The Progressive Democratic Party was a political party in
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
in the 1940s. It was founded in 1944 by
John Henry McCray
John Henry McCray (1910–1987) was an journalist, newspaper publisher, politician, civil rights activist, and college academic administrator in the United States. An African American, he worked at some of the country's most prominent Black newsp ...
, editor of the black newspaper ''
The Lighthouse and Informer
The ''Lighthouse and Informer'', originally the ''Charleston Lighthouse'', was an African American newspaper in South Carolina. It was founded by journalist John Henry McCray in 1939, and it merged with the ''Sumter Informer'' in 1941, when it m ...
'' to galvanize blacks to register and vote. While it did not achieve electoral success, it did successfully get blacks to play an increasingly important role in
South Carolina politics
South Carolina government and politics covers the three different branches of government, as well as the state constitution, law enforcement agencies, federal representation, state finances, and state taxes. South Carolina is a state in the Unite ...
.
Origin
From the end of
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
in 1877 to the 1960s, the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
was the only viable political party in South Carolina. It was essential for any politician seeking to hold a public office that they win the Democratic
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
. The general election was predecided, because the
South Carolina Republican Party
The South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in South Carolina. It is one of two major political parties in the state, along with the South Carolina Democratic Party, and is the dominant par ...
never seriously contested an election and was little more than a patronage institution. The party was also increasingly hostile to blacks in the state, because the national
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
recognized the lily white faction, which sought to exclude blacks, as opposed to the Tolbert
black and tan faction The black-and-tan faction was a faction in the Republican Party in the South from the 1870s to the 1960s. It replaced the Negro Republican Party faction's name after the 1890s.
Southern Republicans were divided into two factions: the lily-white f ...
. More importantly, though, were the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
policies initiated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, which had the effect of convincing blacks to switch their allegiance from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Therefore, blacks sought participation in the Democratic primaries, but were excluded in the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
because of their race.
In April 1944, the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
ruled in the case ''
Smith v. Allwright
''Smith v. Allwright'', 321 U.S. 649 (1944), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court with regard to voting rights and, by extension, racial desegregation. It overturned the Texas state law that authorized parties to set their in ...
'' that
white primaries
White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. Statewide white primaries were established by the state Democratic Party units or by state legislatures in South Ca ...
were illegal. In response,
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Olin D. Johnston called the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
into session to convert the
South Carolina Democratic Party
The South Carolina Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina.
History
The Democratic Party thrived during the Second Party System between 1832 ...
into a private club so that it could exclude blacks from its primaries. John Henry McCray then led an effort for blacks to form their own Democratic party to show their support for President Roosevelt and to contest the validity of the white Democratic party. They originally called their party the South Carolina Colored Democratic Party, but at a convention in
Columbia on May 24 the party was formally established as the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP). The term colored was omitted from the name because their goal was racial inclusion and they did not want the appearance of an exclusively black party. A story was later concocted by McCray that the name was changed because an elderly white liberal woman wanted to join the party.
The PDP
At the party's convention, they selected a slate of eighteen delegates for the
Democratic convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
, adopted a ten point platform, and nominated Osceola E. McKaine for the
Senate election. The PDP delegates tried to unseat the white South Carolina delegates at the national convention, but the executive committee refused to go along with the scheme. The platform of the PDP included several civil rights issues such as the elimination of the poll tax, a prohibition of racial discrimination in hiring practices, and anti lynching laws. It also included a provision to support the American effort in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the election of President Roosevelt to a fourth term. Osceola McKaine only officially garnered 3,200 votes in the Senate election, but the PDP charged that many of his votes were not counted and estimated that he had over 10,000 votes.
From the beginning, the party and the
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 ...
worked hand in hand and were practically the same organization. The difference was that the NAACP handled all matters relating to litigation and the PDP was in charge of political action. Together they achieved a dramatic amount of success by increasing the number of registered voters in the state in the 1940s from 3,500 to 50,000. It was through their efforts that the black voters provided the margin that
Olin D. Johnston needed to beat
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Prior to his 48 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South Caro ...
in the
1950 Senate election.
In 1948, the party ceased functioning as a party and instead operated as a political action group. The PDP was urged by
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...
among others to drop "Party" from their name so that the white party leaders would be unable to claim that they were discriminating in the same manner as the PDP. Thus when the Supreme Court ruled in ''
Brown v. Baskin'' that the Democratic Party had to allow blacks into the party, the Progressive Democrats operated within the Democratic Party to achieve greater rights for blacks.
By 1958 the organization had become formally known as the Progressive Democratic Caucus, and McCray, despite his frequent absences from the state, claimed that the Caucus had helped carry South Carolina for
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
's
1960 campaign. The caucus formally dissolved by 1964.
See also
*
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), also referred to as the Freedom Democratic Party, was an American political party created in 1964 as a branch of the populist Freedom Democratic organization in the state of Mississippi during the ...
, a similar multi-racial Democratic party in Mississippi
*
National Democratic Party of Alabama
The National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) was a political party active in the U.S. state of Alabama that opposed the segregationist governor George Wallace.
1968 election
During the 1968 Presidential election, Alabama's Democratic Party sup ...
, a similar multi-racial Democratic party in Alabama
References
*{{cite book , last = Lau , first = Peter F. , title = Democracy Rising: South Carolina and the Fight for Black Equality Since 1865 , publisher= University Press of Kentucky , year=2006 , isbn=0-8131-2393-3 , pages = 136–144
External links
John Henry McCray Papers at the University of South Carolina*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080512010355/http://www.usca.edu/aasc/simkins.htm Modjeska Monteith Simkins at the University of South Carolina-Aiken
1944 establishments in South Carolina
1948 disestablishments in South Carolina
Black political parties in the United States
Centrist political parties in the United States
Defunct progressive parties in the United States
Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)
History of South Carolina
Political parties established in 1944
Political parties disestablished in 1948
Political parties in South Carolina
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...