Esau Jenkins
Encyclopedia
Esau Jenkins was the founder/overseer of Haut Gap Middle School in Charleston County School District
. This school once was a high school because back then Jim Crow laws
was going on and that school were for African Americans in Johns Island, South Carolina
. Since then the population increased 500%.
Jenkins was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. More information about him is available in the autobiography of his longtime co-worker, Septima Poinsette Clark
, and in Guy and Candie Carawan's book Ain't You Got a Right to the Tree of Life.'
In 1954, Clark and Jenkins founded the South's first Citizenship School. The purpose was to teach illiterate blacks to read so that they could pass a required literacy test to vote. This first class was taught by Bernice Robinson, a beautician and Clark's cousin. Reading and voting were the springboards for blacks to get on with a larger social movement. It naturally followed that demonstrations about voting rights occurred. The Citizenship schools, eventually managed by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
"played a critical role in building the base for the Civil Rights Movement", and by 1967 Jenkins was a member of the SCLC's board of directors.
More can be read about Citizenship Schools in Myles Horton's autobiography, The Long Haul.
Charleston County School District
Charleston County School District is a school district within Charleston County, South Carolina, that educates roughly 8,000 kindergarten to 12th grade students in 23 schools.- High Schools:*Central High School, Pageland*Cheraw High School, Cheraw...
. This school once was a high school because back then Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
was going on and that school were for African Americans in Johns Island, South Carolina
Johns Island, South Carolina
Johns Island, also spelled John's Island, is the largest island in the U.S. State of South Carolina. It is one of the many Sea Islands along the coast of South Carolina.-Background:...
. Since then the population increased 500%.
Jenkins was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. More information about him is available in the autobiography of his longtime co-worker, Septima Poinsette Clark
Septima Poinsette Clark
Septima Poinsette Clark was an American educator and civil rights activist. Clark developed the literacy and citizenship workshops that played an important role in the drive for voting rights and civil rights for African Americans in the American Civil Rights Movement." She became known as the...
, and in Guy and Candie Carawan's book Ain't You Got a Right to the Tree of Life.'
In 1954, Clark and Jenkins founded the South's first Citizenship School. The purpose was to teach illiterate blacks to read so that they could pass a required literacy test to vote. This first class was taught by Bernice Robinson, a beautician and Clark's cousin. Reading and voting were the springboards for blacks to get on with a larger social movement. It naturally followed that demonstrations about voting rights occurred. The Citizenship schools, eventually managed by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
"played a critical role in building the base for the Civil Rights Movement", and by 1967 Jenkins was a member of the SCLC's board of directors.
More can be read about Citizenship Schools in Myles Horton's autobiography, The Long Haul.