On June 16th, 1961, African American students from Allen University and Benedict College challenged segregation at Sesquicentennial State Park, including its swimming area. Led by Rev. I. DeQuincey Newman, South Carolina field secretary of the NAACP, they attempted to enter the park to document the state's enforcement of segregation, but local law enforcement met them at the entrance gate armed with clubs and denied them entry. Matthew J. Perry then filed a formal complaint on the students' behalf, and the incident became evidence in Brown v. South Carolina Forestry Commission, brought to court in 1963, which ultimately led to the desegregation of the South Carolina State Park system. In response to the challenge, park staff closed all of Sesquicentennial's facilities for the rest of that day, and the park closed again in 1963 in response to the court ruling before reopening fully integrated in 1966.
