Civil Rights Collections at the University of South Carolina Libraries: Collections

An African Methodist Episcopal minister in Columbia, he helped found several community organizations, including the South Carolina Citizens Committee and the Victory Savings Bank. He served as president of the Columbia branch of the NAACP during the 1940s. (South Caroliniana Library)

Son of E.A. Adams and a leader in the civil rights movement in Seattle and Los Angeles, he also served as the presiding African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop over South Carolina. (South Caroliniana Library)

A South Carolina native who initiated one of the first all African-American public school libraries in Columbia at Waverley Elementary School during segregation and later went on to become the first African-American librarian at the traditionally white Dreher High School. (South Caroliniana Library)

An African-American business leader, who ran for both the state legislature (1948) and the U.S. congress (1950) at a time when few African Americans sought elected office and later served on the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. (South Caroliniana Library)

As a Methodist minister, De Laine spearheaded the move for school equality in Clarendon County. The court case that resulted from his activism, known as Briggs v. Elliott, eventually made it to the United States Supreme Court as part of the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which led to the desegregation of public schools. (South Caroliniana Library)

A Columbia attorney active in Blacks United for Action, he helped found the United Citizens Party. He was also active with the South Carolina NAACP, and argued many civil rights cases in federal court on its behalf. (South Caroliniana Library)

Founder of Leevy's Funeral Home in Columbia and a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he was a successful businessman and active in local politics, often helping to fund the defense of those jailed during civil rights protests. (South Caroliniana Library)

A native of Sumter, he lost his job as a teacher in 1955 because of his affiliation with the NAACP and became a field secretary for the Congress of Racial Equality, where he led numerous sit-ins and protests across the South. McCain was also active in the South Carolina Council for Human Relations, the South Carolina Council on Aging, and the Palmetto Education Association. (South Caroliniana Library)

Between 1938 and 1954, he published the most widely circulated and important African-American newspaper in South Carolina - The Lighthouse and Informer. From 1954 until 1964 he worked for various national African-American newspapers as a correspondent for the Carolinas. (South Caroliniana Library)

Trained as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, he fought in the Pacific Theater during World War II and returned to Orangeburg after the war where he opened a real estate business and insurance company. Middleton was elected to the South Carolina House in 1974, and served until 1984. (South Caroliniana Library)

A white USC graduate student and civil rights activist, he worked with the American Friends Service Committee before serving on the Richland District One School Board. Throughout his career, Mizell fought for equal educational opportunities for all races and classes in South Carolina. (South Caroliniana Library)

Educator, civil rights advocate and author, he joined a group of white and African-American ministers and community leaders in 1957 who published the pamphlet of essays, "South Carolinians Speak: A Moderate Approach to Race Relations" in which he argued for equal rights under the law for all people. (South Caroliniana Library)

One of the first three African-American students to integrate the University of South Carolina in 1964, he later served as director of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and commissioner of the South Carolina Department of Social Services and served on the Sumter District 17 school board, the Richland One School Board and Richland County Council. (South Caroliniana Library)

One of the first African-American students to attend the University of South Carolina, he is a prominent Columbia attorney who also served as one of the first African-Americans on the Columbia City Council. (South Carolina Political Collections)

A white lawyer, NAACP member, and activist who represented unions, the working class, disabled veterans, African Americans, and others in need of a voice -- many of whom could not afford to pay him. (South Carolina Political Collections)

His papers contain civil rights related gubernatorial records and speeches that relate to segregation issues and school intergration. Other relevant material is spread throughout his gubernatorial and senatorial records. (South Carolina Political Collections)

His papers include items relating to the 1961 nomination by President John F. Kennedy of noted attorney and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) to the Second United States Circuit Court of Appeals including letters reflecting the wide division of public opinion regarding this momentous nomination. (South Carolina Political Collections)

His papers contain material pertaining to the integration of South Carolina's public school system and the violent confrontation between S.C. State College sstudents and state police in 1968. (South Carolina Political Collections)

A Methodist pastor, civil rights activist and entrepreneur, he was a leading figure in the civil rights movement in South Carolina, he helped organize the Orangeburg branch of the NAACP in 1943, helped found the Progressive Democratic Party, and was the South Carolina NAACP state field director from 1960 to 1969. (South Carolina Political Collections)

A Columbia civil rights activist, Simkins served as the South Carolina Secretary for the NAACP, 1941 to 1957. She also had leadership roles in the renovation of Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital and the Richland County Citizens Committee. Simkins was a founder, in 1921, of the Victory Savings Bank of Columbia. (South Carolina Political Collections)

His papers contain material pertaining to school integration and his 1970 gubernatorial campaign against Albert Watson emphasizing civil rights issues. (South Carolina Political Collections)

A journalist who wrote for The News and Courier in Charleston and The State in Columbia, he became editor of the latter in 1966. His collection contains valuable materials on the civil rights movement in South Carolina. (South Carolina Political Collections)

Published by John H. McCray, this title is part of the South Caroliniana Library's African-American Newspaper collection, which highlights the vibrant print culture of the state's African-American communities and offers a unique look at the politics and culture around the state.

Part of the South Caroliniana Library's African-American Newspapers Collection, highlighting the vibrant print culture of the state's African-American communities and offering a unique look at the politics and culture around the state.

The South Carolina Council on Human Relations (SCCHR) played a key role in fostering better living and social conditions for African Americans and promoting racial harmony within South Carolina. (South Caroliniana Library)

Outtakes from local television news coverage of South Carolina civil rights events from protest marches to desegregation to race relations. (Moving Image Research Collections)