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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“R” is for Rainey, Joseph Hayne [1832-1887]. Congressman. Rainey was born a slave, but his father—a barber—was able to purchase his family's freedom. During the Civil War, he was forced to serve as a...
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“E” is for Evans, Matilda Arabella [1872-1935]. Physician. A native of Aiken, Evans attended Schofield Normal and Industrial School, Oberlin College’s preparatory school, and the Women’s Medical...
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This is an excerpt from the University of South Carolina public series, Conversations on the Civil War - 1863. Dr. Walter Edgar speaks to Dr. Thavolia Gylmph, Duke University, about the Port Royal...
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This is an excerpt from the University of South Carolina public series, Conversations on the Civil War - 1863. Dr. Walter Edgar speaks to Dr. Thavolia Gylmph, Duke University, about the impact the...
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This is an excerpt from the University of South Carolina public series, Conversations on the Civil War - 1863. Dr. Walter Edgar speaks to Dr. Thavolia Gylmph, Duke University, about the impact the...
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This is an excerpt from the University of South Carolina public series, Conversations on the Civil War - 1863. Dr. Walter Edgar speaks to Dr. Thavolia Gylmph, Duke University, about the 13th Amendment...
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The relations between Africans and those who conquered them would was complicated. Forced to come to a strange country, slaves had vastly different experiences than their white masters in the 18th and...
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“G” is for Grayson, William John [1788-1863]. Politician, planter, poet. Grayson spent much of his youth on Parris Island, the inspiration for his later pastoral verse. He graduated at the top of his...
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“H” is for Hines, John Elbridge [1910-1997]. Clergyman. Civil Rights advocate. A native of Seneca, Hines graduated from Sewanee and Virginia Theological Seminary. After being ordained an Episcopal...
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“B” is for the “Black” Seventh District. After the 1880 census, South Carolina was awarded an additional two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Redistricting gave the state’s white Democrats...
