Learn about noted African Americans, many born in South Carolina, with local and national accomplishments.
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There are hundreds of Philip Simmons's gates and fences around Charleston. One of his gates hangs in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He has won national awards and was commissioned to...
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When Philip Simmons was a child, he liked to draw the wrought iron gates around Charleston, South Carolina. The spirals and loops he saw in the ironwork inspired his artistic abilities. Philip would...
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In the 1950s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became known as the leader of the civil rights movement. More than 20 years before Dr. King, Modjeska Simkins began her own work for the civil rights of...
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At a time when there were few educational opportunities for African Americans, Mary McLeod Bethune created schools and a thriving college for them. Mary was born in Mayesville, South Carolina to freed...
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February 23, 1868: Birth of W.E.B. Du Bois, author and teacher who worked for civil rights.
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February 14, 1818: Birth of Frederick Douglass, former slave and speechwriter who called for freedom of all people.
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Carter Woodson, a born scholar, went on to work as a teacher and principal at his old high school. He left in 1903 and taught in the Philippines until 1907. During the next few years, he traveled...
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Few vernacular art forms have made as impressive a mark on American culture as the Blues. From the expressive experiences of African-American life, skilled musicians fashioned a distinctive idiom that...
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Isaac “Ike” Williams was known as “Mr. NAACP.” for his many leadership roles in the organization. Williams was born in Charleston and has ten siblings. He was introduced to the NAACP as a youth. While...
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Cecil J. Williams is the author of Freedom & Justice. He is a noted civil rights photographer. At 14-years old, Williams was hired by JET Magazine to record the images of the civil rights movement in...
