Dr. Sherman James, Part 8: Message for Girls | SC African American History Calendar (2021)

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Despite being a small town in South Carolina, Hartsville, SC produced two honorees of the South Carolina African American History calendar, who grew-up together at the same time: Jannie Harriot (May 2019) and Dr. Sherman James (May 2021). SCETV was fortunate enough to record a conversation between these two distinguished South Carolinians. This is a message they want to send to the female students watching this video.

A social epidemiologist, Dr.  Sherman James is the Susan B. King Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at Duke University. He taught at Duke, the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. In the early 1980s, Dr. James formulated the John Henryism Hypothesis, which posits that repeated, “high-effort” coping (“John Henryism”) over many years with adversity, including adversity caused by structural racism, contributes to the well-known high risk for hypertension in African Americans. He received many awards and accolades for his work.

Jannie Harriot has devoted her life to education, the preservation of South Carolina's African American history, and her family. Harriot is the founding Chairperson of the Butler Heritage foundation - she was instrumental in getting the Darlington County Board of Education to deed her high school alma mater to the foundation, for restoration and preservation. Governor Carroll Campbell appointed Harriot as a charter member of the S.C. African American Heritage Council, which became the S.C. African American Heritage Commission. Jannie Harriot has received numerous awards for her years of service.

Presented through a partnership between the South Carolina Department of Education and South Carolina ETV.  Download the SC African American History Calendar here

 

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More in this Series

South Carolina African American History Calendar / Education | South Carolina African American History Calendar

South Carolina African American History Calendar / Activism & Civil Rights | South Carolina African American History Calendar