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.

Arthur J. H. Clement, Jr. (1908-1985) | Road Trip
Arthur J. H. Clement, Jr. (1908-1985) | Road Trip

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A pioneer among African-American business leaders, Arthur J.H. Clement, Jr., is credited with promoting positive race relations, spurring community development and enhancing business incentives in his...
Arthur Magill (1907-1995) | Road Trip
Arthur Magill (1907-1995) | Road Trip

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Fearful that continued resistance to integration would tarnish the Greenville's image as well as limit economic opportunities, wealthy businessman Arthur MaGill and the Rev. John Haley of Westminster...
Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) | Road Trip
Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) | Road Trip

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Benjamin Elijah Mays was born in the town of Epworth, southeast of Greenwood, August 1894. A son of former slaves, Mays' childhood played a key role in shaping the man that he would become. His...
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...
Cecil J. Williams | Road Trip
Cecil J. Williams | Road Trip

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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...
Charlayne Hunter-Gault | Road Trip
Charlayne Hunter-Gault | Road Trip

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Due West native Charlayne Hunter-Gault was one of the first of two African Americans to integrate the University of Georgia. She later wins fame as a co-anchor reporter for the PBS/McNeil Lehrer...
Cleveland Sellers | Road Trip
Cleveland Sellers | Road Trip

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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...
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...
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) | Road Trip
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) | Road Trip

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Eleven months after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the eyes of the nation focused on Charleston, South Carolina, where a conflict developed over striking workers. On March 20, 1969 Mrs...