The Modjeska Simkins School offers Sunday afternoon classes that are a deeper exploration of current and historical topics. The sessions, which are optional for our students and open to the public, are held at 4pm on Zoom and at GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia SC.

Additional Deep Dives and field trips may be added as they are scheduled. Bookmark this page or sign up for our e-list to be notified of public programs.

Sunday, March 9, 4–6pm

Deeper Dive with Chris Judge, T. Lilly Little Water and Jay Bender on modern SC Native history. To join on Zoom, register HERE. To get the most out of the program, check out these items to read and watch.

Sunday, March 23, 4–6pm

Deeper Dive with UVA professor Dr. Justine  Hill-Edwards, author of Origins of Capitalism in Colonial South Carolina and the recently released Savings and Trust: The rise and betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank. Hill-Edwards’ critically acclaimed work offers key context for understanding the economic plight of the formerly enslaved, racial capitalism, the racial wealth gap, and reparations. To join on Zoom, register HERE.

Sunday, March 30, 4–6pm

Deeper Dive with Fergus Bordewich, nationally acclaimed historian and author of Klan War, a 2023 publication detailing the 1871 use of the 14th Amendment’s Insurrection Clause and the arrest of hundreds of white terrorists in South Carolina. Bordewich captures the Klan violence that threatened to overwhelm the entire state. It was so bad that legislators were afraid to leave the capital to return to their homes. Mr. Bordewich will be in-person at GROW. To join on Zoom, register HERE.

Sunday, April 13, 4–6pm

Modjeska Monteith Simkins — a closer look. We will watch video clips and listen to select pieces of oral history to hear Ms. Simkins in her own words. A panel of people historians and activists who worked with her will offer a more complete picture of the Columbia icon for whom our school is named. 

Sunday, April 27, 4–6pm

Deeper Dive with Armand Derfner, nationally renowned civil rights attorney

Mr. Derfner, a Charleston resident, will discuss the US Supreme Court’s systemic betrayal of civil rights and the rulings favoring corporations’ rights over individual liberties. Derfner co-authored the recently released book Justice Deferred: Race and the Supreme Court, with distinguished historian Dr. Vernon Burton.

Sunday, June 8, 4–6pm

Screening of Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre with Cecil Williams, noted photographer and curator of the SC Civil Rights Museum in Orangeburg

The film tells the brutal story of state troopers in firing on a crowd of peaceful protesters in Orangeburg in 1968, leaving three students dead and 28 injured. After viewing the hourlong documentary, we will open the room for discussion.