COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) — Rev. Dr. Simon P. Bouie, a pioneering South Carolina civil rights activist whose challenge to segregation led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, and who later devoted decades to ministry, education and community service, has died.
Bouie was a revered figure in Columbia’s civil rights movement and a lifelong advocate for justice and human dignity.
Born and raised in Columbia, Bouie emerged as a leader in the fight against racial segregation while a student at Booker T. Washington High School and later at Allen University. In March 1960, he and fellow student activists participated in a sit-in at an Eckerd’s Drugstore lunch counter in downtown Columbia, challenging discriminatory policies that barred Black customers from service…