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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.

Within this Collection

Content Type
 Penn Center: A Legacy: Social Injustice | Carolina Stories 2

Video

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Penn Center: A Legacy: Social Injustice | Carolina Stories
Episode 2
Penn School closed its doors in the late 1940s and redirected its efforts to address social injustice. 1964 was the height of the civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. and his group were...
 Penn Center: A Legacy: Heritage Days | Carolina Stories 3

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Penn Center: A Legacy: Heritage Days | Carolina Stories
Episode 3
Another way that Penn helps to remember the culture is through the Heritage Days Celebration. The event was rekindled in 1981 but has its roots in the old harvest day celebration. Heritage Days are...
 Penn Center: A Legacy | Carolina Stories 1

Video

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Penn Center: A Legacy | Carolina Stories
Episode 1
Located on St. Helena Island, some may remember it as Penn School, while others know it as Penn Center. St. Helena is one of the few places where you will see a living Gullah community. The history...
Mary McLeod Bethune | History of SC Slide Collection

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Mary McLeod Bethune | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 16
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), the daughter of former slaves, was born in Maysville. Believing that the only way to advance in the world was to be able to read, Bethune eventually became a leading...
I. DeQuincey Newman | History of SC Slide Collection

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I. DeQuincey Newman | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 6
The congressional redistricting in 1981 led to the election of I. DeQuincey Newman as the first African-American South Carolina senator since the end of Reconstruction. Here, he greets some of his new...
 SC Veterans in History, Part 8 8

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SC Veterans in History, Part 8
Episode 8
A group of Columbia businessmen met one afternoon, raised the money, bought the acreage, and made a gift to the federal government of the land on which the camp was to be built. On June 2, 1917, Camp...
Runaway Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection

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Runaway Slaves | History of SC Slide Collection
Episode 14
Runaway slaves were a constant problem in maintaining a workforce of unfree laborers. Slaves ran away because of mistreatment, out of a desire for freedom, or often simply to be reunited with husbands...