[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E167-E168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO LEVI PEARSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 1998

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today during Black History Month to 
pay tribute to a true pioneer, Levi Pearson. As today is the 89th 
anniversary of the founding of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People, I should note that he was President of 
the Clarendon County, SC, branch of the NAACP. However, it is the work 
he did as an ordinary citizen from a small county in South Carolina for 
which he should be remembered.
  Last week, I paid tribute to the 20 plaintiffs of Briggs v. Elliott. 
Those plaintiffs were the foundation on which the case of Brown of 
Education of Topeka was based that eventually won the battle of public, 
desegregated education in our nation. Today, I pay tribute to the man 
who took the first courageous step on that very long road.
  In 1947, the search was on in Clarendon County for a parent who had 
the courage to test the legality of the discriminatory bus 
transportation practices that were the norm. Pearson had three children 
who attended Scotts Branch school nine miles from their home with no 
public transportation. On July 28, he signed a petition asking that 
``school bus transportation be furnished, maintained and operated out 
of public funds in School District Number 26 of Clarendon County South 
Carolina for use of the said children of your Petitioner and other 
Negro school children similarly situated.'' The petition was submitted 
to the local school board chairman and the secretary of the State Board 
of Education by the Reverend Mr. Joseph Albert DeLaine, a prominent 
Clarendon County schoolteacher. No response was given.
  After 8 months of silence, Pearson's attorneys filed a brief in the 
United States District Court. In the brief, they cited the 
``irreparable damage'' Pearson's children suffered from being denied 
the free bus service to which white children were entitled. The case 
was dismissed saying Pearson has no legal standing because his farm 
straddled the line between the school district where he lived and where 
his children went to school.

[[Page E168]]

  Pearson's courageous stand made him a hero among his friends in the 
community, but a villain to his foes. Because he dared to question the 
status quo, the white community cut off the credit Mr. Pearson needed 
for farm supplies and refused to buy goods raised on his farm. Despite 
the severe hardships placed on Pearson and his family, he stood his 
ground and remained in Clarendon County with his family as many black 
families moved north.
  Although his name is not on the list of 20 petitioners in the 
landmark case of Briggs v. Elliott, Pearson was the driving force that 
led to equal education for all. Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me 
today in paying tribute to Levi Pearson for he is indeed a pioneer, a 
hero and an outstanding American.

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