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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
Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) | Road Trip
A veteran in the civil rights movement, Bernice Robinson's outstanding voter education work contributed to the election of many African American public officials in the South. The native Charlestonian...
Matthew J. Perry, Jr. (1921-2011) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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  • 8
Matthew J. Perry, Jr. (1921-2011) | Road Trip
The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr. helped win a number of monumental cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, and he secured the release of over 7,000 persons who were arrested for participating in civil...
Levi Pearson (1892 - 1970) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 5
  • 8
Levi Pearson (1892 - 1970) | Road Trip
Levi Pearson, and other parents whose children attended Scotts Branch High School, wanted the county to provide buses for their children. Mr. Pearson was encouraged by Rev. Joseph Armstrong DeLaine...
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 3
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Rosa Parks (1913-2005) | Road Trip
Rosa Parks is credited as the mother of the civil rights movement. On December 1, 1955, the tired seamstress refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. She was...
Robert John Palmer (1926-1995) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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  • 8
Robert John Palmer (1926-1995) | Road Trip
From the 1960s until the early 1980s Palmer was very active in political, civic and religious activities in the state. His generosity was extended to individuals and various organizations like the...
Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman (1911-1985) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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  • 8
Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman (1911-1985) | Road Trip
Born in Darlington County, the Rev. Isaiah DeQuincey Newman was one of South Carolina's most respected leaders. For more than 40 years he was one of the most influential leaders in the civil rights...
Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005) | Road Trip
Constance Baker Motley, an NAACP attorney, rests her body and feet after a day-long legal skirmish in a South Carolina federal courtroom battling with Clemson College officials who sought to prevent...
Fred Moore | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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Fred Moore | Road Trip
Photo courtesy of Cecil Williams. Fred Moore is pictured at the podium in White Hall on the campus of South Carolina State College speaking to his fellow students about civil rights activities in...
Henri Monteith Treadwell | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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Henri Monteith Treadwell | Road Trip
In 1963, seventeen-year old Henri Monteith Treadwell was one of the first three black students - along with Robert Anderson and James Solomon - admitted under federal court action to the University of...
Governor Robert McNair (1923-2007) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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  • 8
Governor Robert McNair (1923-2007) | Road Trip
Governor Robert McNair responded to student demonstrations to desegregate the All-Star Bowling Alley by sending additional law enforcement: National Guardsmen, State Law Enforcement Division (SLED)...
Osceola E. McKaine (1892-1955) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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Osceola E. McKaine (1892-1955) | Road Trip
A civil rights activist McKaine, the NAACP and the all-Black Palmetto Teachers Association attacked the issue of salary inequities for Black educators. The average salary for a White elementary school...
Joseph McDomick, Jr. | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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Joseph McDomick, Jr. | Road Trip
Joseph McDomick, Jr. was born on May 1, 1938, in St. Francisville, Louisiana. In 1964 Judge McDomick began a thirty-year career with the Penn Center, serving as a field supervisor. Under his...
John H. McCray (1910-1987) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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John H. McCray (1910-1987) | Road Trip
John H. McCray, a 1931 graduate of the Avery Institute, grew up in the Lincolnville area of Charleston County. In 1938 he became editor and publisher of The Lighthouse and Informer, which in 1941...
James T. McCain (1905-2003) | Road Trip

Photo

Grades

  • 6
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James T. McCain (1905-2003) | Road Trip
At age 16, James T. McCain worked to register voters in Sumter in 1921. He continued his civil rights activity while he served as the southeastern region field secretary for Congress of Racial...
Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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  • 8
Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) | Road Trip
Benjamin Elijah Mays was born in the town of Epworth, southeast of Greenwood, August 1894. A son of former slaves, Mays' childhood played a key role in shaping the man that he would become. His...
Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 5
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  • 11
Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) | Road Trip
Thurgood Marshall's entire legal career was devoted to pursuing equal justice for all. He argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court and won 29 of those cases, including his most significant, Brown v...
Malcolm X (1925-1965 | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 3
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Malcolm X (1925-1965 | Road Trip
Malcolm X was the spokesman for the Muslims. He was assigned to defend and explain Muslimism at television debates, rallies, press interviews and whenever Muslims are on trial.
Arthur Magill (1907-1995) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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Arthur Magill (1907-1995) | Road Trip
Fearful that continued resistance to integration would tarnish the Greenville's image as well as limit economic opportunities, wealthy businessman Arthur MaGill and the Rev. John Haley of Westminster...
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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  • 8
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) | Road Trip
Eleven months after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the eyes of the nation focused on Charleston, South Carolina, where a conflict developed over striking workers. On March 20, 1969 Mrs...
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 9
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Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968) | Road Trip
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. addressing the crowd on Aug.28, 1963. In his well-known "I Have a Dream" speech, he said, "America has given the Negro people a bad check. It has come back marked...
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 3
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Rev. Jesse L. Jackson | Road Trip
A native of Greenville, The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson overcame many challenges such as racism, poverty and the stigma of being born to an unwed teenage mother. An honors student and an athlete, his...
John Roy Harper II (1940-2003) | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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John Roy Harper II (1940-2003) | Road Trip
In 1970 Harper received his law degree from the University of South Carolina where he specialized in constitutional law. He was the second African-American to graduate from the law school. Harper was...
Charlayne Hunter-Gault | Road Trip

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Grades

  • 6
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Charlayne Hunter-Gault | Road Trip
Due West native Charlayne Hunter-Gault was one of the first of two African Americans to integrate the University of Georgia. She later wins fame as a co-anchor reporter for the PBS/McNeil Lehrer...