John Van Surly DeGrasse was a commissioned physician with the Union Army during the American Civil War and was the first black to be admitted to a United states medical society. He was born in June 1825 in New York City, New York to Count … Read MoreJohn Van Surly DeGrasse (1825-1868)
Dr. Matilda Arabelle Evans, black healthcare advocate, was born in Aiken, South Carolina in 1866. The oldest of three, born to Anderson and Harriet Evans, she spent much of the beginning of her life working in the fields with her family. Martha Shoefield, a white … Read MoreMatilda A. Evans (1866-1935)
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 81-3 Argued: October 12, 1982 — Decided: May 24, 1983 [*] CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari to decide whether petitioners, nonprofit private schools that prescribe … Read More(1983) Bob Jones University v. United States
Image Courtesy of the New York Amsterdam News (Fair Use) Former Tuskegee University president Benjamin Franklin Payton was born in 1932 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. His father, Reverend Leroy Payton, was a Baptist minister, farmer, and teacher while his mother, Sarah Mack Payton, was a … Read MoreBenjamin F. Payton (1932-2016)
Image courtesy of the South Carolina African American Calendar Born in Columbia, South Carolina on June 19, 1913, Edwin Roberts Russell was an African American chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project in World War II which produced the first atomic bombs and initiated the … Read MoreEdwin Roberts Russell (1913-1996)
In 1909 Gilbert Haven Jones became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from a German university. After completing his doctoral studies in philosophy, Jones returned to the United States to take up teaching and administrative positions, primarily at Wilberforce University. Jones was also … Read MoreGilbert Haven Jones (1881-1966)
Image Ownership: Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project (Fair Use) Clergyman and civil rights activist John Hurst Adams was born November 27, 1927 in Columbia, South Carolina to Reverend E.A. Adams and homemaker Charity Nash Adams. John Adams graduated from Booker T. Washington … Read MoreJohn H. Adams (1927– )
The Port Royal Experiment, the first major attempt by Northerners to reconstruct the Southern political and economic system, began only seven months after the firing on Fort Sumter. On November 7, 1861 the Union Army occupied South Carolina’s Sea Islands, freeing approximately 10,000 slaves. As … Read MorePort Royal Experiment (1862-1865)
Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., NASA’s first permanent black administrator, was born to Charles Frank and Ethel Bolden, both teachers, on August 19th, 1946 in Columbia, South Carolina. He rose to the rank of Major General in the United States Marine Corps and was a National … Read MoreCharles F. Bolden Jr. (1946- )
