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

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 The Black Codes: Jailer | Reconstruction 360
The Black Codes: Jailer | Reconstruction 360

Video

Grades: 7 8 9 10 11 12

There was little or no universal or public education in the Antebellum South. Only wealthy elites went to school, and most poor whites were illiterate. They remained ignorant of politics at the...
 The Black Codes: Labor Contract | Reconstruction 360
The Black Codes: Labor Contract | Reconstruction 360

Video

Grades: 7 8 9 10 11 12

The Freedmen’s Bureau helped create labor contracts that were supposed to be fair to both parties, but in many cases established conditions not much better than slavery. This system became known as...
 The Black Codes: Landowner | Reconstruction 360
The Black Codes: Landowner | Reconstruction 360

Video

Grades: 7 8 9 10 11 12

Like most former Confederates, this landowner resents the authority of U.S. Army officers and the Freedmen’s Bureau. Fearful that their agricultural economy would collapse without the free labor of...
 The Black Codes: Freedwoman | Reconstrucion 360
The Black Codes: Freedwoman | Reconstrucion 360

Video

Grades: 7 8 9 10 11 12

The wife of the jailed freedman has come to the jail to support her husband in his contract dispute with the white landowner. In 1865 and 1866, following the example of Northern Blacks, freedpeople in...
 The Black Codes: The Pink Palace | Reconstruction 360
The Black Codes: The Pink Palace | Reconstruction 360

Video

Grades: 7 8 9 10 11 12

This scene was shot inside the Orangeburg County Jail, also known as the Pink Palace, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. The jail was built in 1860 with offices on the first floor and cells for prisoners...
 Mary McLeod Bethune | Carolina Snaps
Mary McLeod Bethune | Carolina Snaps

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune is hailed as one of the most influential African American educators and Civil Rights figures, during the first half of the 20th century. Born on a cotton farm in Mayesville, SC...
Black History Month: A Modern Perspective
Black History Month: A Modern Perspective

Lesson

Grades: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Students will understand the importance of the creation of Black History Month and the contributions of African Americans in the United States and the world.

 Maude Callen | Carolina Snaps
Maude Callen | Carolina Snaps

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Orphaned at the age of six, Maude Callen, became an “Angel in Twilight” to many as she singlehandedly brought health care to a poverty-stricken community. After becoming orphaned, Maude went to live...
 Robert Smalls | Carolina Snaps
Robert Smalls | Carolina Snaps

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Robert Smalls was a former slave and Civil War hero who made a significant impact on American history. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1839, Smalls worked on the docks and was trained...
 Chief Justice Ernest Finney | Carolina Snaps
Chief Justice Ernest Finney | Carolina Snaps

Video

Grades: 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Ernest Finney was the first African American chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. He left an indelible mark on the legal system with his unwavering commitment to justice and equality...
 Nikky Finney
Nikky Finney

Video

Grades: 3 4 5 6

Nikky Finney, daughter of the late SC Supreme Court Chief Justice Ernest A. Finney, Jr., recites her poem, " He Never Had It Made" on the occasion of his installation to the S.C. Supreme Court. Just...
 A Conversation with Judge Finney
A Conversation with Judge Finney

Video

Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Higher Education

Ernest A. Finney, Jr., was born in Smithfield, Virginia during the depression, on March 23, 1931. His mother died 10 days after he was born and his father was a teacher who traveled as part of his...
 Talking Black in America: Roots
Talking Black in America: Roots

Video

Grades: 7 8 9 10 11 12

EXPIRES: 9/30/2025 “Talking Black in America: Roots” is the third program in a series of television documentaries exploring dimensions of African American language and culture and their formative...
 "Onward, 54th!" | Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie 4
"Onward, 54th!" | Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie
Episode 4

Video

Grades: 4 8

Episode 4 focuses on the attempts of the North to take back Fort Sumter and hopefully bring the war to an end. This episode illustrates the struggles of African American soldiers who fought bravely on...
 Welcome to Fort Sumter | Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie 1
Welcome to Fort Sumter | Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie
Episode 1

Video

Grades: 4 8

This episode introduces the student to the social history of South Carolina, the rise of Charleston as an important shipping center, and the building of the fort where the Civil War began. It further...