Joseph Armstrong DeLaine (July 2, 1898 – August 3, 1974) was a Methodist minister and civil rights leader from Clarendon County, South Carolina. He received a B.A. from Allen University in 1931, working as a laborer and running a dry cleaning business to pay for his education. DeLaine worked with Modjeska Simkins and the South Carolina

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

on the case '' Briggs v. Elliott'', which challenged segregation in

Summerton, South Carolina Summerton is a town in Clarendon County, South Carolina, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 814. Geography Summerton is in southwestern Clarendon County at (33.605145, -80.352159). Interstate 95 passes just south of the to ...

. DeLaine decided to leave South Carolina, and never returned, after a warrant was issued for his arrest for returning gunfire when his parsonage later came under hostile gunfire. He fled first to New York City and then to Buffalo, New York, where he founded another Methodist church. As a result of efforts begun in 1955, DeLaine was pardoned in 2000 by the South Carolina State Parole Board. DeLaine also memorably taught school in South Carolina, and in 2006 was inducted into South Carolina's Educational Hall of Honor at the University of South Carolina. Rev. DeLaine and three other plaintiffs in the ''Briggs v. Elliott'' case were posthumously awarded Congressional gold medals in 2004 for their courage and persistence despite repeated acts of domestic violence against them.

In popular culture

Playwright Loften Mitchell wrote a 1963 play based on DeLaine's story titled ''Land Beyond the River''. Actor Ossie Davis also wrote a short play, ''The People of Clarendon County'', which starred himself, his wife,

Ruby Dee Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of ''A Raisin in the Sun'' (19 ...

, and

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

. It was featured, as was the case predating ''Brown v. Board of Education'' in which DeLaine played an important role, in Alice Bernstein's illustrated book with the same title.

External links

Rev. Joseph A. DeLaine
in South Carolina African American History Online

South Carolina's South Caroliniana Library and Digital Collections * Alice Bernstein, ''The People of Clarendon County'' (2007 - ), https://www.amazon.com/People-Clarendon-County-Ossie-Davis/dp/0883782871/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381767028&sr=1-1&keywords=0883782871 * African-American Methodist clergy American Methodist clergy Activists for African-American civil rights Congressional Gold Medal recipients People from Clarendon County, South Carolina Allen University alumni 1898 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American clergy African-American activists Religious leaders from South Carolina Activists from South Carolina 20th-century Methodist ministers {{civil-rights-movement-stub