The community will have the opportunity to learn more about the South Carolina case which later inspired Brown v. Board of Education.
Dr. Kimberly Richburg, associate professor of political science at Lander, will hold a public lecture on Briggs v. Elliott, and the part it played in ending racial segregation in public schools in the United States. The lecture will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in Lander University's Carnell Learning Center, room 300.
The event is part of Lander's "Achieving the Promise" series, sponsored by a grant from South Carolina Humanities, and it will present a vivid illustration of how, in a rightly-constituted democracy, the powerless still possess power.
"I am excited to share the inspirational story behind South Carolina's important, yet sometimes overlooked, connection to the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared the unconstitutionality of racially segregated public schools," said Richburg. "The Briggs v. Elliott lecture outlines how a group of parents, students, residents and leaders in the Clarendon County community challenged the racially segregated public school system in their quest to provide equal and quality education for all children."
Dr. Richburg is a native of Clarendon County, and her great uncle was a participant in the Briggs v. Elliott case. She is a specialist in American politics and joined the Lander faculty in 2005. Richburg earned a B.A. from Clemson University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information on Lander's "Achieving the Promise" series, visit www.lander.edu/atp or call the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at 864-388-8176.
S.C. Humanities:
The mission of South Carolina Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. This not-for-profit organization presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. It is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state.