Ernest Adolphus Finney, Jr. (1931–2017) from his difficult beginnings and his roots in Cumberland, to his contributions as a civil rights warrior and icon. He made his own way and, “Never Had it Made”.
Ernest Finney was born in Smithfield, Virginia in 1931, the son of Ernest A. Finney, Sr. and Colleen (Godwin) Finney. Finney’s mother died ten days after giving birth to him.
Shortly after his mother’s passing, he was brought to Cumberland, Virginia, which was his father’s home and lived for a time with his grandparents on their family farm. He was raised by his father Dr. Ernest A. Finney Sr.. Ernest A. Finney Jr. earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claflin College in 1952. He then enrolled in South Carolina State College‘s School of Law, from which he graduated in 1954., he always viewed his grandparents’ farm and Cumberland like home.
Ernest Finney Jr was the first African American elected to the South Carolina General Assembly, the first African American Circuit Court Judge in South Carolina, and the first African American chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Prior to being elected to the Supreme Court, Ernest Finney was a fierce defender of civil rights. Ernest Finney and Reuben L. Gray formed the Finney and Gray Law Office. Finney worked along with Matthew J. Perry, defending more than 6000 Freedom Riders and civil rights demonstrators.
One of Finney’s most notable defenses was on behalf of ‘The Friendship Nine’, the nine students who staged one of the first sit-ins in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 1961. Finney lost almost every case that went to trial; however, he won all except two in the appellate courts.
In 1963, Finney was appointed chairman of the South Carolina Advisory Commission on Civil Rights.
His devotion to supporting and helping the community is being carried on by his daughter Nikky Finney, a noted author and award-winning poet by opening the ‘Ernest A. Finney Cultural Arts Center’.
The focus of this Cultural Arts Center is on the making of art, the keeping of community, living Black history, and the ongoing generational celebration of music, visual art, poetry, dance, theatre, the culinary arts, and other community building and life sustaining activities. Note: This paragraph is from the centers Facebook mission statement.
For more information visit, The Cultural Centers website: https://www.thefinneycenter.com
And follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ernestafinneyjrcac
And if you’re in South Carolina or passing through, stop by for a visit!
