This February, the ASALH is celebrating the commemoration, dissemination, study, and teaching of Black history over the last one hundred years with the theme “A Century of Black History Commemorations.” To honor this theme, the BDC’s February display case is full of materials that highlight the last century of Black history in Beaufort District.
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This title contains oral histories of historians who specialize in studying the course of civil rights history. Each account highlights important moments in the fight for equal rights in South Carolina. The accounts analyze the impact of the civil rights movement on the Palmetto State and how the state experienced the movement in ways different from the rest of the country. Through drawings, newspaper articles, and previously unpublished photographs taken by Cecil Williams the accounts detail the “high stakes involved in the civil rights movement, of how far South Carolina has progressed, and of those battles for equality still ongoing.”
Voices of Black South Carolina: Legend & Legacy by Damon L. Fordham (2009).
This is an interesting title because rather than creating a formal history of Black South Carolinians, Fordham decided to create a collection of short stories that recount the history of valiant Black South Carolinians that we may or may not have heard of. These short stories are sandwiched with actual accounts, direct quotes, and portrayals of the subjects of these stories. Well-known names such as Robert Smalls, Booker T. Washington, and Jonathan Jasper Wright are mentioned in addition to lesser know but significant African Americans such as Elizabeth Evelyn Wright and Dorothy Bacot.
Stories of Struggle: The Clash Over Civil Rights in South Carolina by Claudia Smith Brinson, (2020).
Brinson concentrates on five case studies that highlight the untold stories of individuals who not only witnessed but participated in the movement for equal rights.
Many Black South Carolinians dedicated their lives to protesting, petitioning, and picketing, only to be met with the vilest of responses including death threats, bombings, beatings, lynchings, and other acts of violence and aggressiveness. Yet, they were undeterred. African American activists in South Carolina persevered with an unwavering amount of courage, commitment, and conviction that changed the country. This title highlights the significance of these activists' actions that not only shaped Civil Rights in South Carolina, but the South as a whole.
From the innovative eye of activist and artist Cecil Williams, Out-of-the-Box in Dixie conveys the courage of Black South Carolinians who fought for equal rights prior to and through the Civil Rights Movement. Briggs v. Elliott of Clarendon County and the Orangeburg Freedom Movement challenged segregation in South Carolina schools. The images contained document the bravery of those of took part in both of these essential events in the fight for equal rights in the Palmetto State.
Pioneers of African-American Cinema from Kino Classics (2016)
In the early 1920’s, a group of entrepreneurial filmmakers veered off the commercial path of Hollywood to bring about a new age of cinema known as “race films.” Unlike Hollywood, these filmmakers prioritized hiring People of Color for both starring roles and production roles such as writers, editors, producers, and distributors. In addition to having a diverse team, these films brought about a new age of visual and narrative style in film that thrived until the 1940’s. Pioneers of African-American Cinema contains 19 restored “race films” ranging from documentaries to short and silent films; including African American female filmmaker Zora Neale Hurston’s documentary of 1940’s religious services taking place at the Commandment Keeper Church of Beaufort.
A wonderful resource in our collection is our vertical file collection. Vertical files hold materials such as clippings, pamphlets, or articles pertaining to the subject of the file. These files act as a gateway; they can provide context that may point researchers to a new path of resources. If you are interested in learning more about the importance and use of these files, check out The Value of Historical (and Permanent) Vertical Files.
There are many files pertaining to African American history in Beaufort District. Here is just a sampling:
- VF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: HILTON HEAD
- VF AFRICAN AMERICANS--ELECTED OFFICIALS
- VF AFRICAN AMERICANS--GENEALOGY
- VF AFRICAN AMERICANS—HISTORY
- VF CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
- VF FREEDMAN ARTS DISTRICT, 2022-
- VF GULLAH CULTURE: 1924-PRESENT
- VF HISTORIC MITCHELVILLE FREEDOM PARK
- VF MITCHELVILLE PRESERVATION PROJECT
- VF NAACP
- VF PENN CENTER
- VF SCHOOLS—INTEGRATION
- VF SCHOOLS--MATHER SCHOOL
- VF SCHOOLS--ROSENWALD SCHOOLS
A fascinating find from VF CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT is a copy of a newspaper clipping from the Beaufort Gazette dated 29 August 1963. Titled “City’s Property Is Desegregated,” this article reports the desegregation of city buildings, including the Beaufort County Library:
“The Beaufort County Library Main Branch, located at Craven and Carteret Street, is open to all citizens under policies adopted by the Library Board. The Library Board noted that Bookmobile service has been integrated since 1961.”
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All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868-1968 by William Lewis Burke (2017)
William Lewis's book-length study, All for Civil Rights, chronicles both the achievements and frustrations of Black lawyers in South Carolina from the Reconstruction Era to the Civil Rights Era. Unbeknown to most, the state of South Carolina had the largest African American population in the country up until the 1930's. During this time period, 168 Black lawyers were admitted to take the South Carolina Bar, the most of any Southern state. Lewis tells the true tale of the trials and tribulations of Black lawyers navigating the South Carolina legal system while simultaneously challenging said legal system.
101 Women Who Shaped South Carolina edited by Valinda W. Littlefield (2020).
After noticing that the majority of historical works written about South Carolina women only consisted of elite White women, Dr. Littlefield set out to create an historical record of South Carolina women of diverse backgrounds who transformed the Palmetto State. This title is divided into six parts that cover an ample array of professions and positions held by South Carolinian women dating all the way back to the sixteenth century:
- Part One: Reformers, Organizers, and Leaders
- Part Two: Writers, Novelists, Playwrights, and Poets
- Part Three: Artists, Athletes, and Entertainers
- Part Four: Educators and Activists
- Part Five: Medical Professionals
- Part Six: Legislators, Jurists, and Political Activists
First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation by James E. Clyburn (2025).
South Carolina's first Black congressman, Joseph Hayne Rainey, was elected in 1870 in the midst of the Reconstruction Era. George Washington Murray served as representative from 1893 to 1897 and would be the last Black Congressman from South Carolina until James E. Clyburn was elected in 1993, almost one hundred years later. This historical memoir is a tribute to all of the Black congressmen of South Carolina who fought for a better tomorrow; written by the ninth Black South Carolina congressman, Jim Clyburn.
I Will Not Be Silent And I Will Be Heard: Martin Luther King, Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Penn Center 1964-1967 by J. Tracy Power (1993).
Martin Luther King, Jr. used to visit Penn Center on St. Helena Island for respite from his public political activities campaigning for Civil Rights during the 1960s. It is said that he wrote much of his “I Have a Dream” speech there. In honor of his life and work, we recommend I Will Not Be Silent And I Will Be Heard: Martin Luther King, Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Penn Center, 1964-1967 by J. Tracy Power.
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Romancing the Gullah in the Age of Porgy and Bess by Kendra Y. Hamilton (2024).
Gullah Days: Hilton Head Islanders Before the Bridge, 1861-1956 by Thomas C. Barnwell Jr., Carolyn Grant, and Emory Shaw Campbell (2020).
Written by three descendants of African American Native Islanders, Gullah Days recounts the long and lasting impact Gullah culture has had on Hilton Head Island throughout history. When a bill to reshape land use was proposed to the General Assembly and rumors of building a bridge ran rampant, Native Islanders were highly concerned as the isolation of island living was seen as both a blessing and a curse. It was a way of life that was well loved, but had its limitations regarding interaction with the broader world and other cultures. Thus, Gullah Hilton Head Islanders had mixed feelings about the coming changes:
“Some Gullah people were happy to see the bridge come, and some were not... Most islanders saw the bridge with optimistic eyes. They saw convenience and the freedom to leave and come back to the island as they pleased.”
A Place Fa We: Black Townships on the Coast of the Gullah/Geechee by Marquetta L. Goodwine (2018).
A Place Fa We is the sixth volume of a thirty volume set called "Gullah/Geechee: Africa's Seed in the Winds of the Diaspora." This title in particular covers the complex history of land ownership in the Gullah Geechee Nation. The journey of finding and founding a safe space for Gullah communities to honor and empower their history and futures to come. Learn of the founders of Gullah Geechee Black townships and how they came to lead and empower their individual regions.
African Roots/American Culture: Africa in the Creation of the Americas edited by Sheila S. Walker (2001).
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I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the Twentieth and Twenty-first century Black history related materials that the Beaufort District Collection possesses. If you are interested in any of the materials I have shared today, or wish to explore our collection for yourself: walk-ins are sometimes accepted while appointments are always encouraged. To make an appointment, send an email to bdc@bcgov.net or give us a call at 843-255-6468. We hope to hear from you soon!
