Noted African Americans

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

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) | Road Trip
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) | Road Trip

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In 1920, Mayesville native Mary McLeod Bethune founded Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona, Florida. In 1935, Bethune was named as head of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth...
South Carolina Jazz Festival | ETV Shorts

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Jazz king John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was born in Cheraw in 1917. Dizzy was a founder of modern jazz, an innovative trumpeter known for his bent horn and bulging cheeks. The South Carolina Jazz...
Modjeska Simkins on Economic Change | Road Trip

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Mrs. Modjeska Simkins tells of how the business boycotts began in Columbia and around the state. Mrs. Simkins was also at the forefront when the Southern Negro Youth Conference was formed. CREDIT...
Mary McLeod Bethune | S.C. Hall of Fame

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This profile will show how Mary Jane McLeod Bethune, born to poor cotton farmers in Mayesville, S.C., would brilliantly start a school of her own with just $1.50, which became an internationally...
Maude Callen | S.C. Hall of Fame

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This episode is about Maude Callen (1898 -- 1990), a Nurse-Midwife, who singlehandedly brought health care to rural Pineville, S.C. and the surrounding area of Berkeley County in the early 1920s...
Matthew Perry | S.C. Hall of Fame

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Matthew James Perry, Jr. was born in Columbia, South Carolina, August 3, 1921. He attended law school at South Carolina State College and would play a central role in nearly every noteworthy civil...
Septima Clark | S.C. Hall of Fame

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A pioneer in grassroots citizenship education, Septima Clark was called the ‘‘Mother of the Civil Rights Movement’’ by Martin Luther King. Clark was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1898...
Marian Wright Edelman | S.C. Hall of Fame

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Marian Wright Edelman is founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund, the nation’s strongest advocacy group for children and families. Born in 1939 in Bennettsville, South Carolina, she...