Noted African Americans

Learn about noted African Americans, many born in South Carolina, with local and national accomplishments.

Dorothy Sampson (1919-2013) | Road Trip
Dorothy Sampson (1919-2013) | Road Trip

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In 1965, Dorothy Sampson became a partner in the law firm Sampson and Sampson. She was the first African American female attorney in Sumter. Her area of interest was civil rights litigation, voter...
Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) | Road Trip
Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) | Road Trip

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A veteran in the civil rights movement, Bernice Robinson's outstanding voter education work contributed to the election of many African American public officials in the South. The native Charlestonian...
Matthew J. Perry, Jr. (1921-2011) | Road Trip
Matthew J. Perry, Jr. (1921-2011) | Road Trip

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The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr. helped win a number of monumental cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, and he secured the release of over 7,000 persons who were arrested for participating in civil...
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...
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...
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...