civil rights
Fighting on Two Fronts: Black South Carolinians in World War I
Upon the United States' entrance into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson told the nation that the war was being fought to "make the world safe for democracy." For many African-American South Carolinians, the chance to fight in this war was a way to prove their...
Conversations on S.C. History: Women and World War I
Prior to that World War I, South Carolina was a predominantly rural state, with a Black majority populaltion. The typical S.C. woman in 1916 was Black, and, if she was employed, she was likely an agricultural worker or a domestic worker. If she was White, a working woman...
Juneteenth Rock Hill goes digital
Juneteenth celebrates the day that Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed the inhabitants there about the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves. This was two and a half years after the proclamation was officially...
What Does Freedom Mean? The Agency of Black People Before and After Emancipation
On June 19th, 1865, Union general Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free. The news of Emancipation had finally come to the state. Today, this day is celebrated as Juneteenth. What did it mean to these...
Cecil Williams Civil Rights Museum
Cecil Williams is perhaps the most well known photographer of the South Carolina civil rights movement. His photos have been featured in books, magazines, newspapers and even movies have captured many of seminal events which helped to shape this history. Although he has...
How the Blinding of Sergeant Isaac Woodard Changed the Course of America’s Civil Rights History
In this week's episode of Walter Edgar's Journal, Richard Gergel details the impact of the 1946 blinding of Sergeant Isaac Woodard on both President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring, and traces their influential roles in changing the course of America's civil...
Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.
(Originally broadcast 10/26/18) - In 1968 state troopers gunned down black students protesting the segregation of a South Carolina bowling alley, killing three and injuring 28. The Orangeburg Massacre was one of the most violent moments of the Southern civil rights movement...
In Darkest South Carolina: J. Waties Waring and the Secret Plan that Sparked a Civil Rights Movement
Post and Courier columnist and author Brian Hicks. Credit Post and Courier Four years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, a federal judge in Charleston hatched his secret plan to end segregation in America. Julius Waties Waring was...
Rare Film of First African-American Professional Golfer Sheds Light on Pre-Civil Rights Era
At the University of South Carolina, the Moving Image Research Collection has established a reputation as one of the top film archives in the country. Curator Greg Wilsbacher says Newsfilm Collections at USC has received some notable donations over the years— including...
Remembering Friendship Nine Member James Wells
57 years ago, nine young African-American students of Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill were arrested for attempting to desegregate the all-white lunch counter at the McCrory's variety store. One of those students was James Wells. He died Sunday, July 8th in his...
South Carolina State University: A Black Land-Grant College in Jim Crow America
Since its founding in 1896, South Carolina State University has provided vocational, undergraduate, and graduate education for generations of African Americans. Now the state’s flagship historically black university, it achieved this recognition after decades of struggling...
50 Years Later, Congressman Clyburn Reflects on King’s Visits to South Carolina
On July 30, 1967 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in South Carolina. He had tea at Septima Clark’s house in Charleston and later that day spoke at a meeting at the old county hall building on King Street. It would be his last visit to the Palmetto state. Nine months later,...
The Orangeburg Massacre 50 Years On
On Feb 8, 1968, three South Carolina State College students were killed and 27 others were wounded by State Highway Patrolmen. Civil rights activist Cleveland Sellers and Journalist Jack Bass reflect on the events which many consider a stain on South Carolina's reputation...
Jail No Bail: Friendship College
On January 31, 1961, ten black students from Friendship Junior College in Rock Hill, SC walked into McCrory's, sat at the lunch counter, and ordered hamburgers and soft drinks. They were denied service and asked to leave. After refusing to leave, the students were arrested...
The Education of Harvey Gantt
In 1960, a talented African-American student from Charleston, Harvey Gantt, graduated from high school and decided to become an architect. Clemson College was the only school in South Carolina that offered a degree in his chosen field. In January of 1963, with the help of...