South Carolina H 5456: Pastor and Mrs. Samuel Lee Goodwin, Sr.

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5456 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 23, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5456

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

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.

Whereas, 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 

Whereas, 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 

Whereas, 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 

Whereas, 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 

Whereas, 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 

Whereas, 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 

Whereas, 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 

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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