September Timeline

1739
September 9, 1739

The Stono Rebellion occurs at Stono Bridge, South of Charleston. This large-scale act of resistance among enslaved African Americans who demanded their freedom struck fear in white citizens who responded with violent assaults and even tighter slave codes and regulations.

1867
September 7, 1867

Celia Mann, a free woman of color and a midwife, died in Columbia at 68 years of age. According to family oral tradition, Celia was born into slavery in Charleston, gained her freedom, and walked to Columbia. She and her husband, Ben DeLane, owned their own property, now the site of the Mann-Simons cottage that was maintained by their descendants.

1869
September 2, 1869

Anna DeCosta Banks, RN, a graduate of Hampton Institute and a pioneer in the nursing profession, was born in Charleston, S.C. A wing of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is named in her honor.

1931
September 18, 1931

Brook Benton [Benjamin Franklin Peay], American soul vocalist, was born in Lugoff, S.C.

1935
September 27, 1935

Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, the only woman to pitch for the Negro Major League was born in Ridgeway, S.C. In 1954, she was signed to play for the Indianapolis Clowns.

1953
September 20, 1953

NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall spoke at Allen University and received a $5000 check from the SC NAACP to support legal challenges to segregation, including the pending Briggs v. Elliott case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

1959
September 29, 1959

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began holding a series of meetings of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Columbia.

1963
September 3, 1963

Following the court ruling Millicent Brown et al. v. Charleston County School Board, District 20, 11 African American students desegregated Charleston County schools, setting stage for school desegregation across S.C.

September 11, 1963

Henrie Monteith, James L. Solomon Jr., and Robert Anderson enrolled at the University of South Carolina, becoming the first African Americans to attend since Reconstruction.

1983
September 1, 1983

Jasper Cureton, a native of Oconee County and a graduate of South Carolina State College and the University of South Carolina, was sworn in as the first African American member of a newly formed S.C. Appeals Court.

1997
September 29, 1997

Alex English, a native of Columbia, a standout University of South Carolina basketball player, and a prolific NBA scorer, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Ma.

2004
September 8, 2004

Joseph A. De Laine, Levi Pearson, and Harry and Eliza Briggs were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their civil rights struggles in Clarendon County.