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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

Content Type
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 5

Video

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The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 5
The Rollin Sisters are essentially silenced after Reconstruction, and are forced to move away from South Carolina due to the increasing violence by “Red Shirts”, and Ku Klux Klan members. In the fight...
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 4

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The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 4
The South Carolina Woman Suffrage Association was founded in Columbia in 1870, with Charlotte Rollin as the Chair. A charter is created and sent to Lucy Stone, one of the founders of the American...
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 3

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The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 3
During this period, there were many people, including African Americans, who felt the issue of women’s suffrage was much less important than civil rights for Blacks. In the 1868 Constitutional...
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 2

Video

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The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 2
The Civil War brought an abrupt change to the Rollin Family, ending a period where, according to Frances Rollin, “free people of color were at the zenith of their prosperity”. The Rollin family’s...
 The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists 1

Video

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The Rollin Sisters | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists
Episode 1
Frances Rollin was propelled into the national spotlight with the Pilot Boy steamship incident, in Charleston, South Carolina, where the captain refused her service due to the color of her skin...
3D VR - Booker T. Washington High School | Let's Go!

Interactive

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3D VR - Booker T. Washington High School | Let's Go!
From 1915-1974, Booker T. Washington High School served as a separate educational system for young African-Americans in Columbia, South Carolina. The school began with elementary grades and became a...
Modjeska Monteith Simkins House - Photo Gallery

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Modjeska Monteith Simkins House - Photo Gallery
This photo gallery of the Modjeska Monteith Simkins House contains the following shots: Portraits of Modjeska Monteith Simkins. Inside the exhibit “An Advocate of the People” inside the home. A wall...
 Modjeska Monteith Simkins House

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Modjeska Monteith Simkins House
Built between 1890 and 1895, this one-story cottage was home to Modjeska Monteith Simkins, considered "the Matriarch of Civil Rights activists of South Carolina," from 1932 until her death on April 5...
3D VR - Modjeska Monteith Simkins House | Let's Go

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3D VR - Modjeska Monteith Simkins House | Let's Go
Built between 1890 and 1895, this one-story cottage was home to Modjeska Monteith Simkins, considered "the Matriarch of Civil Rights activists of South Carolina," from 1932 until her death on April 5...
 Gullah Roots: Return to Bunce Island | Carolina Stories 2

Video

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Gullah Roots: Return to Bunce Island | Carolina Stories
Episode 2
From 1617 to the abolishment of the English slave trade in 1807, Bunce Island was the last glimpse of home for tens of thousands of enslaved Africans. Today, only ruins remain, as a testament to the...
Gullah Roots: Return to Bunce Island | Carolina Stories
   - Episode 2 Gullah Roots: Rice As Cash Crop | Carolina Stories 1

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Gullah Roots: Rice As Cash Crop | Carolina Stories
Episode 1
Rice is a staple food of Sierra Leone. Rice is not only a favorite dish of Sierra Leoneans and the Gullah-Geechee, but it is also a part of their history. A dike system for cultivating rice worked...
 James Otis Lecture 2020 (Full Program)

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James Otis Lecture 2020 (Full Program)
The 2020 James Otis Lecture will feature Richard Gergel, United States district judge, providing an informative presentation about his book “Unexampled Courage,” which details the impact of the...