The following people were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Charleston, South Carolina, United States (categorized by area in which each person is best known).
Academia
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- Glover Crane Arnold (1849–1906), instructor of anatomy and surgery at Bellevue Hospital Medical College and New York University's Medical College
- Rick Brewer (born 1956), former administrator at Charleston Southern University; current president of Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana[1]
- Robert Furchgott (1916–2009), biochemist and Nobel laureate
- Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941), biologist
- Elias Marks (1790–1886), founder of South Carolina Female Collegiate Institute
- William Ephraim Mikell (1868–1944), dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a summer home in Charleston
- William Charles Wells (1757–1817), physician
- Nolan R. Williams (1982–2025), neuropsychiatrist who helped develop SAINT-TMS
Art and architecture
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- David Carson (born 1956), graphic designer
- Shepard Fairey (born 1970), artist known for Andre the Giant "Obey" and Barack Obama "Hope" stencil pieces
- Jessica Hische (born 1984), illustrator
- Robert Mills (1781–1855), architect
- James C. Saltus (1837–1883), carpenter
- Philip Simmons (1912–2009), ironworker
- Stella F. Simon (1878–1973), photographer
- Merton Simpson (1928–2013), abstract expressionist artist, African art collector, musician
- Elizabeth O'Neill Verner (1883–1979), artist, author, lecturer, and preservationist
- Daniel Robertson (1778-1849), architect active in Britain and Ireland
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Athletics
edit- Jarrell Brantley (born 1996), basketball player
- Luther Broughton (born 1974), NFL player
- Nehemiah Broughton (born 1982), NFL player
- Kwame Brown (born 1982), basketball player
- Joel Bunting (born 1997), soccer player[2]
- Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (born 1996), Olympic gold medalist/ hurdler
- Garrett Chisolm (born 1988), NFL player
- Beth Daniel (born 1956), professional golfer
- Zola Davis (born 1975), NFL and XFL player
- Carlos Dunlap (born 1989), NFL player
- Oronde Gadsden (born 1971), NFL player
- A. J. Green (born 1988), NFL player
- Harold Green (born 1968), NFL player
- Josiah-Jordan James (born 2000), basketball forward in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Anthony Johnson (born 1974), NBA player
- Javon Kinlaw (born 1997), NFL player
- Byron Maxwell (born 1988), NFL player
- Katrina McClain Johnson (born 1965), Olympic gold medalist; retired WNBA player
- Tre McLean (born 1993), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- David Meggett (born 1966), NFL player
- Khris Middleton (born 1991), NBA player
- Bud Moore (born 1941), NASCAR driver
- Langston Moore (born 1981), former NFL player
- Ovie Mughelli (born 1980), NFL player
- Josh Powell (born 1983), NBA player
- Laron Profit (born 1977), NBA player
- Robert Quinn (born 1990), NFL player
- Vicente Reyes (born 2003), soccer player[3]
- Edmond Robinson (born 1992), NFL player
- Art Shell (born 1946), NFL player and coach
- Brandon Shell (born 1992), NFL player
- Gorman Thomas (born 1950), MLB player
- Roddy White (born 1981), NFL player
- Dennis Williams (born 1965), basketball player
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Business
edit- Bill Backer (1926–2016), advertising executive known for Coca-Cola campaigns
- James Gadsden (1788–1858), U.S. minister to Mexico; president of the South Carolina Railroad Company
- Sallie Krawcheck (born 1964), Citigroup chief financial officer
- Joseph Wragg (1698–1751), pioneer of the large-scale slave trade and member and president of the South Carolina Executive Council
Entertainment
edit- William Abbott (1790–1843), manager of the New Charleston Theatre[4]
- Akim Anastopoulo (born 1960), television judge "Extreme Akim" on Eye for an Eye and trial attorney
- Angry Grandpa (1950–2017), internet personality
- Frank Birnbaum (1922–2005), 20th-century classical composer and Jewish cantor
- Kardea Brown (born 1987), Emmy-nominated chef, author and Food Network host
- Ckay1 (born 1982), music composer, arranger, and producer
- Stephen Colbert (born 1964), comedian
- Joel Derfner (born 1973), musical theater composer
- Andy Dick (born 1965), comedian
- A Fragile Tomorrow, indie rock band
- Arthur Freed (1894–1973), Hollywood producer, composer, and writer
- Thomas Gibson (born 1962), actor
- Shanola Hampton (born 1977), actress
- Dubose Heyward (1885–1940), writer and lyricist, Porgy and Bess
- Bertha Hill (1905–1950), blues and vaudeville singer
- Lauren Hutton (born 1943), actress
- Dom Kelly (born 1991), activist, founder of New Disabled South, and member of rock band A Fragile Tomorrow
- Mabel King (1932–1999), actress
- Vanessa Joy Lachey (née Minnillo) (born 1980), Miss USA 1998, MTV VJ, and Entertainment Tonight correspondent
- Jonathan Mangum (born 1976), actor
- Logan Marshall-Green (born 1976), actor
- Micah McLaurin (born 1994), pianist
- Will Patton (born 1954), actor
- Grace Peixotto (born 1817), madam[5]
- Mackenzie Rosman (born 1989), actress
- Darius Rucker (born 1966), lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish, and country star
- David Stahl (1949–2010), conductor
- Josh Strickland (born 1983), singer and actor
- Elise Testone (born 1983), singer, American Idol contestant
- Melanie Thornton (1967–2001), singer, member of La Bouche
- Johnny Wactor (1986–2014), actor
- Matt Watson (born 1996), YouTuber, member and co-founder of SuperMega
Law
edit- James Francis Byrnes (1879–1972), U.S. representative and senator, associate justice of the Supreme Court, secretary of state, and governor of South Carolina
- George Heriot DeReef (1869–1937), lawyer, political candidate, civil rights leader, and businessman
- William Drayton Sr. (1733–1790), associate justice of South Carolina Supreme Court[4]
- Reuben Greenberg (1943–2014), first Black police chief of Charleston
- J. Waites Waring (1880–1968), United States District Court for District of South Carolina judge; part of a three-judge panel that heard school desegregation case Briggs v. Elliott
Literature and journalism
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- Alexander Aikman (1755–1836), publisher, King's Printer, and House of Assembly member
- Louisa Wells Aikman (1755–1831), 18th-century author
- Essie B. Cheesborough (1826–1905), writer
- Joel Derfner (born 1973), writer
- Nikki DuBose (born 1985), former model turned author and activist
- Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. (1911–2001), author, Cheaper by the Dozen
- Caroline Howard Jervey (1823–1877), author, poet
- Robert Jordan (1948–2007), novelist, author of The Wheel of Time series
- Alexandra Ripley (1934–2004), author, Scarlett
- Eden Royce, gothic horror writer
- William Gilmore Simms (1806–1870), poet, novelist, and historian
- Frank Lebby Stanton (1857–1927), lyricist; columnist for the Atlanta Constitution; author of the lyrics of "Just Awearyin' for You"
- Elizabeth Timothy (1702–1757), first female newspaper publisher in America
- Norb Vonnegut (born 1958), author
- Lily C. Whitaker (1850–1932), educator, writer
- Eliza Yonge Wilkinson (1757–?), letter-writer and patriot during the American Revolutionary War
Military figures
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- Arthur L. Bristol (1886–1942), United States Navy vice admiral
- Mark Wayne Clark (1896–1984), United States Army general; supreme commander of the United Nations Command
- James H. Conyers (1855–1935), first Black person admitted to the United States Naval Academy
- Frank L. Culbertson Jr. (born 1949), former naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, and NASA astronaut
- Percival Drayton (1812–1865), United States Navy officer, commanded Union Naval forces during the Civil War
- Thomas Drayton (1809–1891), Confederate States Army general, brother of Percival Drayton
- Samuel Wragg Ferguson (1834–1917), Confederate States Army general
- James L. Holloway III (1922–2019), United States Navy admiral and navy aviator
- Benjamin Huger (1805–1877), Confederate States Army general
- Ralph H. Johnson (1949–1968), United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor
- John Laurens (1754–1782), soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War
- Stephen Dill Lee (1833–1908), Confederate States Army general; 1st president of Mississippi State University
- Barnwell R. Legge (1891–1949), United States Army general during World War I
- Robert Charlwood Richardson Jr. (1882–1954), United States Army general
- William Childs Westmoreland (1914–2005), United States Army general; 25th chief of staff of the United States Army
Politics
edit- William Aiken Jr. (1806–1887), governor of South Carolina[4]
- James Edwin Belser, former U.S. congressman for the 2nd District of Alabama[6]
- Judah P. Benjamin (1811–1884), U.S. senator from Louisiana, Confederate States secretary of state and attorney general
- Don C. Bowen (b. 1945), represented District 8 at the South Carolina House of Representatives, 2007–2014
- James Francis Byrnes (1879–1972), U.S. representative and senator, associate justice of the Supreme Court, secretary of state, and governor of South Carolina
- Floride Calhoun (1792–1866), Second Lady of the United States; wife of John C. Calhoun
- John C. Calhoun (1782–1850), U.S. representative and senator, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of war
- Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987), educator, civil rights activist; "grandmother" of the Civil Rights Movement"
- Henry William de Saussure (1763–1839), second director of United States Mint; intendant (mayor) of Charleston
- Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), Revolutionary War leader
- James Gadsden (1788–1858), U.S. minister to Mexico; president of the South Carolina Railroad Company
- Francois P. Giraud (1818–1877), mayor of San Antonio 1872–1875
- Sarah Moore Grimké (1792–1873), abolitionist, widely held to be the mother of the women's suffrage movement
- Angelina Emily Grimké Weld (1805–1879), abolitionist and political activist
- Edward Harleston (1794–1871), politician
- Henry E. Hayne (1840–d.n.d.), Union Army veteran and Secretary of State of South Carolina
- Robert Young Hayne (1791–1839), mayor of Charleston 1836–1837; United States senator 1823–1833; Governor of South Carolina[7]
- Thomas Heyward Jr. (1746–1809), signer of the Declaration of Independence
- Fritz Hollings (1922–2019), United States senator from South Carolina; governor and lieutenant governor of South Carolina
- Michael Janus (1966–2022), Mississippi state legislator
- James Ladson (1753–1812), revolutionary and lieutenant governor of South Carolina
- Henry Laurens (1724–1792), Revolutionary War leader
- Nancy Mace (born 1977), U.S. congresswoman and state representative[8]
- Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), mayor of San Antonio, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, firebrand rancher from whom the term "maverick" was coined
- Burnet Maybank (1899–1954), Charleston mayor 1931–1935; South Carolina governor 1939–1941; United States senator from South Carolina[9]
- Christopher Memminger (1803–1888), signer of the Confederate States Constitution; Confederate States secretary of the treasury 1861–1864
- William Porcher Miles (1822–1899), lawyer; mayor of Charleston 1855–1857; U.S. representative from South Carolina; member of the Confederate Congress; designed the Confederate battle flag[10]
- Thomas E. Miller, one of only five Black congressmen from the South in the Jim Crow era, son of Declaration of Independence signer Thomas Heyward Jr.
- Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825), Revolutionary War leader; United States ambassador to France; Federalist candidate for president
- Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779–1851), botanist, politician, and diplomat; U.S. representative; United States ambassador to Mexico, secretary of war; founded precursor to the Smithsonian Institution; namesake of the poinsettia
- Alonzo J. Ransier, state senator and U.S. congressman; first African-American lieutenant governor of South Carolina
- Joseph P. Riley Jr. (born 1943), mayor of Charleston 1975–2015
- Edward Rutledge, signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence; governor of South Carolina, 1798–1800
- John Rutledge, president of South Carolina, 1776–1778; commander and chief of South Carolina forces during Revolutionary War; governor of South Carolina, 1779–1782; second chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; signed the U.S. Constitution
- James Simons Sr. (1813–1879), lawyer, Confederate militia general, and state legislator[11]
- Benjamin Smith (1717–1770), slave trader, plantation owner, merchant banker, and speaker of the South Carolina House of Assembly 1755–1763
- James Skivring Smith (1825–1884), president of Liberia, 1871–1872
- George Alfred Trenholm (1807–1876), Confederate States secretary of the treasury
- Lucille Whipper (1928–2021), politician and educator, served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1986 to 1996
- Joe Wilson (born 1947), U.S. representative for South Carolina[12]
- Bill Workman (1940–2019), Charleston native; mayor of Greenville, 1983–1995; economic development specialist
- Joseph Wragg (1698–1751), pioneer of the large-scale slave trade and member and president of the South Carolina Executive Council
Other
edit- Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (1905–1968), African American mob boss
- Jacob S. Raisin (1878–1946), rabbi
- Denmark Vesey (1767–1822), freedman tried and executed for allegedly plotting a slave revolt
- Richard Worley, pirate
- Mary Moultrie (1943-2015), nurse's aid and civil rights activist known for her involvement in the 1969 Charleston Hospital Strike
References
edit- ↑ Leigh Guidry (March 25, 2015). "LC board names South Carolina VP as ninth president". The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
- ↑ "Joel Bunting". USC Upstate Spartans. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
- ↑ Frazer, Ian (April 6, 2018). "Soccer: Eighth-grader Vicente Reyes shows star potential in goal". Forsyth County News. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
- 1 2 3 Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
- ↑ Jones, Mark R (2006). Wicked Charleston: Prostitutes, Politics and Prohibition (illustrated ed.). The History Press. pp. 19–23. ISBN 9781596291348. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ↑ Acosta, Carlos (November 14, 2025). "James Edwin Belser". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Robert Young Hayne" http://www.HalseyMap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=28
- ↑ cbyrd@postandcourier.com, Caitlin Byrd (August 31, 2022). "SC congresswoman Nancy Mace bought $3.9M house on Isle of Palms during GOP primary". Post and Courier. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
- ↑ "Burnet Rhett Maybank" http://www.HalseyMap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=44 Archived 2010-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "William Porcher Miles" http://www.HalseyMap.com/Flash/mayors-detail.asp?polID=32
- ↑ "The Late Gen. James Simons". The Baltimore Sun. May 5, 1879. p. 1. Retrieved February 3, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "WILSON, Joe". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved September 26, 2025.
