Joseph Armstrong De Laine | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1898-07-02)July 2, 1898 Manning, South Carolina |
| Died | August 3, 1974(1974-08-03) (aged 76) |
| Alma mater | Allen University(B.A. 1931) |
| Occupation(s) | African Methodist Episcopal minister and teacher |
| Known for | Civil rights |
Joseph Armstrong "J. A." De Laine (July 2, 1898 – August 3, 1974) was anAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church minister and civil rights leader fromClarendon County, South Carolina. He received a B.A. fromAllen University in 1931, working as a laborer and running a dry-cleaning business to pay for his education. De Laine worked withModjeska Simkins and the South CarolinaNAACP on the caseBriggs v. Elliott, which challenged segregation inSummerton, South Carolina.[1] The case was consolidated into the U.S. Supreme Court decision usually cited asBrown v. Board of Education.
De Laine decided to leave South Carolina, and never returned, after a warrant was issued for his arrest for returning gunfire at a car that was shooting at his house.[2] He fled first to New York City and then to Buffalo, New York, where he founded another Methodist church. As a result of efforts begun in 1955, De Laine was pardoned in 2000 by the South Carolina State Parole Board.[3]
De Laine also memorably taught school in South Carolina, and in 2006 was inducted into South Carolina's Educational Hall of Honor at the University of South Carolina.
Rev. De Laine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson, key figures in theBriggs v. Elliott case, were awarded Congressional gold medals in 2003 "in recognition of their contributions to the National as pioneers in the effort to desegregate public schools."[4]
PlaywrightLoften Mitchell wrote a 1963 play based on De Laine's story titledLand Beyond the River.[5]
ActorOssie Davis also wrote a short play,The People of Clarendon County, which starred himself, his wife,Ruby Dee, andSidney Poitier. It was featured, as was the case predatingBrown v. Board of Education in which De Laine played an important role, in Alice Bernstein's illustrated book with the same title.[6]
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