Editing Summerton, South Carolina (section)

== History ==
Summerton's history began ''circa'' 1830 to 1840. [[Plantations in the American South|Plantation]] owners made their move inward to Summerton to escape from the mosquitos along the [[Santee River]]. It was thought of as a health resort and safe retreat from the "malaria" associated with the swamp. The town was officially chartered by the South Carolina legislative delegation on Christmas Eve, 1889.

Summerton is well known for the court case ''[[Briggs v. Elliott]]'' (Court citation:347 US 483). ''Briggs'' was the first filed of the four court cases combined into ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', the famous case in which the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 officially overturned [[racial segregation]] in U.S. public schools. [[Summerton High School]] and Scott’s Branch High School were added to [[Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park]] in 2022.

Despite the outcome of ''Briggs'' and ''Brown'', as of 2004 Summerton's schools remain effectively segregated, with nearly all white students now attending the private Clarendon Hall, leaving the public schools almost entirely African-American. As of 2004, 95% of public high school students at Scotts Branch High are black, despite 40% white population in the community.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.briggsrevisited.com/education/02sumedu.html |title=Briggs Revisited |access-date=July 5, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041228223153/http://www.briggsrevisited.com/education/02sumedu.html |archive-date=December 28, 2004 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20040503&s=richard| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040925193516/http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20040503&s=richard| archive-date = September 25, 2004| title = The Heat of Summerton}}</ref>

Today, Summerton is still noted for being a summer retreat and vacation spot for visitors interested in nature and outdoor recreation activities, e.g. golf, fishing, hunting, boating, camping.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/summertonoutdoors/home|title=Summerton SC: Nature & Outdoor Recreation|website=sites.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/summertonhistory/|title=Historic Summerton|website=sites.google.com}}</ref>