Category: Race and the Law

Black History Month 2021

We have been honoring Black History throughout February on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Below are the informational slides we made for Black History Month 2021, with links to more information about each of the people honored.

Robert Smalls. Born in Beaufort, SC, 1839. US Navy Captain during the siege of Charleston, 1863-1865. Elected to SC House, 1868, and US House, 1874. Delegate to the 1895 South Carolina constitutional convention where he opposed disenfranchisement of Black voters.

The story of Robert Smalls commandeering a ship to sail himself and others to freedom: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thrilling-tale-how-robert-smalls-heroically-sailed-stolen-confederate-ship-freedom-180963689/

Henry Ezekial Smith, Samuel Ephesians Hammond, Jr., Delano Herman Middleton. Students shot and killed by police in the Orangeburg Massacre, February 8, 1968.

Learn about the Orangeburg Massacre: bit.ly/OrangeburgMassacreinLawCatalog

Sarah Mae Flemming. 1933 - Born in Eastover, SC. 1954 - Sued the company that continued operating segregated busses in Columbia, SC after Brown v. Board of Education. 1956 - Her case, Flemming v. SCE&G, was cited in Rosa Parks' case for the proposition "that the separate but equal doctrine can no longer be safely followed as a correct statement of the law." Browder v. Gayle, 142 F. Supp. 707 (M. D. Ala. 1956).

Rosa Parks’ case citing Flemming: https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6352107186205745283#r[15]

Kimberly O. Johnson. Born in South Carolina. Bachelors and masters degrees from University of South Carolina. She is the most recently elected Black woman legislator in South Carolina, serving in the SC House since 2021.

Bios of all SC House members from the current session, or use the dropdown to select a prior session: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?chamber=H