The Reverend I. DeQuincey Newman was one of the state’s most important leaders. He worked to bring peace and social justice to the state of South Carolina and to the nation. He led the NAACP through the turbulent 1960s and capped his long and distinguished career as a servant to the people when he came out of retirement in 1983 to be elected as the state's first African American state senator since Reconstruction.

Born on April 17, 1911, on a farm in Darlington County, to the Reverend Meloncy and Charlotte Morris Newman set the stage for Newman’s life as a leader. He learned about the precarious life of African Americans in the South at an early age. Newman began witnessing racially-based inequities as early as eight years of age, and even as a young adult I. DeQuincey ran many risks of danger to himself as an evolving leader in a staunchly racist society.

I.D., as his contemporary called him, worked hard as a young man to obtain an education and to become a preacher. He attended public school in Williamsburg County and Claflin College, now Claflin University, in Orangeburg, South Carolina and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Clark College in Atlanta in 1933 and a bachelor of divinity degree in 1937 from Gammon Theological Seminary in the same city. He became an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church in 1931. On April 27, 1937 Newman married Anne Pauline Hinton of Covington, Georgia, daughter of Oscar Cornelius and Sarah Elizabeth Hendricks. One daughter, Emily Morris DeQuincey Newman was born to them. After marrying and developing his preaching skills, Newman returned to South Carolina in 1937. He served pastoral appointments in Georgia and South Carolina and also served as superintendent of the Sumter District of the United Methodist Church. Newman was also appointed to a number of positions of trust for both the South Carolina Conference and the General Conference of the church. He was a key member of the Merger Committee for the South Carolina United Methodist Conference, which brought the previously segregated conferences into a single organization.

As a minister, Newman was a natural leader of the black communities in which he lived, and early in his career he became active in the civil rights movement. In 1943, he was one of the leaders in organizing the Orangeburg branch of the NAACP. He was active in the organization at the local and state levels, holding several leadership positions. Finally, just as the civil rights movement was hitting the headlines all over the nation, Newman became field director for the state NAACP. This made him responsible for tactics and strategies in challenging the institutions of segregation in the state. He led many marches and demonstrations throughout the state in the 1950s and 1960s and was arrested on several occasions. His leadership forced change, but was characterized as being implemented in a diplomatic and gentlemanly manner. It was often said that he knew when to push and how far to push. Newman became a friend and close confidant to many of South Carolina’s leaders, including governors Robert McNair, Dick Riley, John West, Congressman Bryan Dorn, and Senator Fritz, Hollings. Newman served in this capacity for numerous political leaders in the state, and was sought for advice and council in easing racial tensions throughout the state.

Among his protégés are Vernon Jordan, who also served as NAACP field director in the South and who later became executive director of the National Urban League, James E. Clyburn, Congressman from South Carolina 6th Congressional District, Isaac Williams, currently District Aide to Congressman Clyburn, and numerous others.

Newman was instrumental in the organization of the Progressive Democratic Party, which initiated full participation by Blacks in the S.C. Democratic Party. He played a major in helping South Carolina in achieving a more peaceful transition from a racially segregated to a more integrated society. He led the state NAACP until 1969, when he returned to preaching and served with distinction in many other endeavors, which brought him recognition and honor. He was well known throughout the state and nation as a champion of civil rights in South Carolina, as well as an advocate of nonviolent protest in places of public accommodation and equal voting rights.

Newman was also a strong advocate of human services, particularly with regard to the needs of citizens in rural areas and the elderly. He served as executive assistant to the Commissioner of the S.C. Department of Social Service from 1972-1974. He was named Director of the Rural Regional Coordination Demonstration Project in the Office of the Governor. This project became the Division of Rural Development with Newman serving as the director until 1981. He was founder and then president of the Statewide Homes Foundation from 1970 to 1974. The organization was established to promote better housing and education for low-income families and Senior Citizens Service Center to serve citizens of the Camden area. His humanitarian service brought recognition from the S.C. Congress of Parent Teachers, the S.C. Nursing Citizen of the year and by the National Institute on Rural Social Work in Rural Areas.

In October 1983 Newman ran for a state senate seat in a special election following the resignation of Sen. Alex Sanders, who had become the chief justice of the state appeals court. Newman became the first African-American to serve in the South Carolina Senate since 1886. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Claflin College, now University, Man of the Year Award from Omega Psi Phi fraternity, and was the recipient of the Order of the Palmetto in 1979. The South Carolina Senate voted on June 1, 1985 to commission and hang his portrait in the Senate chamber. Senator Newman was cited for outstanding public service by Richland County for his civic leadership by Concurrent Resolution of S.C. Legislature. In May 1984, upon recommendation of the College of Social Work, he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of South Carolina.

Suffering ill health, Newman resigned from the state senate in 1985, and left his body a short time later. Since leaving his body the people of the state have remembered his contributions in a number of ways, including the creation of an endowed professorship in his name at USC College of Social Work, the first endowed chair at USC named for an African American.

Dr. Sadye L. M. Logan
The I. DeQuincy Newman Professor
sadye.logan@sc.edu

References

Bass, J. and Walter, D. (1976) The transformation of politics: Social change and political consequences since 1945. New York; Basic Books.

Bailey, N.L., Morgan, M.L., and Taylor, C.R., eds., Biographical directory of South Carolina Senate, 1776-1985. 3 vols. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press.

Conversations with the Newman family, 2001

I.DeQuincey Newman Papers (2004), Donated to the University of South Carolina Political Collections, Columbia, SC.

Grose, P. G., Jr. (October 4,1981)”Activist spirit still burns in Rev. Newman”
Columbia, SC: The State.

1985 South Carolina Legislative Manual.

Stucker, J.C. (March 25,1984) “Did you know I.D. Newman kept you safe during desegregation?” The State Magazine, 8-11.

“USC fills first endowed chair,”(February 18, 1994), The State.