Each morning, Levi Pearson’s children traveled about eight miles from their home in Davis Station to school. Some Black students walked to nine miles – each way. While Clarendon County had thirty school buses, only white students could use them. Pearson, along with his brother Hammett and other families, purchased a bus to transport Black students to school. When the bus needed repairs or even gas, the school district refused to pay for it. Instead, the families met regularly to raise money for gas, repairs, and a driver.

In June 1947, NAACP leaders, including James Hinton and J.A. De Laine, called for people willing to sue the district for school buses. Pearson volunteered. Levi and Hammett met with Harold Boulware, chief counsel for the South Carolina NAACP, and discussed plans for a petition. Boulware sent the petition to Clarendon County School District 26, which did nothing. By November, the school district claimed that Pearson was no longer interested in the case, which he refuted in a letter to the board. Boulware called for a hearing with the board, which was granted, but again, the district took no further action.

In the days before the court planned to hear Levi Pearson’s case, Harold Boulware asked him to be available to attend the District Court in Charleston.
Courtesy of Joseph A. De Laine Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Although Pearson’s case did not move forward, he faced significant backlash from white residents of Clarendon County. Businesses cut off his credit and refused to rent him harvesting equipment, meaning he could not buy seeds or other farming materials or harvest any crops. Still, Pearson remained active in the NAACP, even becoming president of the Clarendon County branch. In 1960, he took part in another case pushing for an end to segregated schools in Clarendon County: Brunson v. Board of Trustees of Clarendon County. The schools did not fully desegregate until 1970.

After white leaders claimed that Levi Pearson was no longer interested in the school bus case, he wrote this letter to explain that he was still pursuing it.
Courtesy of Joseph A. De Laine Papers, South Caroliniana Library

In March 1948, Levi Pearson filed a lawsuit on behalf of his son, James. However, the case was dismissed on a technicality. Since Pearson’s land crossed the boundaries of Districts 5 and 26, but he paid property taxes in District 5, white leaders said that James could not technically be a student of District 26. The case was dismissed, and Hammett offered to take Levi’s place. However, by the summer of 1948, the NAACP changed its tactics and decided not to sue for buses – instead, it would fight for equal schools.

South Carolina NAACP president James Hinton asked Levi Pearson to serve as temporary president of the NAACP branch in Clarendon County when it re-formed in 1948.
Courtesy of Joseph A. De Laine Papers, South Caroliniana Library

Interview with Ferdinand Pearson

Ferdinand Pearson speaks about his family’s role in the bus lawsuit and later Briggs v. Elliott.
From Behind the Veil Oral History Project, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University Libraries

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Interview with Ferdinand Pearson, part 1
Listen To Their Stories Audio Header

Interview with Ferdinand Pearson, part 2

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