The Civil Rights Movement

1947-1972. Meet South Carolinians who fought for equality during the Civil Rights Movement.
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John Wesley Stroman | Road Trip
John Wesley Stroman | Road Trip

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John Wesley Stroman was a student leader at SC State during the student protests. Cleveland Sellers has erroneously been identified as the leader of the students at South Carolina State when it was...
Willie T. Smith, Jr. (1920-2002) | Road Trip
Willie T. Smith, Jr. (1920-2002) | Road Trip

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Born in Sumter, and reared in Columbia, the Honorable Willie T. Smith was at the forefront of the civil rights movement in South Carolina. He served on the NAACP legal team that included Harvey Gantt...
Modjeska Simkins (1899-1992) | Road Trip
Modjeska Simkins (1899-1992) | Road Trip

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Best known for her fierce stance on behalf of civil rights in South Carolina, the successful businesswoman served as NAACP State Secretary during the 1950s. The Columbia native Mrs. Simkins was...
Cleveland Sellers | Road Trip
Cleveland Sellers | Road Trip

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In 1968, Sellers was then a student at Harvard University. He was visiting Orangeburg as a recruiter for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). On the night of February eighth, he...
Irene Sampson Williams (1937-2011) | Road Trip
Irene Sampson Williams (1937-2011) | Road Trip

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In 1965 Mrs. Irene Williams, a home economics and family living teacher at Manchester High School, sued Sumter County School District 2. Despite a stellar record, the district refused to tell her why...
Donald J. Sampson (1919-2001) | Road Trip
Donald J. Sampson (1919-2001) | Road Trip

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A native of Sumter, SC, Donald J. Sampson practiced law in Greenville and his sisters, Irene S. Williams and twin, Dorothy remained in Sumter. Both he and Dorothy were civil rights lawyers and...
Dorothy Sampson (1919-2013) | Road Trip
Dorothy Sampson (1919-2013) | Road Trip

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In 1965, Dorothy Sampson became a partner in the law firm Sampson and Sampson. She was the first African American female attorney in Sumter. Her area of interest was civil rights litigation, voter...
Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) | Road Trip
Bernice Robinson (1914-1994) | Road Trip

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A veteran in the civil rights movement, Bernice Robinson's outstanding voter education work contributed to the election of many African American public officials in the South. The native Charlestonian...