Briggs v. Elliott

The Briggs v. Elliott case began as a simple request to provide bus transportation. In addition to having separate and very inferior facilities, black children had to walk to school, sometimes many miles. 

PHOTO: Mr. Harry Briggs and wife Eliza, plaintiffs in the landmark case of Briggs v. Elliott, and Rev. J.A. DeLaine after they had been forced to leave South Carolina due to the repercussions of helping to initiate a petition to acquire school buses for black children in Clarendon County.

Lee County - Dennis High School
Lee County - Dennis High School

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Constructed in 1936, Dennis was the first high school for African Americans in Lee County, including Bishopville and nearby rural areas. In contrast with the much larger Bishopville High School, which...
Clarendon County - Summerton High School
Clarendon County - Summerton High School

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The building that housed Summerton High School from circa 1936 to the mid-1960s is located at 12 South Church Street in Summerton. In the middle of the twentieth century, the all-white high school was...
Brown v. Board of Education | Road Trip

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The Plessy v. Ferguson decision set the precedent that "separate" facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were "equal." In 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education case...
Eliza Briggs | Road Trip

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Eliza and Harry Briggs, Sr. are listed as the first petitioners on the lawsuits from the 1940s and 1950s. Harry, a gas station attendant in Summerton, and his wife, Eliza, lost their jobs and were...
Judge Matthew Perry, Jr. | Road Trip

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Beginning in the 1950s, Judge Matthew Perry, Jr became the leading civil rights lawyer in South Carolina. Judge Perry was the first African American federal judge in South Carolina. The Matthew J...
Briggs v. Elliott | Road Trip

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The Briggs v. Elliott case began as a simple request to provide bus transportation. In addition to having separate and very inferior facilities, black children had to walk to school, sometimes many...
Clarendon County | Road Trip

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Rev. J. A. DeLaine and several others helped build the national case Brown v. Board of Education . DeLaine's family and other Clarendon county residents recall the bravery shown by signers of the...
Chief Justice Ernest A. Finney | Road Trip

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Chief Justice Ernest A. Finney gained respect as an exceptional civil rights advocate defending more than 6,000 people arrested for participating in some type of civil protest. He was appointed to the...
Ferdinand Pearson | Road Trip

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Ferdinand Pearson the son of South Carolina civil rights pioneer, Levi Pearson, talks about the court case that his father brought against the Clarendon County School Board. The court case asked for...