“P” is for Perry, Matthew J. Jr. (1921-2011). Lawyer, jurist, civil rights activist. A native of Columbia, Perry graduated from South Carolina State College in 1948 and from the South Carolina State Law School in 1951. After practicing law in Spartanburg, he moved to Columbia where he became chief counsel of the South Carolina Conference of Branches of the NAACP. Among his most notable cases were those that resulted in the admission of Black students to Clemson and the University of South Carolina; the integration of South Carolina’s public schools, state parks, beaches, and hospitals; and the creation of single-member legislative districts. In 1976 he was appointed a judge on the US Military Court of Appeals. In 1979 Matthew J. Perry, Jr., was appointed a US district judge for the District of South Carolina.
“P” is for Perry, Matthew J. Jr. (1921-2011).
