Many consider the 1960s as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, but the African American struggle for equality began much earlier. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other groups filed lawsuits, formed political parties, and protested throughout the 20th century. In Elmore v. Rice (1947) federal courts ruled that the Democratic Party should be opened to all South Carolinians. Briggs v. Elliott (1951) began as a grassroots campaign to equalize schools in rural Clarendon County. It became part of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that outlawed segregation in public schools.