On the way to Brown v. Board: 

Sue for Desegregation

 
Afro-American photo of Briggs v. Elliott trial, Charleston, May 28, 1951, first lawsuit in Brown v. Board

This Afro-American newspaper photo shows people waiting outside the Charleston federal courthouse during the Briggs v. Elliott trial. The photographer estimated 500 jammed the courthouse corridors while hundreds more waited in the streets for a possible turn inside. They also waited for word passed in whispers from those in the courtroom to those in the corridors to those outside, all eager to hear what NAACP special counsel Thurgood Marshall had to say.

“The first Briggs v. Elliott petition was signed in Summerton on November 11, 1949, by 107 parents and their children. They asked for ‘educational advantages and facilities equal in all respects to that which is provided for whites.’ On November 7, 1950, at a pretrial hearing, NAACP special counsel Thurgood Marshall withdrew this petition without prejudice. In a long-awaited step, the NAACP and petitioners instead asked for something far greater: desegregation of public schools. This second Briggs petition, filed December 22, 1950, was signed by 20 adults and their 46 children. On May 28, 1951, Briggs v. Elliott was heard in District Court in Charleston, South Carolina.”
Harry Briggs Sr. honored, with NAACP supporters of Briggs v. Elliott, June 17, 1951, first lawsuit in Brown v. Board

On June 17, 1951, Briggs v. Elliott petitioners and supporters gathered at Liberty Hill AME Church to celebrate their days in court. at a testimonial in their honor. Petitioners received merit awards before as many as 1,500 attending.

From left are Rev. Eugene Edward Richburg, Liberty Hill AME minister and a petitioner; Modjeska Simkins, NAACP state Conference secretary; and Rev. James Washington Seals, St. Mark AME minister and a supporter.

In the center S. J. McDonald, chair of the NAACP state conference’s executive Commitee, hands a certificate of appreciation to petitioner Harry Briggs Sr.

To the right of Briggs are J.S. Flutie Boyd, a Clarendon county NAACP officer; Rev. James M. Hinton, president of the NAACP state conference; and Eugene A.R. Montgomery, the state conference’s first field secretary.

Behind Briggs are Rev. James Armstrong Delaine, a supporter; and John McCray, an editor and reporter for black newspapers. Photo courtesy of sOuth Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina.

Child and adult petitioners and supporters of Briggs v. Elliott, first lawsuit in Brown v. Board

The second Petition, asking for desegregation of public schools, was signed by 20 adult and 46 child petitioners, some pictured here.

Among the Adults are petitioners Harry Briggs, far left in second row; Behind him, Robert Georgia; and Standing in the back row. Rev. Edward Eugene Richburg, fourth from left. Local supporters include Rev. James Washington Seals, fifth from left; J.S. ‘Flutie’ Boyd; and Rev. Joseph Armstrong DeLaine, center, in dark suit.

NAACP supporters standing in the back row include Modjeska Simkins, state conference secretary, in the dark hat; And to her immediate right, Rev. James Myles Hinton Sr., state conference president. behind Hinton, Stand John McCray, reporter and editor; and Hammett Pearson, whose brother levi Petitioned for a school bus for Black children On March 16, 1948, beginning the decades of Petitions and Court Hearings for the Black parents and their children. Photo Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library, USC.