Learn about noted African Americans, many born in South Carolina, with local and national accomplishments.
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A life member of the NAACP, Clyburn has actively worked to support the principles of inclusion upon which the organization was founded. The Sumter native and graduate of South Carolina State...
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A pioneer among African-American business leaders, Arthur J.H. Clement, Jr., is credited with promoting positive race relations, spurring community development and enhancing business incentives in his...
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Septima Poinsette Clark is considered to be one of the mothers of the civil rights movement. As an active member of the NAACP, she helped the organization fight to obtain equal pay for Black teachers...
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The first chapters of the NAACP began in Charleston and Columbia in 1917. By 1929 a total of 12 chapters had been formed in the state. At that time the state organizations focused on registering Black...
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A life member of the NAACP, Brown served as local NAACP chapter president from 1953 to 1960. During his tenure the local membership increased from 100 to 1,000 persons. Locally, Brown focused on...
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Harry Briggs was a World War II veteran. Briggs, a gas station attendant, and his wife, Eliza allowed Rev. DeLaine to use their home for people to sign the petition that became Briggs v Elliott...
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The son of educators Robert and Mabel Hughes Boulware, Harold Boulware attended Johnson C. Smith and Howard University Law School. After graduation he returned to South Carolina and established a...
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Gloria (Rackley) Blackwell and her daughter Luma. Gloria and her daughter walk beside Whittaker Elementary School where Mrs. Blackwell was a teacher before she was dismissed for her participation in...
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In 1920, Mayesville native Mary McLeod Bethune founded Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona, Florida. In 1935, Bethune was named as head of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth...
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Jazz king John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was born in Cheraw in 1917. Dizzy was a founder of modern jazz, an innovative trumpeter known for his bent horn and bulging cheeks. The South Carolina Jazz...
