Matthew Perry - Judge, Part 2 | Profile - Episode 102

Upon returning home to Columbia, Matthew Perry established the Jenkins and Perry Law Firm, and became the chief legal counsel for the S.C. NAACP, where he began the battle toward the desegregation of S.C. schools. Perry discusses the significance of court cases such as “Brown vs Board of Education,” and “Briggs vs Elliot.” For Perry, every court case in S.C. was a crusade for equal rights, and Perry’s monumental victories came in 1962, with court cases such as “Gantt vs Clemson College,” and “Monteith vs University of South Carolina.”  Opposition from individuals against desegregation clashed with the civil rights protests during the 1960’s.

Matthew Perry was also highly opposed to the death penalty, and was largely responsible for why S.C. has not had any executions since 1962.

Standards

• 5.4.P Summarize the economic, political, and social changes in the U.S. after World War II.
• 5.4.CC Analyze the continuities and changes of race relations in the United States and South Carolina following the Supreme Court decisions of Briggs v. Elliott and Brown v. Board of Education.
• 8.5.CX Analyze the correlation between the Modern Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina and the U.S.
• This indicator was designed to foster inquiry into the role of South Carolina in the Modern Civil Rights Movement, to include the influence of court cases such as Briggs v. Elliot and Flemming v. South Carolina Electric and Gas. This indicator was also developed to promote inquiry into the relationship between national leadership, protests, and events and South Carolina leadership, protests and events, such as the Friendship Nine and the Orangeburg Massacre.
• USHC.5.CC Evaluate continuities and changes during the Civil Rights Movement and other subsequent movements for equal rights.
• This indicator was developed to promote inquiry into thematic continuities and changes into how marginalized groups sought and won legal rights. Inquiry into the leadership, methods, and outcomes of modern equal rights movements are supported by this indicator.

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