Movers & Shakers | Road Trip

Learn about the movers and shakers of the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina and nationally in the United States.

Biographies are provided with permission from the exhibit "A More Convenient Season: Civil Rights in South Carolina, 1948-1968." Installed 2005 at the South Carolina State Museum, courtesy of Cecil Williams and the I.P. Stanback Museum.

Isaac W. Williams ( ?-2008) | Road Trip

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Grades: 3 4 5

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...

Cecil J. Williams | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

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...

Victoria Way DeLee (1925-2010) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

Victoria Way DeLee, Courtesy of Modern Political Collection, USC Considered a grass roots activist, Victoria Way DeLee's fervent faith in God and her early childhood experiences fueled her involvement...

Judge J. Waties Waring (1880-1968) | Road Trip

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Grades: 5 8

In 1947 Judge J. Waties Waring's monumental ruling in the George Elmore suit (Elmore v. Rice) eliminated the all-white Democratic primary system in South Carolina. For the first time since 1876, the...

Dr. Albert N. Thompson | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

Dr. Albert N. Thompson is shown as a young teacher instructing a 4th grade class in Richland County. Photo courtesy of Cecil Williams. In September 1944, Thompson, who was then teaching at Booker T...

John Wesley Stroman | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

John Wesley Stroman was a student leader at SC State during the student protests. Cleveland Sellers has erroneously been identified as the leader of the students at South Carolina State when it was...

Willie T. Smith, Jr. (1920-2002) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

Born in Sumter, and reared in Columbia, the Honorable Willie T. Smith was at the forefront of the civil rights movement in South Carolina. He served on the NAACP legal team that included Harvey Gantt...

Henry Smith (1948-1968) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

Henry Smith, a victim of Orangeburg Massacre. Photo courtesy of Cecil Williams.

Modjeska Simkins (1899-1992) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

Best known for her fierce stance on behalf of civil rights in South Carolina, the successful businesswoman served as NAACP State Secretary during the 1950s. The Columbia native Mrs. Simkins was...

Cleveland Sellers | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

In 1968, Sellers was then a student at Harvard University. He was visiting Orangeburg as a recruiter for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). On the night of February eighth, he...

Irene Sampson Williams (1937-2011) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

In 1965 Mrs. Irene Williams, a home economics and family living teacher at Manchester High School, sued Sumter County School District 2. Despite a stellar record, the district refused to tell her why...

Donald J. Sampson (1919-2001) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

A native of Sumter, SC, Donald J. Sampson practiced law in Greenville and his sisters, Irene S. Williams and twin, Dorothy remained in Sumter. Both he and Dorothy were civil rights lawyers and...

Dorothy Sampson (1919-2013) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

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...

Governor Donald S. Russell (1906-1998) | Road Trip

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Grades: 3 4 5

Governor Donald Stuart Russell prepares to extend his hand to the Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, an Orangeburg civil rights activist, in the receiving line at the governor's mansion. The Rev. I. DeQuincey...

Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

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

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Grades: 6 7 8

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

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Grades: 5 8

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

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Grades: 3 4 5 6 7 8

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...

Robert John Palmer (1926-1995) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

From the 1960s until the early 1980s Palmer was very active in political, civic and religious activities in the state. His generosity was extended to individuals and various organizations like the...

Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman (1911-1985) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

Born in Darlington County, the Rev. Isaiah DeQuincey Newman was one of South Carolina's most respected leaders. For more than 40 years he was one of the most influential leaders in the civil rights...

Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

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

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Grades: 6 7 8

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

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Grades: 6 7 8

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...

Delano Middleton (1950-1968) | Road Trip

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Grades: 6 7 8

Delano Middleton, a victim of Orangeburg Massacre