Orangeburg County · Marker 38-52
S.C. State School of Law
Moss Hall, 118 Pinckney St., Orangeburg
Front inscription
In 1946, John H. Wrighten III, a S.C. State student from Edisto Island, applied to all-white Univ. of South Carolina School of Law, the only law school then in the state. After being rejected on account of race, Wrighten sued U.S.C. in federal court where he was represented by a team of NAACP attorneys. A judge ordered the state to make equal accommodations for Black legal training, admit Wrighten to U.S.C., or close the white law school.
Reverse inscription
Rather than accept Wrighten to U.S.C., the state opened segregated S.C. State School of Law in 1947. The school had no dedicated bulding or library until 1949, when it moved into this purpose-built facility designed by Columbia architects Lafaye, Lafaye & Fair. The school remained here until closing in 1966. Fifty-one people ultimately received S.C. State law degrees, including federal and state judges and civil rights attorneys.