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.
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While serving as the head of the human affairs commission, Jim Clyburn was unsuccessful in his two attempts to be elected South Carolina’s secretary of state. Clyburn’s determination to win put him...
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With Clyburn’s success in Washington, he does not have as much time for golf like he used to. Clyburn’s rise through the ranks has been steady, and marked by his ability to reach across the aisle, and...
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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...
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In 1975, after a nomination from Senator Strom Thurmond, then President Gerald Ford nominated Matthew Perry to a position on the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. Perry discusses what the Court of...
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Matthew Perry was born in Columbia, South Carolina, on August 3, 1921. Perry grew up in Columbia, and attended South Carolina State University, where he studied business administration. His education...
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When the opportunity came for a young Dizzy Gillespie to leave Cheraw, he took it. Dizzy moved to Laurinburg, North Carolina, where he went to school at the Laurinburg Institute. While in Laurinburg...
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Dizzy Gillespie was awarded the coveted Handel Medal, which is New York City’s most prestigious arts award. Gillespie is also part of the Newport Jazz Festival Program, and introduced friends and...
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Jazz legend John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. Dizzy Gillespie, Cheraw's claim to fame, filled many musical roles, such as trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and singer...
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Mayor Steve Benjamin, Columbia’s first African American mayor, was elected in a record-turnout election in 2010. He made it his mission to shape the Capital City into the most talented, educated and...
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David Drake, also known as “Dave the Potter” and “Dave the Slave,” (c.1801-c.1870) was an American potter who lived in Edgefield, S.C. Dave produced alkaline-glazed stoneware jugs between the 1820s...
