SCL HIST 112 (Rutledge)

This digital collection is a sampling of some of the hundreds of folders relating to the Equal Rights Amendment held at South Carolina Political Collections.

Activist Modjeska Simkins of Columbia, S.C. served as the South Carolina State Secretary for the NAACP, 1941-1957; as Campaign Director for the renovation of Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital, 1944-1950; as Public Relations Director for the Richland County Citizens Committee, 1956-1988; and as President of the Southern Conference Educational Fund, 1972-1974. She also helped found, in 1921, the Victory Savings Bank of Columbia. As a voice of African-American leadership in the South, Simkins was a political force. Her papers are held by the University of South Carolina Libraries’ South Carolina Political Collections, and consist of 6.25 linear feet of material.

The Second Wave of the Women’s Movement collection brings together interviews with South Carolina women who navigated society — domestically. politically, educationally, religiously, professionally, medically, and financially — most notably during the early 1960s through early 1990s. It also relates directly to another women’s history collection we’ve been preserving and curating: IWY 1977 National Women’s Conference Collection

Moxon was involved with a number of grassroots efforts in the state, including ERA South Carolina (ERASC). Relevant materials in this collection include their minutes, literature created by ERASC and other groups, U.S. Senate hearings on the ERA, evidence of lobbying and legislative efforts, speeches, and clippings.

Keyserling was a former state legislator and long-time supporter of ethical, educational, social, and cultural issues affecting the state of South Carolina. She favored ratification of the ERA. Her papers include two folders with mostly correspondence between Keyserling and individuals and organizations concerning the ERA and three folders of ERA-related brochures, articles, and newsletters.

Papers of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina are arranged in the following series: Administrative, League of Women Voters of the United States, Local Leagues, Program Files, and Audiovisual materials. The bulk of the collection dates from 1951 to 1994.

Gressette was elected to the SC House in 1925 and the SC Senate in 1936, where he served until his death. Gressette exercised a considerable amount of power, in part due to his role on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was influential in ensuring that the state did not ratify the ERA. A substantial amount of information related to the ERA is present in this collection, including opinions on the merits and probable effects of the ERA, newsletters from organizations opposed to ratification, constituent letters, and petitions opposing ratification.

This fully-digitized collection includes brochures and other documents written in favor or opposition to the ERA, most of which were created by organized groups.