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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.

Resource Type
Governor Robert McNair (1923-2007) | Road Trip

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Governor Robert McNair (1923-2007) | Road Trip
Governor Robert McNair responded to student demonstrations to desegregate the All-Star Bowling Alley by sending additional law enforcement: National Guardsmen, State Law Enforcement Division (SLED)...
Osceola E. McKaine (1892-1955) | Road Trip

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Osceola E. McKaine (1892-1955) | Road Trip
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...
Joseph McDomick, Jr. | Road Trip

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Joseph McDomick, Jr. | Road Trip
Joseph McDomick, Jr. was born on May 1, 1938, in St. Francisville, Louisiana. In 1964 Judge McDomick began a thirty-year career with the Penn Center, serving as a field supervisor. Under his...
John H. McCray (1910-1987) | Road Trip

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John H. McCray (1910-1987) | Road Trip
John H. McCray, a 1931 graduate of the Avery Institute, grew up in the Lincolnville area of Charleston County. In 1938 he became editor and publisher of The Lighthouse and Informer, which in 1941...
James T. McCain (1905-2003) | Road Trip

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James T. McCain (1905-2003) | Road Trip
At age 16, James T. McCain worked to register voters in Sumter in 1921. He continued his civil rights activity while he served as the southeastern region field secretary for Congress of Racial...
Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) | Road Trip

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Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) | Road Trip
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...
Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) | Road Trip

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Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) | Road Trip
Thurgood Marshall's entire legal career was devoted to pursuing equal justice for all. He argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court and won 29 of those cases, including his most significant, Brown v...
Malcolm X (1925-1965 | Road Trip

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Malcolm X (1925-1965 | Road Trip
Malcolm X was the spokesman for the Muslims. He was assigned to defend and explain Muslimism at television debates, rallies, press interviews and whenever Muslims are on trial.
Arthur Magill (1907-1995) | Road Trip

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Arthur Magill (1907-1995) | Road Trip
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...
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) | Road Trip

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Coretta Scott King (1927-2006) | Road Trip
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...
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968) | Road Trip

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Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968) | Road Trip
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. addressing the crowd on Aug.28, 1963. In his well-known "I Have a Dream" speech, he said, "America has given the Negro people a bad check. It has come back marked...
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson | Road Trip

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Rev. Jesse L. Jackson | Road Trip
A native of Greenville, The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson overcame many challenges such as racism, poverty and the stigma of being born to an unwed teenage mother. An honors student and an athlete, his...
John Roy Harper II (1940-2003) | Road Trip

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John Roy Harper II (1940-2003) | Road Trip
In 1970 Harper received his law degree from the University of South Carolina where he specialized in constitutional law. He was the second African-American to graduate from the law school. Harper was...
Charlayne Hunter-Gault | Road Trip

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Charlayne Hunter-Gault | Road Trip
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...
Rev. James M. Hinton (1891-1970) | Road Trip

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Rev. James M. Hinton (1891-1970) | Road Trip
Beginning in 1939 Rev. James M. Hinton was instrumental in organizing the state chapters of the NAACP into a more cohesive and active association. Rev. James M. Hinton served as president of the South...
Edwin Augustus Harleston (1882 - 1931) | Road Trip

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Edwin Augustus Harleston (1882 - 1931) | Road Trip
Edwin Augustus Harleston. In a life that spanned less than fifty years, he was a businessman and a civil rights leader, but in his heart, he was always an artist, a fine portrait painter. Harleston's...
Harvey Gantt | Road Trip

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Harvey Gantt | Road Trip
Harvey Gantt was born on January 14, 1943. On January 1963, Harvey Gantt of Charleston, South Carolina, became the first black student to enroll at Clemson College (now Clemson University). Gantt, at...
Sarah Mae Fleming (1933-1993) | Road Trip

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Sarah Mae Fleming (1933-1993) | Road Trip
In June 1954 Sarah Mae Fleming, a 20-year-old African-American boarded a local bus, owned and operated by South Carolina Electric and Gas Company. According to Fleming the bus driver told her to move...
Ernest A. Finney Jr. | Road Trip

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Ernest A. Finney Jr. | Road Trip
A native of Smithfield, Va, Ernest A. Finney Jr. gained respect as an exceptional civil rights advocate, defending more than 6,000 people arrested for participating in some type of civil protest. In...
George A. Elmore (1905-1954) | Road Trip

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George A. Elmore (1905-1954) | Road Trip
In 1946, George Elmore attempted to vote in the all-White Democratic primary but was denied the right to vote. In February 1947, the NAACP filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court against John I...
Marian Wright Edelman | Road Trip

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Marian Wright Edelman | Road Trip
A native of Bennettsville, Marian Wright Edelman In the mid-1960s as a human rights activist began directing the Legal Defense and Education Fund for the Mississippi NAACP. As the first African...
Rev. J.A. DeLaine (1898-1974) | Road Trip

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Rev. J.A. DeLaine (1898-1974) | Road Trip
Described as courageous, fearless, confident, faithful, committed, humble and a man of integrity, the Rev. Joseph Armstrong DeLaine was the primary impetus behind the Clarendon County desegregation...
John Bolt Culbertson (1908 – 1983) | Road Trip

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John Bolt Culbertson (1908 – 1983) | Road Trip
Born at Maddens Station, South Carolina, Culbertson was the sixth of 14 children. A Greenville defense attorney he was an advocate for the needs of all people, regardless of race, or the ability to...