Eliza Briggs | Road Trip

Eliza and Harry Briggs, Sr. are listed as the first petitioners on the lawsuits from the 1940s and 1950s. Harry, a gas station attendant in Summerton, and his wife, Eliza, lost their jobs and were forced to leave Clarendon County. Their case, Briggs v Elliott was joined by four other cases from Delaware, Kansas, Washington, DC and Virginia to become the 1954 landmark case of Brown v Board of Education.

CREDIT: Interview by Esther Lemon, Cecil Williams, 1982

Standards

• 3-5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century.
  • 3-5.0 South Carolina experienced major economic, political, and social changes during the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. To understand the effects of these changes, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the followin...
    • 3-5.5 Summarize the development of economic, political, and social opportunities of African Americans in South Carolina, including the end of Jim Crow laws; the desegregation of schools (Briggs v. Elliott) and other public facilities; and efforts of Af...
• 5-3 The student will demonstrate an understanding of major domestic and foreign developments that contributed to the United States becoming a world power.
  • 5-3.0 The Industrial Revolution, urbanization, and access to resources contributed to the United States becoming a world power in the early twentieth century. At the same time, discriminatory practices abounded. To understand the rise of the United Sta...
    • 5-3.2 Explain the practice of discrimination and the passage of discriminatory laws in the United States and their impact on the rights of African Americans, including the Jim Crow laws and the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson.
• 5-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of American economic challenges in the 1920s and 1930s and world conflict in the 1940s.
  • 5-4.0 Along with the rest of the world, the United States experienced a boom-and-bust period during the 1920s and 1930s. In the United States, this situation led to significant government intervention to stimulate the economy. Other countries did not f...
    • 5-4.1 Summarize daily life in the postWorld War I period of the 1920s, including improvements in the standard of living, transportation, and entertainment; the impact of the Nineteenth Amendment, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and Prohibi...
• 5-5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the social, economic and political events that influenced the United States during the Cold War era.
  • 5-5.0 The postWorld War II period was dominated by a power conflict that pitted former allies against each other over economic and political differences. This Cold War affected all aspects of American life at home and abroad. To understand the impact o...
    • 5-5.3 Explain the advancement of the modern Civil Rights Movement; including the desegregation of the armed forces, Brown v. Board of Education, the roles of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Civil Rights acts, and the Voting Rights Act.
• 8-7 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the impact on South Carolina of significant events of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
  • 8-7.0 Changes that took place in the United States during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries revitalized the economy and challenged traditional society and politics in South Carolina. To understand the response of South Carolina to the...
    • 8-7.2 Analyze the movement for civil rights in South Carolina, including the impact of the landmark court cases Elmore v. Rice and Briggs v. Elliot; civil rights leaders Septima Poinsette Clark, Modjeska Monteith Simkins, and Matthew J. Perry; the Sout...
• 8.5 Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of world events on South Carolina and the United States from 1929 to present.
  • 8.5.CC Analyze the continuities and changes in South Carolinas identity resulting from the civic participation of different individuals and groups of South Carolinians.
  • 8.5.CX Analyze the correlation between the Modern Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina and the U.S.