Progressive Democratic Party (South Carolina) - The PDP

The PDP

At the party's convention, they selected a slate of eighteen delegates for the Democratic convention, adopted a ten point platform, and nominated Osceola E. McKaine for the Senate election. The PDP delegates tried to unseat the white South Carolina delegates at the national convention, but the executive committee refused to go along with the scheme. The platform of the PDP included several civil rights issues such as the elimination of the poll tax, a prohibition of racial discrimination in hiring practices, and anti lynching laws. It also included a provision to support the American effort in World War II and the election of President Roosevelt to a fourth term. Osceola McKaine only officially garnered 3,200 votes in the Senate election, but the PDP charged that many of his votes were not counted and estimated that he had over 10,000 votes.

From the beginning, the party and the NAACP worked hand in hand and were practically the same organization. The difference was that the NAACP handled all matters relating to litigation and the PDP was in charge of political action. Together they achieved a dramatic amount of success by increasing the number of registered voters in the state in the 1940s from 3,500 to 50,000. It was through their efforts that the black voters provided the margin that Olin D. Johnston needed to beat Strom Thurmond in the 1950 Senate election.

In 1948, the party ceased functioning as a party and instead operated as a political action group. The PDP was urged by Thurgood Marshall among others to drop "Party" from their name so that the white party leaders would be unable to claim that they were discriminating in the same manner as the PDP. Thus when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Baskin that the Democratic Party had to allow blacks into the party, the Progressive Democrats operated within the Democratic Party to achieve greater rights for blacks.