Collections by Michelle Brown WSG Harriet Hancock

Harriet Hancock is a 1984 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina and received her law degree in 1988. She retired from the practice of law in 2013. She is the mother of two daughters and one son.

For three decades, this octogenarian has been a force for social and cultural change in South Carolina. She is a tireless advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in South Carolina and their families. LGBT people in the south have often faced an indifferent if not hostile climate. Harriet is a steadfast advocate and volunteer, working to change that climate.

Upon learning that her son was gay in 1980, she started the first chapter of Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays in South Carolina (PFLAG) in 1982. She is a co-founder of the Palmetto Aids Life Support Services of South Carolina (PALSS), the first grass roots organization in SC to provide services for those with HIV/AIDS and their families. She was instrumental in organizing the first pride march in SC in 1990. She was invited to a White House reception in June of 2011 where she met President Obama. In South Carolina she is commonly known as the "Mother of Pride". The South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement (SCGLPM) honored her in 2005 by naming the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center in Columbia in her honor.