Justice For All
Exploring the role of South Carolinians in the struggle for civil rights in the United States
1877 The Normal School at the University of South Carolina
1961 First Freedom Ride
1963 Demonstrators Greet Robert Kennedy at the Columbia Airport
Far-reaching Impact
After the Civil War, African Americans in South Carolina led the national fight for political representation and civil rights, creating a multiracial democracy in South Carolina during Reconstruction. Although violence and corruption denied African Americans their hard-fought rights during the Jim Crow era, Black South Carolinians created the groundwork for a future movement. After World War II, the national Civil Rights Movement emerged. Communities and individuals across South Carolina worked together to fight for equality and justice for all Americans. Activists pushed for change in education, government, the economy, and the social order. Their bravery laid the foundations for work that continues today.A State of Influence Across Decades
The Civil Rights Movement is a part of a long history of the struggle for equality, freedom, and justice that began long before the protests and sit-ins of the mid-20th century. The struggle continues to this day.
1868
A Constitutional Convention gives African American men the right to vote in South Carolina.
1946
The beating of Isaac Woodard by police in Batesburg drew national attention to the need for an organized movement.
1946
George Elmore sues the South Carolina Democratic Party over denying him the right to vote in the primary.
1949
Summerton parents and students sue the Clarendon County school board over unequal schools for African American and White students.
1961
Freedom Rides testing interstate segregation travel through South Carolina.
1963
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Edwards v. South Carolina overturns the convictions of 200 student protesters.
1968
South Carolina Highway Patrol officers shoot into a crowd of protesters at South Carolina State, killing three students and injuring many more.
1969
The Charleston Hospital Workers’ Strike draws national attention to Black women’s fight for economic rights.
1969
Students at Voorhees College take over campus buildings, demanding changes to the campus and curriculum.
1970
(L-R): James Felder, I.S. Leevy Johnson, and Herbert Fielding become the first African Americans to be elected to the state legislature since the 19th century.
Resources & Exhibits
Explore the history of the South Carolina Civil Rights Movement and discover its connections to your local community and the national Civil Rights Movement using our free digital resources.
Classroom Resources
Alongside the Justice for All traveling exhibition, the Civil Rights Center has developed free educational resources that help students discover the connections between South Carolina and the national Civil Rights Movement. We offer several educational resources and hands-on opportunities for K-12 students that support College-Career-Readiness skills and align with state standards.
Traveling Exhibition
The Justice for All traveling exhibition highlights some of South Carolina’s largely overlooked chapters in the national Civil Rights Movement. It uses panels, digital components (such as oral histories and our digital collections), and reproduction archival materials to teach about the Movement. Justice for All is visiting sites throughout South Carolina through the end of 2023.
Justice for All at USC
In 2019, the Center for Civil Rights History and Research worked with South Carolina Humanities and the University of South Carolina Libraries to host an archival exhibition called Justice for All: South Carolina and the American Civil Rights Movement. The Center is working to install a permanent Justice for All exhibition in the historic Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium.
Comic Books
In popular culture, African American leaders and events were celebrated in comic books and graphic novels, which described the political struggles as they challenged negative portrayals of African Americans and created positive representations.