Groundbreakers

Darla Moore

(1954-)  Darla Moore has built herself into one of the most prominent names in business in the South. She is the first woman to be profiled on Fortune magazine’s cover and has been named on the Top 50…

Groundbreakers

Irene Trowell-Harris

(1939-)  After growing up picking cotton with her family, Irene Trowell-Harris found a different calling for herself and became a nurse at her community college. Her church gathered money to send her…

Groundbreakers

Carrie Pollitzer

(1881-1974)  Carrie Pollitzer was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1881. Carrie worked hard and graduated from Memminger Normal School and studied at Columbia Teacher’s College in New York City in 1901. Carrie believed many of our society’s issues were…

Groundbreakers

Eulalie Chafee Salley

(1883-1975)  Eulalie Chafee Salley grew up on a plantation home, was educated, and she was able to attend Virginia’s Mary Baldwin College and Converse College for one year each. She married the then mayor of Aiken,…

Groundbreakers

Clelia Peronneau McGowan

(1865-1956) Clelia Peronneau McGowan grew up with an unusually progressive education after being born to two parents prominent in southern society. Her governess imparted on her thoughts of racial equality and feminist ideals. When her husband…

Groundbreakers

Modjeska Monteith Simkins

(1899-1992) Modjeska Monteith Simkins, known as the matriarch of the Civil Rights Movement, graduated from Benedict College in 1921 then began teaching at Booker T. Washington High School. Starting in 1931 she worked as Director of Negro Work for South…

Groundbreakers

Gilda Cobb-Hunter

(1952-) Currently, Gilda Cobb-Hunter represents District 95 as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. She previously represented District 66, a position she held for 28 years. She is one of the seven currently serving…

Groundbreakers

Mayor Barbara Jo Blain-Bellamy

After receiving an associate degree from Coastal Carolina she received a bachelor’s and master’s from USC. When she was 46, she began studying at USC Law, earning her Juris Doctorate in 2000. Barbara first won the election for…

Groundbreakers

Kate V. Wofford

(1894-1954)   Kate Vixon Wofford was born on October 20, 1894, in Laurens, the eldest of ten children. She received an A.B. with honors in 1916 from Winthrop College and soon after started teaching at Laurens High School. She served…

Groundbreakers

Juanita Willmon-Goggins

(1934-2010) As a graduate of SC State University, University of South Carolina, and Winthrop University Ms. Willmon-Goggins became the first African-American woman to be elected to the SC General Assembly. Born in Pendleton, SC she would also become the first…