Suit Asks Rights Act Compliance by S. Carolina Restaurant Chain
Press Release
December 29, 1964

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Press Releases, Volume 2. Suit Asks Rights Act Compliance by S. Carolina Restaurant Chain, 1964. 84cc8d8a-b592-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/bbb6e904-7532-49bf-8c91-d5ab67888776/suit-asks-rights-act-compliance-by-s-carolina-restaurant-chain. Accessed June 01, 2025.
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10 Columbus Circle « New York, N.Y. 10019 JUdson 6-8397 NAACP 2 Legal Defense and Educational Fund PRESS RELEASE President Dr. Allan Knight Chalmers i o RELEASE Director-Counsel Jack Greenberg December 29, 1964 Associate Counsel Constance Baker Motley SUIT ASKS RIGHTS ACT COMPLIANCE BY S. CAROLINA RESTAURANT CHAIN COLUMBIA, S.C,---The first South Carolina suit seeking compliance by a restaurant with the provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was filed in Federal District Court here last week by attorneys of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Hit in the suit was Piggie Park Enterprises, which operates several restaurants in the Columbia area and in other cities throughout the state. Legal Defense Fund attorneys are currently engaged in 17 suits in seven Southern states to enforce the Civil Rights Act. In the only previous South Carolina court action under the new law, Legal Defense Fund lawyers are seeking an order that would end discrimination in Orangeburg movie theaters. The suit against the Piggie Park restaurant chain was brought after Negroes had been refused service at the downtown Columbia branch. Other Negroes represented in the suit by the Legal Defense Fund were told at two Piggie Park drive-ins that they could buy food but could not eat on the premises. » In their complaint, the Legal Defense Fund lawyers asserted that a Federal action was necessary to secure enforcement, since neither South Carolina nor the city of Columbia has a law prohibiting discrimination in places of public accommodation. Filing the Legal Defense Fund suit were Director-Counsel, Jack Greenberg of New York, and Matthew J. Perry, Lincoln C, Jenkins, Jz Sadttemchi ll P, Pride II, all of Columbia. -30- Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487 S~ &