Skip to main content
Menu Close Menu

Historic Columbia

Donate
  • FAQs
Upcoming Events

Navigation

  • Tours
    • House Tours
      • Robert Mills House and Gardens
      • Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens
      • Mann-Simons Site
      • The Museum of the Reconstruction Era
      • Modjeska Monteith Simkins House
      • Hours and Pricing
    • Garden Tours
      • Garden Database
    • Offsite Tours
      • Walking Tours
    • African American History Tours
    • Online Tours
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • House Tours
    • Traveling Trunk
    • Summer Camp
    • Adult Education
  • Preservation
    • Current Projects and Initiatives
      • Bull Street Campus 
      • Columbia's Green Book Sites
      • Veterans Administration Regional Office
      • Women’s Club of Columbia
    • Preservation Awards
    • Resources for the Public
      • For Property Owners
      • For Neighborhoods
      • Take Action!
    • LGBTQ Columbia
  • Support
    • Corporate Support
    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Partners and Donors
  • Rent a Venue
    • Gardens of the Hampton-Preston Mansion
    • Seibels House and Garden
    • Robert Mills Carriage House and Gardens
    • Gardens of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
    • Weddings
    • Recommended Vendors
    • Contact Us
  • About
    • Blog
    • Board Members
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Gift Shop at Robert Mills
      • Online Store
    • Local History
      • Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative
    • Newsletter
    • Staff Directory

Donate

901 Richland Street

Matthew J. Perry Federal Courthouse

Built in 2003, this courthouse honors one of South Carolina’s most prominent civil rights attorneys. Born in Columbia in 1921, Perry graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and served during World War II before attending college and law school at the segregated South Carolina State College. He later served as chief counsel for the SC NAACP, where he argued several landmark cases, including those that desegregated Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, Flemming v. SCE&G, which desegregated Columbia’s buses, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court case Edwards v. South Carolina, which afforded civil rights protesters broad legal protections. Perry was the first African American lawyer from the Deep South appointed to the federal bench and later the state’s first African American to sit on the US District Court. The entry gate was made by African American blacksmith Phillip Simmons from Charleston. Simmons is known for elevating the practice of blacksmithing from utilitarian items such as nails, horseshoes and hinges to decorative pieces including gates and archways featuring native plants and animals.

  • Matthew J. Perry,

    Matthew J. Perry, undated. Image courtesy John H. McCray Papers, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia

34.0100116, -81.0421704

Newsletter Signup

newsletter signup

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for events, news, and updates from Historic Columbia!

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Flickr
Historic Columbia

© 2023 Historic Columbia

Administrative Offices
1601 Richland Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Tours
All historic house and garden tours start at the Gift Shop at Robert Mills.
1616 Blanding Street
Columbia, SC 29201

Questions? Call (803) 252-7742.

Website by Cyberwoven