Born in 1898, J. A. De Laine grew up in Clarendon County before studying divinity at Allen University in Columbia. While in Columbia he met Mattie Belton, whom he married in 1931. J.A. and Mattie De Laine taught in Orangeburg for several years before returning to Clarendon County. They both obtained teaching positions, and J.A. De Laine served as pastor at Spring Hill AME Church from 1934-1939. In 1940, he was assigned to the Pine Grove Circuit, leading Pine Grove and Society Hill AME Churches.
Rev. De Laine was not only a religious leader: he was also a community leader and an activist. He worked to re-establish the NAACP in Clarendon County and assisted in organizing people in the community to fight against racial inequalities in schools. In 1947, he attended the Benedict-Allen Summer School in Columbia, where Rev. James Hinton, president of the South Carolina NAACP, challenged South Carolinians to fight against discrimination and inequality in public schools. When De Laine returned to Clarendon County, he worked with the NAACP to help Levi Pearson sue for school buses.
After the Pearson case was dismissed, De Laine helped gather signatures for a new petition to challenge all aspects of unequal schools in the county. After this case made it to the district court, the NAACP, encouraged by Judge J. Waties Waring, changed its target: the end of segregated schools. De Laine again coordinated with the NAACP to gather signatures from twenty families to challenge segregation in Clarendon County. Named for the first person to sign the petition, Briggs v. Elliott would make its way to the United States Supreme Court and be decided as one of the cases in Brown v. Board of Education that declared school segregation unconstitutional.
Courtesy of Joseph A. De Laine Papers, South Caroliniana Library
De Laine and his family faced intense backlash for their involvement in the lawsuits. Former Scott’s Branch High School principal S.I. Benson and white leaders of the Clarendon County School System sued him for defamation. Both Rev. and Mrs. De Laine lost their teaching jobs, white businesses denied the family credit, and Rev. De Laine received death threats. In 1950, AME Bishop Frank Madison Reid, Sr. transferred De Laine to St. James AME Church in Lake City, South Carolina. However, the move did not shield the De Laines: in October of that year, their home in Summerton was burned. In 1955, St. James AME was also set on fire, and the De Laines were repeatedly targeted by night riders who shot at their home. On October 10, De Laine fired back at the attackers. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, prompting Rev. De Laine to flee to New York. He died in 1974, and in 2000, the South Carolina Parole and Pardons Board issued a symbolic pardon in recognition of his struggle.
“Shall we gird our loins and press our cause and let them know that for us as for them the snowflakes fall, the flowers bloom and the harvest is gathered in… the years march by in the sublime procession of the age while we are here in a place of sacrifice.”
Rev. Joseph A. De Laine, “Things Don’t Just Happen, You Got to Make ‘Em Happen”
“Things Don’t Just Happen, You Got to Make ‘Em Happen,” speech by Rev. De Laine
“The White Citizens Councils and States Rights League,” speech by Rev. De Laine
