Sixty years ago, the United States District Court in Charleston handed down a ruling in Briggs v. Elliott. On June 17, 1951, the court ruled against the plaintiffs in the case, stating that segregation was allowed in public schools as long as the school facilities between the races were equal. Briggs v. Elliott was appealed to the Supreme Court as the first primary and secondary public school case suing for desegregation and the District Court’s ruling was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court in their decision of Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954. 
The Briggs v. Elliott case originated out of Summerton in Clarendon County. African American parents were frustrated with the lack of transportation, the poor school facilities, and the lack of trained teachers in their local schools. After working with the South Carolina National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Summerton pastor J.A. De Laine began organizing local community members to appeal for school equalization. African American parents first attempted to force the school district to provide transportation for their students, but the lawsuit eventually progressed to calling for the equalization of school facilities and teacher salaries and then to suing for the desegregation of schools. The Archives and History Center has a copy of the first Briggs v. Elliott petition that called for school equalization: http://www.palmettohistory.org/exhibits/briggs/index.htm.
Briggs v. Elliott is a nationally significant case, as it was the NAACP’s first lawsuit calling for the desegregation of primary and secondary schools. The commitment of the Clarendon County African American parents impressed the NAACP, as the organization was at first reluctant to support a desegregation case in a Deep South state. Briggs v. Elliott also caused the State of South Carolina to pass its first sales tax of 3% to raise money to build new black schools. South Carolina was intent on providing “separate but equal” schools to prove to the Supreme Court that the state was committed to African American education. Although the Supreme Court overturned Briggs and four other school desegregation cases in their landmark 1954 decision Brown v. Board of Education, schools were not desegregated in Summerton (or in the rest of South Carolina) until after 1963.
The Archives and History Center has a wide variety of documents and sources related to the Briggs v. Elliott case. In addition to one of the petitions filed in the case, which can be found in the Clarendon County Superintendant of Education files, the governors papers of James F. Byrnes has a wealth of letters, correspondence, and other documentation about Briggs. Byrnes was elected governor in 1951 and served until 1955 and was the leader of South Carolina for the majority of the Briggs lawsuit. Byrnes’ papers also hold records of the State Educational Finance Commission, the state commission in charge of building new black schools for equalization purposes. Two of these schools are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places: Mary Wright Elementary School in Spartanburg, SC: http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/spartanburg/S10817742060/index.htm and Florence Benson Elementary School in Columbia, SC: http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740148/index.htm. The South Carolina Department of Education papers are also held at the Archives and History Center and contain information related to the Briggs case.
Some of the places associated with the case are also part of the Archives and History Center records. Summerton High School, the white high school that was significantly better constructed and equipped than the black Scott’s Branch High School, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places: http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/clarendon/S10817714006/index.htm. Churches associated with African American organizational meetings, such as Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church, all have state historical markers honoring their role in Briggs: http://www.scaet.org/markers/.
Teachers working with the Teaching American History program here at the Archives and History Center have used our documents and other historical sites to develop a multitude of lesson plans for use in the classroom. See:
1. Separate but Equal? A Lesson on Briggs v. Elliott (Grade 3) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/separatebutequal.html
2. “Bus”ting Down the Doors of Segregation (Grade 3) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/BustingDowntheDoorsofSegregation.html
3. Civil Rights Through Photographs (Grades 5 and 8) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/civilrightsphotographs.html
4. School Desegregation in South Carolina (Grade 11) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/schooldesegregation.html
The Briggs v. Elliott case originated out of Summerton in Clarendon County. African American parents were frustrated with the lack of transportation, the poor school facilities, and the lack of trained teachers in their local schools. After working with the South Carolina National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Summerton pastor J.A. De Laine began organizing local community members to appeal for school equalization. African American parents first attempted to force the school district to provide transportation for their students, but the lawsuit eventually progressed to calling for the equalization of school facilities and teacher salaries and then to suing for the desegregation of schools. The Archives and History Center has a copy of the first Briggs v. Elliott petition that called for school equalization: http://www.palmettohistory.org/exhibits/briggs/index.htm.
Briggs v. Elliott is a nationally significant case, as it was the NAACP’s first lawsuit calling for the desegregation of primary and secondary schools. The commitment of the Clarendon County African American parents impressed the NAACP, as the organization was at first reluctant to support a desegregation case in a Deep South state. Briggs v. Elliott also caused the State of South Carolina to pass its first sales tax of 3% to raise money to build new black schools. South Carolina was intent on providing “separate but equal” schools to prove to the Supreme Court that the state was committed to African American education. Although the Supreme Court overturned Briggs and four other school desegregation cases in their landmark 1954 decision Brown v. Board of Education, schools were not desegregated in Summerton (or in the rest of South Carolina) until after 1963.
The Archives and History Center has a wide variety of documents and sources related to the Briggs v. Elliott case. In addition to one of the petitions filed in the case, which can be found in the Clarendon County Superintendant of Education files, the governors papers of James F. Byrnes has a wealth of letters, correspondence, and other documentation about Briggs. Byrnes was elected governor in 1951 and served until 1955 and was the leader of South Carolina for the majority of the Briggs lawsuit. Byrnes’ papers also hold records of the State Educational Finance Commission, the state commission in charge of building new black schools for equalization purposes. Two of these schools are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places: Mary Wright Elementary School in Spartanburg, SC: http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/spartanburg/S10817742060/index.htm and Florence Benson Elementary School in Columbia, SC: http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/richland/S10817740148/index.htm. The South Carolina Department of Education papers are also held at the Archives and History Center and contain information related to the Briggs case.
Some of the places associated with the case are also part of the Archives and History Center records. Summerton High School, the white high school that was significantly better constructed and equipped than the black Scott’s Branch High School, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places: http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/clarendon/S10817714006/index.htm. Churches associated with African American organizational meetings, such as Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church, all have state historical markers honoring their role in Briggs: http://www.scaet.org/markers/.
Teachers working with the Teaching American History program here at the Archives and History Center have used our documents and other historical sites to develop a multitude of lesson plans for use in the classroom. See:
1. Separate but Equal? A Lesson on Briggs v. Elliott (Grade 3) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/separatebutequal.html
2. “Bus”ting Down the Doors of Segregation (Grade 3) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/BustingDowntheDoorsofSegregation.html
3. Civil Rights Through Photographs (Grades 5 and 8) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/civilrightsphotographs.html
4. School Desegregation in South Carolina (Grade 11) http://www.teachingushistory.org/lessons/schooldesegregation.html
Posts
