Advocates want recognition of school desegregation landmarks

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A group of historians wants a national site dedicated to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared school segregation illegal to incorporate locations in South Carolina that helped pave the way for the case.

Historians and family members of those who fought for equal education of Black children in South Carolina said Monday that they are seeking the inclusion of places in Columbia and Clarendon County in the National Park Service’s Brown v. Board of Education historical site in Topeka, Kansas, The Post and Courier reported.

According to the group, the 1954 Supreme Court court case cannot be fully understood without the role of Briggs v. Elliott, a 1950 lawsuit filed in Summerton that challenged segregation. That suit was the first of five to be combined into Brown v. Board of Education.

The advocates want national recognition of the South Carolina schools at the centre of that case, the home of Harry and Eliza Briggs, and churches that served as meeting sites for parents who were challenging the unequal school system, among other places, the newspaper said.

U.S. House Majority Leader Jim Clyburn and U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, both Democrats, filed legislation in Congress this month to expand the Kansas site, and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott co-sponsored it.

Designating the locations as part of the Kansas site would allow for better signage, expanded opportunities for grants that would fund upgrades and education as well as other initiatives that could boost tourism revenue.