Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina The Beginning to the End

Racial Tensions Racial tensions in South Carolina were beginning to boil. Governor Olin Johnson- “White supremacy will be maintained in our primaries. Let the chips fall where they may.”

Elmore v Rice In the case Elmore v Rice, the NAACP decided to challenge the white primaries and Judge Waties Waring heard the case. He ordered an end to the white primary by saying: “Racial discrimination cannot exist in the machinery that selects the officers and lawmakers of the United States.”

J. Waties Waring Born in Charleston, SC His family had lived in South Carolina for 8 generations. Changed his mind about racial issues while fighting in World War II.

J. Waties Waring

James F. Byrnes & Segregation James F. Byrnes is elected Governor of SC in While governor he: Increased spending for mental hospitals. Tried to maintain racial segregation. Just before he took office though, a groundbreaking, landmark case happened.

Gov. James F. Byrnes

Briggs v Elliott Briggs v Elliott – parents in Clarendon County filed suit in the federal court to require equal state funding for all school in SC. Briggs v Elliott was argued in the federal district court in Charleston by Thurgood Marshall. He was an attorney for the NAACP and later a Supreme Court Judge.

Briggs v Elliott Judge Waring was the only one, at the district court level, who supported Marshall's argument. The NAACP appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.

James F. Byrnes and Segregation In the meantime, Byrnes is asking for legislative support to build African- American schools that were equal to white schools. He warned that SC would “abandon the public school system” rather than desegregate. The legislature approved a 3% sales tax to pay for school construction.

The End of Segregation The Briggs v Elliott case went along with a bigger case on segregation which became the biggest case in educational history. Brown v Board of Education In May of 1954, the US Supreme Court struck down segregation and Governor Byrnes was “shocked.”

SC Reaction to Brown v Board In 1955, Byrnes lived up to his promise and canceled Compulsory education in SC. Required blood banks to be label blood given by race. The Ku Klux Klan saw a period of revival.

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan had a temporary revival during the Civil Rights Movement Many citizens – black and white – who tried to argue for integration were harassed, attacked, or killed. In Mississippi, Klan members murdered 3 civil rights workers. Fortunately, Klan membership began to decrease once again, and has shrunk even more since.

White Citizens’ Councils Started in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. Opponents of desegregation organized these clubs to try and stop integrating such places as schools and parks. Tried to stop integration by telling of the “horrors” that would happen if blacks and whites went to the same schools, etc.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Native of Atlanta, GA Became the majority leader of the African- American struggle for equality. He was a Baptist minister. Educated at Morehouse College in Atlanta. PhD degree from Boston University. Inspirational leader and the best orator of his generation. Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Committee.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference Headed up by Martin Luther King. He combined the practice of poet Henry David Thoreau and Indian peace activist Mahatma Ghandi. This group was founded to organize non- violent protests. King and SCLC leaders would travel to St. Helena’s island in SC to meet.

March on Washington Took place in August 1962 in Washington D.C. Over 200,000 people joined in on the march. Once the march reached the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King gave his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Passed during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. This law prevented any discrimination in public schools, health-care facilities, and public accommodations. The federal government could now sue any state that discriminated in voting issues, etc.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Passed during President Johnson’s presidency, as well. Helped to guarantee African-Americans the right to vote. Made literacy tests illegal. Major step in helping African-Americans gain equality in the US.

Thurgood Marshall NAACP lead prosecutor in the Brown v Board of Education court case. Later, he was appointed to the Supreme Court bench by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Taken after the decision on the Brown v Board of Education As a Supreme Court Justice

Levi S. Byrd Charter member of the SC chapter of the NAACP from Cheraw. He worked as a plumber who moved to South Carolina in He urged the creation of the South Carolina chapter.

Modjeska Simkins One of the founding members of the SC NAACP. She was a former teacher that worked with the Negro program of the South Carolina Tuberculosis Association.

James M. Hinton One of the first NAACP leaders in South Carolina. He was the pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church and sold Life Insurance for a living. Levi, James, and Modjeska were all leaders of the civil rights movement after WWII.

I. DeQuincey Newman Leader of the non-violent movement in SC. He was the state field secretary for the NAACP from 1960 to He was born in Darlington, SC in 1911 and educated at Clark College and Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta. In 1943, he helped to form the Orangeburg chapter of the NAACP and later became the SC state president. He lead hundreds of non-violent marches all over SC. In November 1984, he was elected to the state Senate. This made him the first one since 1887 and he served until his death in 1985.

I. DeQuincey Newman

Ellison D. Smith He was critical of the NRA and WPA agencies under the New Deal programs. He began to talk more and more about states rights and white supremacy. He even walked out of the National Democratic Party Convention when a black preacher opened the session. FDR urges Sc voters not to re-elect him. However, he was re-elected.

Ellison “Cotton Ed” Smith

Harvey Gantt He applied for admission to Clemson University in Four individuals wanted him to enroll because they felt the state could no longer defy the law without violence. Ernest Hollings Edgar Brown Charles Daniel John K. Cauthen Gantt entered Clemson on January 28, 1962.

Harvey Gantt Mr. Gantt returns to Clemson

Donald S. Russell The first governor of South Carolina to openly invent blacks and whites to join each other for a barbeque at the Governor’s Mansion after his inauguration.