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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

Collection Briggs v. Elliott
Briggs v. Elliott
Collection Cecil Williams
Cecil Williams
Collection Friendship Nine
Friendship Nine

The Friendship Nine consisted of a group of nine African American young men who were sent to jail after staging a sit-in at a segregated McCrory's lunch counter in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 1961.

Collection NAACP
NAACP
Collection Noted African Americans
Noted African Americans
Collection Orangeburg Massacre
Orangeburg Massacre
Collection Penn Center
Penn Center
Collection Slavery in South Carolina
Slavery in South Carolina
Content Type
20th Century, Part 1 | Conversations on S.C. History - Episode 17 Desegration in SC | Conversations on SC History 20

Video

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Desegration in SC | Conversations on SC History
Episode 20
Noted South Carolina historian Dr. Walter Edgar discusses the key issues in SC History. Desegregation and other social change in South Carolina is discussed: World War II – Catalyst for Change...
A Segregated Military | Palmetto Scene

Video

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A Segregated Military | Palmetto Scene
B.S. Plair of Rock Hill, South Carolina, served for the Montford Point Marines in 1945, until he was honorably discharged in 1946. The Montford Point Marines were based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina...
Septima Clark | Periscope

Photo

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Septima Clark | Periscope
Episode 3
In 1916, Septima Clark was a young African American teacher looking forward to her first teaching assignment in South Carolina. There, she learned firsthand about the poverty and inequality in...
Sarah Grimké | Periscope

Photo

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Sarah Grimké | Periscope
Episode 1
Abolitionist Sarah Grimké was born into a wealthy slaveholding Charleston family in 1792. After experiencing the injustices of slavery firsthand, she became a noted speaker for the antislavery...
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 - 1955) | Periscope

Photo

Grades

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Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 - 1955) | Periscope
Episode 5
Educator Mary McLeod Bethune began a school for needy African Americans in 1904 with $1.50, five students, and a passion to teach. Her school became Bethune-Cookman College and currently has over 2...
Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) | Periscope

Photo

Grades

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Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) | Periscope
Episode 3
Born a slave, Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom and became a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. As a conductor, she helped over 300 slaves find their own freedom. After the Civil War, she cared...
An Overview: The Civil Rights Movement | Road Trip

Document

Grades

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An Overview: The Civil Rights Movement | Road Trip
The Civil Rights Movement has been part of an ongoing struggle since enslaved Africans were first brought to America. The modern Civil Rights Movement began in the 1940s and many changes had taken...
Community Helping Artist | Palmetto Scene Meet the Freedom Walkway Artists | Palmetto Scene

Video

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Meet the Freedom Walkway Artists | Palmetto Scene
On January 31, 1961, civil rights history was made in South Carolina. African American students from Friendship Junior College walked a mile to stage a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter on Main...
February Factoids

Document

February Factoids
February 1-28 February is Black History Month Black History Month is celebrated every February to honor the achievements of African Americans who have shaped American history. The idea was started in...
Dori Sanders: Clover | Periscope

Photo

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Dori Sanders: Clover | Periscope
Episode 12
The setting for her first book, Clover, is a peach farm like the one Dori Sanders grew up on. Clover was published in 1990 and immediately became a best-seller. In the story, Clover is a 10-year-old...
Dori Sanders, Author | Periscope

Photo

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Dori Sanders, Author | Periscope
Episode 11
Dori Sanders' book Clover has been translated into five different languages and made into a Disney film. The story is set in the countryside of South Carolina, and told through the eyes of a 10-year...
Philip Simmons | Periscope

Photo

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Philip Simmons | Periscope
Episode 9
There are hundreds of Philip Simmons's gates and fences around Charleston. One of his gates hangs in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He has won national awards and was commissioned to...
Philip Simmons | Periscope

Photo

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Philip Simmons | Periscope
Episode 8
At the age of 12, Philip became an apprentice to a blacksmith. It was a hard job. Apprentices swept floors, shoed horses and worked simple pieces of iron while laboring around a hot forge. Only after...
Philip Simmons, Master Blacksmith | Periscope

Photo

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Philip Simmons, Master Blacksmith | Periscope
Episode 7
When Philip Simmons was a child, he liked to draw the wrought iron gates around Charleston, South Carolina. The spirals and loops he saw in the ironwork inspired his artistic abilities. Philip would...
Modjeska Simkins, Civil Rights Advocate | Periscope

Photo

Grades

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Modjeska Simkins, Civil Rights Advocate | Periscope
Episode 6
In the 1950s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became known as the leader of the civil rights movement. More than 20 years before Dr. King, Modjeska Simkins began her own work for the civil rights of...
Bethune-Cookman College | Periscope

Photo

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Bethune-Cookman College | Periscope
Episode 5
Mary continued to open more schools, created a hospital and promoted voting rights for African Americans. President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited her to become an advisor in 1936. Her job required her...
Bethune School | Periscope

Photo

Grades

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Bethune School | Periscope
Episode 4
In 1904, Mary McLeod Bethune began a school for poor African American children in Daytona, Florida. With only $1.50 to start the school, she had to be very creative. The desks were made from packing...
Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator | Periscope

Photo

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Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator | Periscope
Episode 3
At a time when there were few educational opportunities for African Americans, Mary McLeod Bethune created schools and a thriving college for them. Mary was born in Mayesville, South Carolina to freed...
A Daring Escape: The Planter | Periscope

Photo

Grades

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A Daring Escape: The Planter | Periscope
Episode 2
On the evening of May 12, 1862, the captain and officers of the Planter left the ship to spend the night on the shore. Robert and the rest of the slave crew had to stay on board under captain's orders...