In continuation of celebrating Black History Month, we are honoring the life + legacy of some Black Civil Rights leaders and activists from South Carolina.

Here are key facts about important Black figures from the Palmetto State whose legacy lives on today.

Septima Clark | Charleston

Septima Poinsette Clark | Courtesy of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston, SC, USA

Known as the "Queen Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”
Leader in the NAACP, the Highlander School + the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Successfully petitioned Charleston to overturn its ban on Black teachers
Helped establish 800+ Citizenship Schools throughout South
Septima P. Clark Parkway/Expressway + park named in her honor
She is on a new $1 coin from the U.S. Mint

Mary McLeod Bethune | Mayesville

Mary Mcleod Bethune | Courtesy of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston, SC, USA

Educator who taught at schools in South Carolina + Georgia and established schools in Florida
Started a small school for Black girls that became Bethune-Cookman University
First Black woman to serve as a college president
Established programs to end segregated education, improve healthcare for Black children + help women use the voting ballot
Eighth national president for National Association of Colored Women
Created the National Council of Negro Women
President Roosevelt electer her as the first Black woman to head the Federal Council on Negro Affairs, a federal agency also known as the “Black Cabinet”
Portrait hangs in the State House in Columbia

Bernice Stokes Robinson | Sumter County

Bernice Stokes Robinson | Courtesy of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston, SC, USA

Educator involved with voter-registration drives
Selected by Highlander + the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to set up voter-registration workshops across South
Established Citizenship Schools to teach Black people how to read the Constitution, so they could register to vote (required at of the time due to discriminatory laws)
First teacher for the Citizenship Schools on Johns Island
Along with Esau Jenkins + Septima Clark, credited with helping two million disenfranchised citizens earn the right to vote
First Black woman to run for the state House of Representatives

Modjeska Monteith Simkins | Columbia

Modjeska Monteith Simkins | Courtesy of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston, SC, USA

Leader in public health + social reform
Founding member of the state conference of the NAACP
Major contributor in the Briggs v. Elliott case, demanding equality among Black + white schools in Clarendon County
Awarded the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto – the state's highest civilian honor
Her former cottage in Columbia is now a historical exhibit

Harvey Gantt | Charleston

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKIQnAIoY-g/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

Charleston native + first Black student accepted at Clemson University
Married Lucinda Brawley, the first Black woman admitted to Clemson
As a degreed architect, co-founded Gantt Huberman Architects
Known for blending urban planning + the practice of architecture
Employed diverse group of professionals to help design structures in Charlotte
Firm responsible for designing Charlotte Transportation Center, TransAmerica Square, Johnson C. Smith University Science Center + more
Charlotte's first African American mayor in 1983