Marian Wright Edelman Day

2025-2026 Bill 5456: Marian Wright Edelman Day - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Download
This Bill
in Microsoft Word Format
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
H. 5456
STATUS INFORMATION
Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. Luck, Hayes, Alexander, Anderson, Atkinson, Bailey, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bauer, Beach, Bernstein, Bowers, Bradley, Brewer, Brittain, Burns, Bustos, Calhoon, Caskey, Chapman, Chumley, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Collins, Cox, Crawford, Cromer, Davis, Dillard, Duncan, Edgerton, Erickson, Ford, Forrest, Frank, Gagnon, Garvin, Gatch, Gibson, Gilliam, Gilliard, Gilreath, Govan, Grant, Guest, Guffey, Haddon, Hager, Hardee, Harris, Hart, Hartnett, Hartz, Henderson-Myers, Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hiott, Hixon, Holman, Hosey, Howard, Huff, J.E. Johnson, J.L. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, Kilmartin, King, Kirby, Landing, Lastinger, Lawson, Ligon, Long, Lowe, Magnuson, Martin, McCabe, McCravy, McDaniel, McGinnis, C. Mitchell, D. Mitchell, Montgomery, J. Moore, T. Moore, Morgan, Moss, Neese, B. Newton, W. Newton, Oremus, Pace, Pedalino, Pope, Rankin, Reese, Rivers, Robbins, Rose, Rutherford, Sanders, Schuessler, Scott, Sessions, G.M. Smith, M.M. Smith, Spann-Wilder, Stavrinakis, Taylor, Teeple, Terribile, Vaughan, Waters, Weeks, Wetmore, White, Whitmire, Wickensimer, Williams, Willis, Wooten and Yow
Document Path: LC-0402HDB-GM26.docx
Introduced in the House on March 31, 2026
Introduced in the Senate on April 1, 2026
Adopted by the General Assembly on April 28, 2026
Summary: Marian Wright Edelman Day
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

3/31/2026

House

Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate (
House Journal-page 221
)

4/1/2026

Senate

Introduced (
Senate Journal-page 20
)

4/1/2026

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Family and Veterans' Services
(
Senate Journal-page 20
)

4/24/2026

Senate

Recalled from Committee on
Family and Veterans' Services
(
Senate Journal-page 2
)

4/28/2026

Senate

Adopted, returned to House with concurrence

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
03/31/2026
04/23/2026

Recalled

April 23, 2026

H. 5456

Introduced by Reps. Luck, Hayes, Alexander,
Anderson, Atkinson, Bailey, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bauer, Beach,
Bernstein, Bowers, Bradley, Brewer, Brittain, Burns, Bustos, Calhoon, Caskey,
Chapman, Chumley, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Collins, Cox, Crawford, Cromer, Davis,
Dillard, Duncan, Edgerton, Erickson, Ford, Forrest, Frank, Gagnon, Garvin,
Gatch, Gibson, Gilliam, Gilliard, Gilreath, Govan, Grant, Guest, Guffey,
Haddon, Hager, Hardee, Harris, Hart, Hartnett, Hartz, Henderson-Myers,
Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hiott, Hixon, Holman, Hosey, Howard, Huff, J. E. Johnson,
J. L. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, Kilmartin, King, Kirby, Landing, Lastinger,
Lawson, Ligon, Long, Lowe, Magnuson, Martin, McCabe, McCravy, McDaniel,
McGinnis, C. Mitchell, D. Mitchell, Montgomery, J. Moore, T. Moore, Morgan,
Moss, Neese, B. Newton, W. Newton, Oremus, Pace, Pedalino, Pope, Rankin, Reese,
Rivers, Robbins, Rose, Rutherford, Sanders, Schuessler, Scott, Sessions, G. M.
Smith, M. M. Smith, Spann-Wilder, Stavrinakis, Taylor, Teeple, Terribile,
Vaughan, Waters, Weeks, Wetmore, White, Whitmire, Wickensimer, Williams,
Willis, Wooten and Yow

S. Printed 4/23/26--S.

Read the first time April 1, 2026

________

A concurrent RESOLUTION

to designate Saturday, JUNE 6, 2026, as "Marian
Wright Edelman Day," encouraging residents, educators, students, and community
organizations to celebrate her legacy through acts of service, through wellness
and mindfulness practices, and through efforts that advance opportunity and
justice for all children.

W
hereas, born on June
6, 1939, Marian Wright Edelman is a daughter of the late Reverend Arthur Jerome
Wright and Maggie Leola Bowen Wright, and was reared in Bennettsville with her
five siblings in a community that nurtured her commitment to faith, learning, service,
and the well-being of children; and

W
hereas, her father was
among the founders of Shiloh Baptist Church and instilled in her the belief
that education and service were the pathway out of poverty and that "you can't
be what you can't see," shaping her lifelong commitment to children and
justice; and

Whereas, Ms. Edelman graduated from Marlboro Training High School and
Spelman College and later earned a juris doctorate from Yale Law School. She
was the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi State Bar, breaking
barriers that continue to inspire generations of young leaders; and

W
hereas, in her early
career, she served as a civil rights lawyer in Mississippi, advocating for
justice alongside local communities, and later founded the Washington Research
Project, a public interest law firm dedicated to exposing the effects of
poverty and advancing equity for children and families; and

W
hereas, in 1973,
building on her work with the Washington Research Project, Ms. Edelman founded
the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), now one of the nation's leading child
advocacy organizations, grounded in the belief that every child deserves a
safe, healthy, fair, and moral start in life and the opportunity to grow with
dignity, hope, and joy; and

W
hereas, CDF has worked
for more than five decades to expand access to healthcare, early childhood
education, child nutrition, quality schools, and family supports that
strengthen communities and promote lifelong wellness; and

W
hereas, Ms. Edelman
has long taught that we are called not to curse the darkness of injustice but
to light candles as beacons of hope, courage, and moral clarity that guide
children and communities toward a brighter, more just future; and

W
hereas, the CDF
Freedom Schools program, rooted in the Civil Rights tradition and inspired by
the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, carries forward a legacy of education,
empowerment, and justice; and

W
hereas, CDF Freedom
Schools today are committed to literacy, leadership development, and social-emotional
wellness, continuing to uplift and develop children, youth, and families across
the nation and South Carolina through affirming learning spaces that cultivate
mindfulness, joy, confidence, and a love of reading at current and former
sites. The current state sites include Francis Burns United Methodist Church,
Journey United Methodist Church, and W. A. Perry Middle School in Columbia;
Metanoia and E3 & Jenkins Youth & Family Village in North Charleston;
Palmetto Works Community Development Corporation in Conway; and Savannah Grove
Baptist Church in Florence; and

W
hereas, former state sites
of CDF Freedom Schools included the College of Charleston, Landmark for
Families in North Charleston, Thumbs Up in Beaufort, Marlboro County Partners in
Bennettsville, and Claflin University in Orangeburg; and

W
hereas, CDF Freedom
Schools have served over two hundred forty thousand K-12 scholars since 1995,
and more than twenty thousand young adults have been trained in the "Freedom
School Way" of leadership, cultural pride, and social justice; and

W
hereas, the legacy of
Ms. Edelman continues to live on in South Carolina through CDF Freedom Schools
and community-based partnerships that reflect her vision for empowered,
educated, and supported children; and

W
hereas, she has been
awarded the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award, the Ella J.
Baker Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest
civilian honor, and she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,
Incorporated; and

W
hereas, establishing
Marian Wright Edelman Day in South Carolina would honor her transformative
legacy and affirm the state's commitment to children's wellness, educational
equity, and the power of mindful, community-centered leadership. Now, therefore,

Be
it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

T
hat the members of the
South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, designate Saturday, June 6,
2026, as "Marian Wright Edelman Day," encouraging residents, educators,
students, and community organizations to celebrate her legacy through acts of
service, through wellness and mindfulness practices, and through efforts that
advance opportunity and justice for all children.

----XX---

This web page was last updated on April 23, 2026 at 9:09 PM