Summerton, SC (WLTX) - In Clarendon County Friday, hundreds gathered to remember the life of Viola Pearson, who took some of the first steps to desegregate schools in the 1940's.
"There's a tree that stands in the front of Mrs. Pearson's residence. And if only the leaves on that tree could talk, then the stories of the struggle would really be told," says Robert Fleming, family friend and Manning NAACP President.
It was a struggle that began with the walk to school. Viola's husband, Levi, asked the Clarendon County School Board for some gas for a bus. It was a bus the parents had purchased themselves, to save their children the nearly 10 mile walk to school everyday.
When denied, Viola and Levi, along with other couples, sued the school board. Although it was eventually thrown out, it paved the way for Briggs vs. Elliot, which led to Brown vs. The Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. That landmark case began the integration of public schools.
It helped change the world for Pearson's future grandchildren and the three other generations she lived to see.
It was oftentimes a sacrifice for the Pearsons. Says Fleming of Levi's frequent trips into town from their farm, "During the week when he would venture into town, people were fearful of even speaking to him."
But it's one that was celebrated at Viola's funeral and one that will be for even more generations to come. Says Fleming, "They were merely wanting equality for all people."