Civil Rights Era (1955-1969)

One of the singular accomplishments of Paul’s career was her idea to build a modern home in a rural community to offer blacks an opportunity to learn that they could afford modestly priced, yet comfortable homes. She played a key role in securing a grant from the General Education Board for the home’s construction.

In 1957 Peace was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of South Carolina. Posthumous honors included induction into the South Carolina Press Association Hall of Fame in 1981 and induction into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1991.

Pearson quickly demonstrated the talent to compete not only on the short dirt tracks but also on the growing number of high-banked, paved superspeedways.

“Miss Jim” Perry was the first woman admitted to the South Carolina Bar and a distinguished lawyer and civic leader for forty years.

Perry’s most notable cases included his representation of Harvey Gantt in his admission as the first black student at Clemson University in 1963 and James Solomon and Henri Monteith in their admission that same year as the first African American students of the University of South Carolina in the twentieth century.

From about 1898 to 1926 Perry ran the Elhanan orphanage and school for poor children in Marion, North Carolina.

Although a professional-bowl-caliber defensive lineman, Perry became a national media sensation when head coach Mike Ditka began using the massive rookie as a running back.

Peterkin’s stark, poignant stories about black country folk were among the first flowerings in the movement toward ironic, realistic regional fiction later known as the Southern Renaissance

Upon passing civil service examinations in 1938, Peurifoy gained employment at the U.S. State Department within the office processing export licenses.

Phifer retired at the end of the war and devoted her time to gardening, canning, weaving, and her family.

Pinckney played a key role in the literary revival that swept through the South after World War I.

The young Pinkney mixed his love of music with baseball, earning a pitching position with the New York Blue Sox in the Negro Baseball League.

Born in Charleston, Carrie, Mabel, and Anita Pollitzer were artists, activists, and social reformers.

With America’s entry into World War II, Pope, a National Guard captain, was called to active duty. He served in North Africa and Italy with the 107th Antiaircraft Battalion.

The Poppenheims helped bring the burgeoning women’s club movement to Charleston, as founding members and officers of the Century Club, the Civic Club, the Intercollegiate Club, and the Charleston City Federation of Clubs.

Since 1984, Powell has written eight novels and collections of short stories. His early fiction is set in the newly urbanized South and peopled with recognizable southern characters.

Aware that many white Democrats in South Carolina opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s reelection to a fourth term in 1944, African American activists sought to demonstrate their loyalty to the national party by mobilizing black support for the president.

Reporters took an instant liking to the modest Purvis, and the mild-mannered G-man quickly became a national celebrity.

Rash considers himself an Appalachian writer, and his published work typically uses the mountains as a setting. However, his major literary themes and concerns are universal: the nature of evil in human beings, the incessant struggle for certitude despite the chaos of existence, and the tragedy of unfulfilled lives.

Ravenel is possibly the best example of the influence of the Poetry Society of South Carolina on local writers; its founding in the year of her husband’s death brought her into a poetry-conscious environment.