Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality. The decision partially overruled the Court's 1896 decision Plessy v. Ferguson, which had held that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that had come to be known as "separate but equal". The Court's unanimous decision in Brown, and its related cases, paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement, and a model for many future impact litigation cases.
Ridgeland is a town in Jasper and Beaufort counties, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census, a 7.1% decrease from 2010. It has been the county seat of Jasper County since the county's formation in 1912. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Ridgeland is included within the Hilton Head Island–Bluffton metropolitan area.
Thomas Heyward Jr. was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, and politician. Heyward was active politically during the Revolutionary Era. As a member of the Continental Congress representing South Carolina, he signed the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation. Heyward's imprisonment in Florida by the British for nearly a year and the loss of a considerable number of slaves led to his being proclaimed a martyr of the revolution.
Thomas Lynch Jr. was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of South Carolina and a Founding Father of the United States. His father was a member of the Continental Congress who had signed the 1774 Continental Association, and when he stepped down because of illness Lynch Jr. was selected to fill his post.
Race-integration busing in the United States was the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools within or outside their local school districts in an effort to diversify the racial make-up of schools. While the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, many American schools continued to remain largely uni-racial due to housing inequality. In an effort to address the ongoing de facto segregation in schools, the 1971 Supreme Court decision, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, ruled that the federal courts could use busing as a further integration tool to achieve racial balance.
Massive resistance was a strategy declared by U.S. senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. of Virginia and his son Harry Jr.'s brother-in-law, James M. Thomson, who represented Alexandria in the Virginia General Assembly, to get the state's white politicians to pass laws and policies to prevent public school desegregation, particularly after Brown v. Board of Education.
Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, and 1976, when the court ruled similarly about private schools.
North Florida Christian School (NFCS) is a private Christian school in Tallahassee, Florida, originally founded as a segregation academy. The school is administered by North Florida Baptist Church, formerly known as Temple Baptist Church.
Hilton Head Preparatory School (HHP) is a private school for junior kindergarten through 12th grade, located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, United States. It belongs to the South Carolina Independent School Association, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Southern Association of Independent Schools. It is the only school on Hilton Head Island to be accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools.
The Heyward-Washington House is a historic house museum at 87 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Built in 1772, it was home to Thomas Heyward, Jr., a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and was where George Washington stayed during his 1791 visit to the city. It is now owned and operated by the Charleston Museum. Furnished for the late 18th century, the house includes a collection of Charleston-made furniture. Other structures include the carriage shed and 1740s kitchen building.
Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education, 396 U.S. 19 (1969), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ordered immediate desegregation of public schools in the American South. It followed 15 years of delays to integrate by most Southern school boards after the Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated public schools were unconstitutional.
Wake Christian Academy (WCA) is a private, Christian, co-educational school in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1966 as a segregation academy in response to the racial integration of public schools.
Orangeburg Preparatory Schools, Inc. is an independent, college-preparatory, coeducational day school enrolling students in preschool through twelfth grade. It is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Orangeburg Prep has two campuses: the Lower Campus, housing preschool to 5th grade; and the Upper Campus, housing grades 6 to 12. OPS also operates a year-round day care center on the Lower Campus. Orangeburg Prep was formed through the merger of two segregation academies, Wade Hampton and Willington Academy.
Claiborne Academy is a private, non-profit, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school located in unincorporated Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, between Haynesville and Homer. It was founded in 1969 as a segregation academy. Their nickname is the Rebels, the school newspaper is the Rebel Yell, and their school symbol is the Confederate battle flag.
The Mississippi Delta region has had the most segregated schools -- and for the longest time—of any part of the United States. As recently as the 2016–2017 school year, East Side High School in Cleveland, Mississippi, was practically all black: 359 of 360 students were African-American.
The South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) is a school accrediting organization. It was founded in South Carolina in 1965 to legitimize segregation academies.
Old House is an unincorporated community in Jasper County, South Carolina, United States. The community is located at the intersection of SC 336 and SC 462; 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Ridgeland.
Old House Plantation, also known as Daniel Heyward Plantation, is a historic plantation site and grave located near Ridgeland, Jasper County, South Carolina. The plantation was first settled in 1743 and was likely active through the first quarter of the 19th century. It was the birthplace and burial site of Founding Father Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of South Carolina's four signers of the Declaration of Independence. The plantation site includes a variety of plantation structures including the main house, two probable flanking outbuildings, a tidal mill, stable and likely slave quarters. The original 500-acre plantation grew to 16,000 acres, but it was destroyed by fire in 1865. Associated with the plantation is the Heyward family cemetery and surrounding brick wall.
Beaufort Academy (BA) is a Pre-K through 12 independent school located in Lady's Island, South Carolina, United States. Beaufort Academy is a member of the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA), a school accrediting organization that was founded in 1965 to legitimize segregation academies. As of 1982, the school had never had a Black student, insisting that none had ever applied.
For the Methodist institution in Birmingham, Alabama of the same name that existed 1866-1923 see Sherman Industrial Institute
