For Immediate Release
October 8, 2019
Contact: Ryan Brown, 803-734-5080
rybrown@ed.sc.gov
South Carolina Department of Education and Partners To Unveil 2020 African American History Calendar
Columbia, S.C. – Today, the South Carolina Department of Education and statewide partners will unveil the 2020 South Carolina African American History Calendar in a special celebration at 7:00 p.m. at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia.

First created in 1989 to help bolster the state's K-12 African American history curriculum, the 12-month calendar profiles individuals from across the state who have had a positive, compelling impact on South Carolina and, often, across the country.

"The 2020 Calendar honorees’ commitment to improving the lives of others through education, medicine, athletics, engineering, and public service are remarkable," said State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman. "Each time readers turn the page to the next month, they will be reminded of the tremendous legacy these honorees have left to inspire future generations."

The 2020 African American History Calendar features the Frissell Community House, located at Penn Center in Beaufort County, on its cover. Penn Center was founded in 1862 as Penn School and was one of the first academic schools in the South established by Northern missionaries. The center helped usher in the Civil Rights Movement by serving as a retreat site for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and human rights activists. In 2017, President Barack Obama declared Penn Center a Reconstruction Era National Monument.

This year's calendar highlights 12 extraordinary individuals and one family who have enriched South Carolina’s history and been ambassadors for the state. The honorees featured in the 2020 calendar are: 

  • Vivan Ayers Allen
  • Reubin Bookert
  • Mignon Clyburn
  • Richard Fields
  • Benjamin James Glover
  • James Hall
  • Roy Jones
  • Joe Neal
  • Xanthene Norris
  • George Rogers
  • Nathaniel and Viola Stewart
  • The Taylor Family
Over 20,000 calendars are printed and distributed to schools, faith based organizations, community centers, and the general public to shine a light on South Carolina's extraordinarily rich African American history. The biographies and timeline of important dates printed in the calendar are also preserved online and thanks to accompanying lesson plans, are used by educators from across the state in classroom instruction. Over the past three decades, the project has developed into a virtual hall of fame and attracts attention from around the nation.

In addition to the South Carolina Department of Education, the sponsors who make the calendar possible include AT&T, Dominion Energy, South Carolina ETV, the University of South Carolina, and WIS-TV.

The 2020 calendar will be available online beginning Oct. 9, 2019. For more information about previous editions of the calendar, including biographies of past honorees and resources for educators, please visit SCAfricanAmerican.com .
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