Home • Resources and Exhibitions • Justice for All Digital Resources

Curated by the Center for Civil Rights History and Research and University of South Carolina Libraries, primary sources—archival materials including letters, photographs, and news footage—highlight South Carolina’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. Based on a previous digital exhibit, these resources can be a starting point for primary source research related to South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement.

Click on an image to explore primary sources!

The Roots of South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement

Primary sources related to the beginnings of South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement. Materials ranging from news footage to sheet music and photographs to flyers help bring life to the stories of the Movement.

Correspondence related to the Roots of the Civil Rights Movement
Southern Negro Youth Congress Membership Drive, April 7, 1947
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

A Black man in a suit stands at a lectern. Several other people sit behind him.

Pictures and videos related to the Roots of the Civil Rights Movement
John H. McCray speaking at SNYC Conference, 1946
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Programs, flyers, and other promotional materials related to the Roots of the Civil Rights Movement
Flyer for Osceola McKaine Campaign Event
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Publications related to the Roots of the Civil Rights Movement
‘The Negro in 1944,’ booklet published by CIO Political Action Committee
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Documents related to the Roots of the Civil Rights Movement
Diploma of Richard T. Greener
Richard Theodore Greener Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Education

Primary sources related to education and South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement. They include letters, pictures, videos, articles, and essays that shed light on the fight for educational equality.

Correspondence related to Education in the Civil Rights Movement
Letter from J.A. De Laine to John H. McCray
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

A large group of well-dressed Black men, women, and children stand behind the altar rail at the front of a church.

Pictures and videos related to Education in the Civil Rights Movement
Briggs v. Elliott Plaintiffs and Petitioners at Liberty Hill AME Church, 1951
Joseph A. De Laine Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Publications and speeches related to Education in the Civil Rights Movement
‘It Can Be Done!’ booklet published by the NAACP, 1955
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Public Demonstrations

Primary sources related to public demonstrations and South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement. The pictures and videos, correspondence, and other materials document plans, protests, struggles, and celebrations connected to public demonstrations.

Correspondence related to Public Demonstrations in the Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. to Marian Bruce Logan about Selma, March 18, 1965
Marian Bruce Logan Collection of Civil Rights Activism, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Documents related to Public Demonstrations in the Civil Rights Movement
‘A Practical Program to Kill Jim Crow’ by Charles Jackson, 1945
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Pictures and videos related to Public Demonstrations in the Civil Rights Movement
Students celebrating Supreme Court Victory in Edwards v. South Carolina at Zion Baptist Church, 1963
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Public Segregation

Primary sources related to public segregation and South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement. Among the materials are pictures and videos, letters, booklets, and programs highlighting challenges to public segregation and some of the backlash faced by those challenging segregation.

Correspondence related to Public Segregation in the Civil Rights Movement
Letter from Murry Canty, Sam Leverette, and Gladys Porter to Matthew J. Perry, June 16, 1961
Isaiah DeQuincey Newman Papers, South Carolina Political Collections

Pictures and videos related to Public Segregation in the Civil Rights Movement
J. Arthur Brown and two others in an office
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Publications and speeches related to Public Segregation in the Civil Rights Movement
‘Freedom Riders Speak for Themselves,’ pamphlet published by News and Letters, 1961
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Voting Rights

Primary sources related to voting rights and South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement. A voter registration card, letters, pictures, and flyers highlight the struggle for voting rights.

Correspondence related to Voting Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
Letter from Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., to members of the SCLC in Columbia, September 29, 1959
Eugene Avery Adams Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Pictures and videos related to Voting Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
Voter Registration Campaign, with Jackie and Thomas Williams
Isaiah DeQuincey Newman Papers, South Carolina Political Collections

Programs and flyers related to Voting Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
Flyer for Mass Meeting at Macedonia Baptist Church
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Documents related to Voting Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
Modjeska Simkins’ Voter Registration Card, 1928
Modjeska Simkins Papers, South Carolina Political Collections

Publications and speeches related to Voting Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
‘A Primer for Political Action: Only You Can Open the Tightly Closed Door to Equal Opportunity,’ published by the NAACP, 1945
John Henry McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Economic Rights

Primary sources related to economic rights and South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement. The flyers, telegrams, letters, pictures, and videos provide more information about how South Carolinians participated in national and local struggles for economic equality.

Programs, planning, and other promotional materials related to Economic Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
Flyer for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963
Marian Bruce Logan Collection of Civil Rights Activism, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special

Pictures and videos related to Economic Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
Ralph Abernathy speaks to marchers at the Charleston Hospital Strike, 1969
Robert E. McNair Papers, South Carolina Political Collections

Correspondence related to Economic Rights in the Civil Rights Movement
Ralph David Abernathy to Marian Logan on the Charleston hospital strike, May 6, 1969
Marian Bruce Logan Collection of Civil Rights Activism, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Legacy

Primary sources related to the legacy of South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement. Campaign materials, interviews, and publications showcase the ways the African Americans in South Carolina and across the country have continued the fight for civil and human rights.

Correspondence related to the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
Letter supporting the campaigns of Mike Daniels and Jim Clyburn, June 5, 1986
Modjeska Simkins Papers, South Carolina Political Collections

Recordings related to the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
Jim Clyburn announces for S.C. Secretary of State, January 23, 1978
WIS-TV News Collection, Moving Image Research Collections

Programs and promotional materials related to the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
Campaign Flyer for Victoria DeLee, United Citizens Party, 1971
Isaiah DeQuincey Newman Papers, South Carolina Political Collections

Publications and speeches related to the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
’40 Acres and a Mule,’ published by the New York Urban League, 1968
Marian Bruce Logan Collection of Civil Rights Activism, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special