Inside the halls of the former Scott's Branch High School, where generations of Black students once attended classes under South Carolina's segregated education system, National Park Service officials are envisioning a different kind of classroom — one that will teach visitors about the Clarendon County families who helped change American history.
During a community forum and tour Thursday, Nov. 5, National Park Service officials outlined plans to transform the former school into a visitor and educational facility as part of Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park. The proposed rehabilitation of Scott's Branch and the former Summerton High School carries a combined estimated construction cost of nearly $30 million.
The gathering was part of the Nov. 4-6 Brown Five Symposium, which brought representatives from Kansas, Delaware, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and South Carolina to Clarendon County. The five communities are connected through the cases that led to the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
Dr. James Williams, superintendent of Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park, led attendees through the former Scott's Branch building, sharing details of the agency's preservation plans and an October 2026 historic structures report examining both Summerton schools.
Preserving the past, planning for the future
The report estimates approximately $21.6 million in construction costs for Scott's Branch and $8.1 million for Summerton High School, totaling nearly $29.7 million. Those figures exclude certain additional expenses, including hazardous-material abatement, parking lot repairs and some design and project management costs.
Built in 1951, Scott's Branch was part of South Carolina's effort to improve segregated Black schools rather than integrate public education. The building originally served elementary, junior high and high school students.
During the tour, Williams pointed out areas where original windows had been filled in with concrete blocks and lowered ceilings concealed earlier architectural features. Restoring those elements is among the improvements proposed in the report, along with replacing the deteriorating roof, addressing water infiltration, upgrading electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling systems, and improving accessibility.
The National Park Service envisions Scott's Branch as the primary visitor and administrative center for the Summerton portion of the national park, with historical exhibits, a theater, bookstore, offices and maintenance facilities.
Williams also discussed the possibility of using former classrooms for educational programming, including daylong student visits and potentially overnight civil rights camps.
"Right now, we don't have set plans, but what I'm imagining is this will be an education wing where we can have students come in for the day," Williams said during the tour.
He explained that overnight programming would require additional renovations and safety improvements, including fire suppression systems.
The building remains owned and operated by the Clarendon County School District and continues to accommodate community organizations, church activities and other services. Williams said maintaining those connections is an important consideration as the agency develops its plans.
"One of the questions that we get all the time is, are you going to kick us out?" Williams said. "And my answer is, I hope not."
The proposed layout would allow portions of the building to remain available for community activities while other areas serve visitors and park operations.
The former Summerton High School, which served white students during segregation, is also included in the park's expansion. Its historic auditorium has been identified as a potential community arts and gathering space, while other portions of the building could eventually accommodate a nonprofit organization or public entity.
The report identifies substantial rehabilitation needs at Summerton High School, including roof deterioration, water infiltration and suspected mold in the auditorium, along with repairs to windows and aging mechanical systems. Plans for the building's future use remain preliminary.
Remembering the sacrifices
For Marguirite DeLaine, chairperson of the Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Foundation, the symposium was an opportunity to recognize the families whose efforts helped bring about Brown v. Board of Education and the personal consequences they faced.
The Clarendon County case, Briggs v. Elliott, began with efforts by Black parents to obtain school transportation and equal educational opportunities for their children. Their fight eventually became a broader legal challenge to segregation itself.
During her remarks, DeLaine recounted the retaliation faced by residents who supported the movement, including job losses, threats and families being forced from their homes.
Among the examples she shared was Annie Gibson, a petitioner who lost her job and whose family was ordered to leave its home on Christmas Eve. DeLaine also described threats against the Rev. Joseph A. DeLaine and the community members who took turns guarding his home.
The symposium brought together representatives of the five cases to visit the communities where the legal challenges began and hear firsthand accounts of their histories. DeLaine encouraged attendees to consider what those experiences mean for the generations that followed.
"Belonging requires commitment," DeLaine said, emphasizing awareness, listening, involvement, integrity and sacrifice.
"The war is not won yet, ladies and gentlemen. The choice is ours," she said.
Williams also emphasized the importance of allowing communities to help shape how their histories are presented. He said the National Park Service has sought input from residents and representatives of the five communities to identify the experiences and stories that should be shared with visitors.
The park's August 2026 foundation document identifies the Summerton schools as fundamental historical resources, with preservation, education and community engagement among the priorities for their future management.
What comes next
Despite the progress in planning, significant steps remain before the proposed facilities can become a reality.
The National Park Service has not yet acquired either Summerton property, although the agency hopes to complete the acquisitions from the Clarendon County School District in 2027, according to information provided to The Manning Times.
The expansion was authorized through the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park Expansion and Redesignation Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in May 2022. The legislation added the two Summerton schools to the park's authorized boundaries and established affiliated areas associated with the other cases.
However, federal authorization does not automatically provide the funding needed to rehabilitate or operate the properties.
The National Park Service confirmed that Congress has not allocated additional operating funding for the Summerton sites.
Major rehabilitation projects compete for construction funding within the National Park Service, while Congress may also appropriate money for individual projects.
The Great American Outdoors Act's Legacy Restoration Fund, which previously supported deferred maintenance projects across the national park system, expired last fiscal year. Efforts are underway in Congress to reauthorize the program, but the agency said the park must also await decisions on the federal fiscal 2027 budget.
The October historic structures report provides a roadmap for preserving the buildings, identifying immediate repairs and longer-term improvements needed to adapt them for public use. The park's foundation document establishes how their stories will fit into the broader national historical park.
While the agency hopes to acquire the properties in 2027, no timeline has been established for completing the rehabilitation or opening the buildings as National Park Service facilities. Those steps will depend on available funding and the extensive work required to prepare the historic schools for public use.
For a community whose families helped change the course of public education in America, the buildings represent more than a chapter in history. Preserving them would ensure that the courage, sacrifices and determination of those families remain part of the story told to generations still to come.
