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

Levi Pearson (1892 - 1970) | Road Trip
Levi Pearson (1892 - 1970) | Road Trip

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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
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) | Road Trip

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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
Robert John Palmer (1926-1995) | Road Trip

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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
Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman (1911-1985) | Road Trip

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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
Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005) | Road Trip

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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
Fred Moore | Road Trip

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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
Henri Monteith Treadwell | Road Trip

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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
Governor Robert McNair (1923-2007) | Road Trip

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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
Osceola E. McKaine (1892-1955) | Road Trip

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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...