- Heather B.
- Monday, March 14, 2022
It's National Women's History Month and Columbia's blooming for early Spring. Grab your walking shoes for a brief stroll and learn more about a few of the women who have made huge impacts and continue to advance Columbia, the South, and our nation. We'll both start and end at Richland Library Main so make sure to venture in and explore our spaces and resources.
Ethel Bolden 12/7/1918 – 10/22/2002: A Pioneer Librarian
Ethel Bolden worked 39 years in Richland County schools as a teacher and librarian. Mrs. Bolden tirelessly advocated for the equality of library services, especially in underserved schools and communities. She established the first black school library at Waverly Elementary and was the first to professionally integrate at Dreher High School. In the 1970’s, Mrs. Bolden worked as a consultant to Richland Library to ensure that children in underserved areas had access to books, reading, and library services. She was on the Richland Library Board of Trustees for 15 years and was key to the passage of a 1993 bond referendum that resulted in a new Main library and 7 branches. Ms. Bolden is the mother of Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, Jr, astronaut and former Administrator of NASA. “Mrs. Bolden spent a lifetime reaching out to every child in this community as if they were her own. Indeed they were.” Warren Bolton, The State 10/25/2002
Walking Tour: Richland Library 1431 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Modjeska Monteith Simkins 12/5/1899 – 4/5/1992: Matriarch of the South Carolina Civil Rights Movement
Modjeska Simkins was a force who used her powerful, unapologetic voice to confront social injustice in South Carolina, the south, and the nation. Born in 1899 in Columbia, Simkins attended Benedict College for the entirety of her schooling, grades 1 through college. She taught at both Benedict College and Booker T. Washington High School. Mrs. Simkins was the Director of Negro Work for the South Carolina Tuberculosis Association from 1931-1942. A founding member of the South Carolina NAACP, Simkins fought for desegregation and for health care and wage equity for all. In 1957, she worked with the Richland County Citizens Committee (formerly South Carolina Citizens Committee) to push social justice and reform. Described as charismatic and outspoken, Mrs. Simkins always told it like it was. Simkins was “an astute political activist” and gave “much to the human rights struggle in her home state, in the South, and in the nation.” - Barbara Wood, Biographer
Walking Tour: Modjeska Monteith Simkins House 2025 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Harriet Hancock 9/25/1936 - : SC Mother of Pride
Harriet Hancock was born in Columbia in 1936 and graduated from Columbia High School in 1954, Thirty-four years later, Hancock received a Sociology degree from the University of South Carolina and went on to receive a law degree in 1988. Upon her son coming out to her in 1981, Hancock founded South Carolina’s Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) chapter. Hancock also founded Palmetto AIDS Life Support Services (PALSS) in 1985 to assist AIDS victims and fight against the stigma associated with the disease. Under her leadership, the first SC Pride parade took place in 1991 marching from the corner of Main and Richland to the State House. After years of advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, the Harriet Hancock Center opened in 1993 and continues to be a safe haven for so many. A Columbia attorney, activist, a mother to so many, Hancock continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ here in Columbia and beyond. “I feel like my son being gay opened up a whole new world to me – a wonderful community of good people, who are fun, artistic, talented, and intelligent. It has enriched my life.”
Walking Tour: South Carolina State House 1100 Gervais Street, SC 29208
Jean Toal 8/11/1943 – : Madame Chief Justice
Jean Toal is a native Columbian who graduated from Dreher High School in 1961. Toal’s support for equal rights led her to The South Carolina School of Law where she was only 1 of 4 women attending. Upon her graduation in 1968, only 10 women were active in law in the entire state of South Carolina. She worked as a lawyer for 20 years prior to becoming the first woman to serve as Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court in 1988. A civil rights and women’s rights activist, Toal worked to advance the lives of South Carolinians. She retired from the bench in 2015.
Walking Tour: Supreme Court of South Carolina 1231 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Sarah Leverette 12/30/1919 – 8/29/2018: Indefatigable Suffragist
Sarah Leverette was born in on December 30, 1919 in Anderson County. After graduating with Honors from the University of South Carolina in 1940, she was one of the first women to graduate from the University of South Carolina School of Law and the only woman in her 1942 graduating class. Leverette was the 35th woman to be admitted to the South Carolina Bar. Even though as capable as her male counterparts, Leverette found herself often being used as a secretary instead of a lawyer. “I knew the door was closed but I did not know it was locked. And the key was in the pocket of some man.” She became the first female faculty member of the University of South Carolina Law school working as a law librarian, a position she cherished for 25 years. She was the 1958 President of the League of Women Voters in Columbia. Upon retiring from the Law School in 1972, Leverette was appointed to the South Carolina Workers Compensation Commission. Professing that retirement was a bore, Leverette became a real estate agent after her 6-year Commission appointment. Never tiring and always fighting for women’s rights by challenging the status quo, Leverette impacted so many in South Carolina and beyond.
Walking Tour: USC Law Library 1525 Senate St, Columbia, SC 29208
Nikky Finney 8/26/1957 – : Audacious Poet
Nikky Finney was born in Conway, South Carolina in 1957 and graduated from high school in 1975 in Sumter. Finney went on to graduate from Talladega College in Alabama in 1979. She taught as at the University of Kentucky for 20 years. Her focus has been on documenting, celebrating, and creating contributions to African American art and literature. A professor, activist, feminist, and artist, Finney is the cofounder of Affrilachian Poets and a faculty member of the Cave Canem Foundation. She has a writing life rooted in peacefully fighting “the daily battles for truth and justice” for women and blacks. Finney has received a myriad of awards including the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry for Head Off & Split. Finney chairs the University of South Carolina’s John H. Bennett, Jr. department of Creative Writing and Southern Letters. Nikky Finney challenges us to be audacious in our own ways, demanding social change and equity.
Walking Tour: University of South Carolina English Department 1400 Greene Street, Columbia, SC 29208
Lucy Hampton Bostick 11/06/1898 – 7/18/1968: Miss Lucy
Lucy Hampton Bostick was born in Columbia in 1898. Bostick attended Emory University and the University of South Carolina prior to her 43-year tenure at Richland Library. She was appointed Chief Librarian in 1928. Bostick was an avid advocate for public libraries and the arts. She was a founding member of Historic Columbia and was involved with the Columbia Museum of Art and Town Theatre. Bostick wanted books in the hands of every resident and with a Rosenwald Grant, worked to open several library branches and acquire a bookmobile to reach outer communities of Richland County. Due to her achievements and accomplishments for public librarianship in South Carolina, The Richland Library Friends and Foundation presents an award in her name to those who significantly advance interest in libraries. Bostick’s “good works continue as a memorial to her beautiful years devoted to creating a more meaningful life for others.” Columbia Record, 7/19/1968
Walking Tour: Richland Library Main 1431 Assembly Street, Third Level (portrait)