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.
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Beginning in 1939 Rev. James M. Hinton was instrumental in organizing the state chapters of the NAACP into a more cohesive and active association. Rev. James M. Hinton served as president of the South...
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Edwin Augustus Harleston. In a life that spanned less than fifty years, he was a businessman and a civil rights leader, but in his heart, he was always an artist, a fine portrait painter. Harleston's...
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Samuel Hammond, Jr., a victim of Orangeburg Massacre was a 20 year old student attending South Carolina State College. Photo courtesy of Cecil Williams.
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Harvey Gantt was born on January 14, 1943. On January 1963, Harvey Gantt of Charleston, South Carolina, became the first black student to enroll at Clemson College (now Clemson University). Gantt, at...
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In June 1954 Sarah Mae Fleming, a 20-year-old African-American boarded a local bus, owned and operated by South Carolina Electric and Gas Company. According to Fleming the bus driver told her to move...
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A native of Smithfield, Va, Ernest A. Finney Jr. gained respect as an exceptional civil rights advocate, defending more than 6,000 people arrested for participating in some type of civil protest. In...
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In 1946, George Elmore attempted to vote in the all-White Democratic primary but was denied the right to vote. In February 1947, the NAACP filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court against John I...
