Summerton Challenges School Segregation
The campaign to challenge “separate but equal” education began in Clarendon County, South Carolina. The filing of Briggs v. Elliott (1951) would go on to be one of the five cases that made up the landmark Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Supreme Court case.
Summerton Challenges School Segregation
The campaign to challenge “separate but equal” education began in Clarendon County, South Carolina. Levi Pearson filed suit against the school board to provide busses to African American students. After his case was dismissed on a technicality, A.M.E. minister J.A. DeLaine, helped organize African American parents in Clarendon County to petition for equal schools. Supported by Columbia NAACP attorney Harold Boulware, the effort resulted in the filing of Briggs v. Elliott (1951). Briggs v. Elliott would go on to be one of the five cases that made up the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case. African American parents who signed the petition faced backlash from white residents, losing their jobs, credit, and places to sell farm products. Columbia activist Modjeska Simkins, along with the NAACP and Victory Savings Bank, provided financial help to those who faced economic retaliation.