A Ten Year Social History of School Desegregation in McCormick, South Carolina.

This research study consisted of a three-tiered investigation, examining the roles of the local, state, and federal governments in bringing about the end of the dual system of education in South Carolina from 1964 to 1974. The study's purpose was twofold: (1) to detail the events leading up to and surrounding the desegregation of a county's school system in rural South Carolina; and (2) to compare the events in this county to the general pattern of events taking place in the state at the time to determine if this county was exceptional in its pattern of school unification. McCormick is a small rural school in western South Carolina with a black majority population. The area is dependent on service and agricultural jobs. The study entails the county's efforts to desegregate schools and the white reactions to those efforts. This study examines both archival and oral data sources. It is hoped this study will: (1) contribute to the archival history of South Carolina in this important era of state history; (2) add to the expansion of the present knowledge of educational history; and (3) address the needs of the school for a sense of identify from its own history. (EH)