Dizzy Gillespie, Part 3
Episode 103
When the opportunity came for a young Dizzy Gillespie to leave Cheraw, he took it. Dizzy moved to Laurinburg, North Carolina, where he went to school at the Laurinburg Institute. While in Laurinburg...
 Dizzy Gillespie, Part 2 102

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Dizzy Gillespie, Part 2
Episode 102
Dizzy Gillespie was awarded the coveted Handel Medal, which is New York City’s most prestigious arts award. Gillespie is also part of the Newport Jazz Festival Program, and introduced friends and...
Sergeant Isaac Woodard Jr. Activity Sheets | SC African American History Calendar (2022) Steve Benjamin  | SC African American History Calendar 1

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Steve Benjamin | SC African American History Calendar
Episode 1
Mayor Steve Benjamin, Columbia’s first African American mayor, was elected in a record-turnout election in 2010. He made it his mission to shape the Capital City into the most talented, educated and...
 David Drake | SC African American History Calendar  (2019) 2

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David Drake | SC African American History Calendar (2019)
Episode 2
David Drake, also known as “Dave the Potter” and “Dave the Slave,” (c.1801-c.1870) was an American potter who lived in Edgefield, S.C. Dave produced alkaline-glazed stoneware jugs between the 1820s...
Burton, Edward Milby | South Carolina Public Radio Briggs v. Elliott | South Carolina Public Radio

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Briggs v. Elliott | South Carolina Public Radio
"B" is for Briggs v. Elliott (1954). Briggs v. Elliott was one of five cases, collectively entitled Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee, KS, et al., argued before the U.S. Supreme...
Burton, Edward Milby | South Carolina Public Radio Brown, Lucy Hughes | South Carolina Public Radio

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Brown, Lucy Hughes | South Carolina Public Radio
"B" is for Brown, Lucy Hughes (1863-1911). Physician. A native of North Carolina, Brown completed her medical training at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. After practicing medicine in...