"Rights and Privilege: Media in the South After Brown vs. Board of Education," a conference that will explore the role of the media after the decisions of Brown v. Board of Education and Briggs v. Elliot, will be held May 17 at the State Museum.

The conference, which will take place from 1:30 p.m. until 5 p.m., is free. No pre-registration is required.

Co-sponsors of the conference are the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the USC College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, and the State Museum.

Keynote speaker Jack Bass is author or co-author of several books, including The Orangeburg Massacre.

Panelists include storyteller and radio personality Perri McCary of Houston, Texas; Glenn Cook of The American School Board Journal; and Cecile S. Holmes and Kenneth Campbell of the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Briggs v. Elliot, which began in the late 1940s in Summerton, S.C., was eventually wrapped into Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark national case in which the U.S. Supreme Court deemed school segregation unconstitutional.

Holmes, who teaches the print journalism seniors in USC's journalism school's laboratory newspaper, The Carolina Reporter, began research on the Briggs case more than a year ago. She wanted to offer her students a present-day perspective on the case, which has received little attention in coverage of civil rights.

Her students covered the historical cases for The Carolina Reporter. Their work won a "Best Overall" newspaper from the S.C. Press Association for student work from colleges with enrollments over 20,000.

For more information about the conference, contact Holmes at 7-5913 or Debbie Garris at 7-3244.

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