African American History

Learn about the achievements of African Americans who have shaped South Carolina and American history.

Black History Month is celebrated every February to honor the achievements of African Americans who have shaped American history. Historian Carter G. Woodson hoped to raise awareness of African American's contributions to civilization by establishing Negro History Week. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that included both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass' birthdays. The week was later expanded to a month in 1976 during the United States bicentennial.

PHOTO: On March 20, 1969, Black hospital workers at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston went on strike to protest the firing of twelve employees and to call for higher wages and union recognition.

Within this Collection

A Seat at the Table

Video

Professor Amir Jamal Touré of Savannah State University discusses the importance of Savannah, Georgia to the creation of African American institutions in Georgia and beyond. Reconstruction 360 uses a...
Lamar High School Overview | Let's Go!

Video

Lamar High School in Darlington County, South Carolina, was the site of an attack on school buses carrying African American students to the campus on March 3, 1970. In January 1970, the 4th Circuit...
Bettis Academy Overview | Let's Go!

Video

Established in Trenton (Edgefield County) in 1881 by the Reverend Alexander Bettis, this school provided former enslaved African Americans and their children with a basic education of reading and...
Dave the Potter | Carolina Snaps

Video

At a time in history when teaching enslaved Africans to read and write was a punishable fine, Dave the Potter is recognized as the first to inscribe this work.
Penn Center: A Legacy of Change Learning Activity
Penn Center: A Legacy of Change Learning Activity

Document

This program tells the story of the Penn Center’s inception in 1862 as a school for freed slaves to its involvement in the Gullah community today. Today the center collects, documents, preserves, and...