1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lauren 2 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: Vogelbaum here nestled off the beaten path in the heart 3 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: of the Gullageechee Sea Islands of South Carolina's Low Country 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: is an American landmark that many have never heard of. 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: Situated between rich salt marshes and the Atlantic Coast and 6 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: shaded by moss Leyden Live Oaks, The Penn Center, located 7 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: for over one hundred and fifty years on Saint Helena 8 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: Island in Beaufort County, is a historic site of African 9 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: American education, culture, social justice, and community development that continues 10 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: its work today. In eighteen sixty two, six months before 11 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,919 Speaker 1: President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and three years 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: before the Thirteenth Amendment legally abolished slavery, a group of 13 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania Quaker and Unitarian missionaries and abolitionists founded the Pennsi 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: School on Saint Helena. This was part of what's called 15 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: the Port Royal Experiment. In South Carolina. Plantation owners had 16 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: built an economic empire on enslaved labor. It was the 17 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: first state to seed from the Union, as sparking the 18 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: Civil War and becoming an immediate target of Union forces. 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty one, the US Navy seized the Port 20 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: Royal Sound from Confederate troops. The following year, the plantation 21 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: owners fled the Sea islands, reluctantly, abandoning their prized crop 22 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: of world renowned cotton and liberating somewhere from ten thousand 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: to thirty two thousand enslaved people. Seeing a need and 24 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: an opportunity, the US opened the area to a number 25 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: of public and private programs aiming to figure out how 26 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: to reform a social and economic structure based on enslavement 27 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: into a free society. It was an early and less 28 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: restricted form of reconstruction. Northern abolitionists and humanitarians donated funds 29 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: to help freed people by former plantation land at reasonable 30 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: rates and establish farms, hospitals, and schools. The Penn School, 31 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: and named after Quaker activist William Penn, was the first 32 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: school founded in a Confederate state for the sole purpose 33 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: of educating freed people. It began in the living room 34 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: of the abandoned Oaks Plantation before the first schoolhouse was built, 35 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: and eventually grew to become a fifty acre campus, including 36 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: nineteen now historic buildings. The land was donated by a 37 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: freed entrepreneur by the name of Hasting Gant. The first 38 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,799 Speaker 1: classes were taught by white abolitionists Laura Town and Ellen Murray, 39 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,079 Speaker 1: and briefly by Charlotte Forton, who was the first African 40 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: American teacher at Penn. The earliest curriculum followed the New 41 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: England eurocentric model of socialized education that included reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, 42 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: and music. Sixty seven, South Carolina had a majority of 43 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: black registered voters. Black candidates were winning elections, and the 44 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:11,679 Speaker 1: Penn School received public funding, but the post war reconstruction 45 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: era in the state was rocky, and a decade later 46 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: Jim Crow laws had suffused the South. The school struggled 47 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: but stayed afloat thanks to private donations. In the early 48 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, RASA. B. Cooley and Grace House, two other 49 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: northern white women, revised the curriculum to follow Booker T. 50 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: Washington's Hampton tuscg model of industrial education, including various trades 51 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: and agricultural sciences. They excised some classical studies like algebra 52 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: and Latin, and added courses such as masonry, carpentry, and 53 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: the domestic arts up to the end of World War II, 54 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: the state of South Carolina only required that education for 55 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: Black Americans go through the seventh grade level, but Penn 56 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: provided schooling through the twelfth grade of plus adult education 57 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: classes as well. However, by the late nineteen forties, the 58 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: population of Saint Helena had dwindled significantly. Many Islanders and 59 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: young people in particular, were leaving isolated Beeford County to 60 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: seek opportunities in larger cities. In response, the board of 61 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: trustees at Penn redefined the purpose of the school and 62 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: launched the Penn Community Service Center in nineteen forty eight, 63 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: including services like daycare, a hangout space for tines, and 64 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: health clinic. They also offered midwife training beyond that, Throughout 65 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties and sixties, Penn Center became a nexus 66 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: for civil rights activism and social justice, not just for 67 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: South Carolina but for the entire nation. Being isolated out 68 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: among the marshes, it was one of the few places 69 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: in the Jim Crow South where interracial groups of activists 70 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,919 Speaker 1: could convene in integrated facilities, including overnight, without the threat 71 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: of legal consequences or outside violence. Penn Center hosted human 72 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: rights conference with groups including the NAACP, the World Peace Foundation, 73 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: the Congress of Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 74 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, and the Peace Corps, 75 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: just to name a few. It was a place to 76 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: organize and strategize. A former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, in 77 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: his role as leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 78 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: introduced doctor Martin Luther King Junior to the serenity and 79 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: security of Penn Center. Between nineteen sixty four and nineteen 80 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: sixty seven, King visited Penn five times, along with other 81 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: luminaries of the civil rights movement and countless unnamed activists. 82 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: It became a sort of refuge for King outside of 83 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: the pressure of being a civil rights leader on the 84 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: national stage. King composed many of his speeches at Penn, 85 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: including his I Have a Dream speech, which he wrote 86 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: while staying in the Hasting Gant Cottage. He also spoke 87 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: there about his broader concerns outside of the civil rights movement, 88 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: which included capitalism and the economic and equality of these 89 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: some forty million Americans living in poverty, and his then 90 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: unpopular anti war stance regarding Vietnam. During a rare formal 91 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: speech at Penn he laid out a set of what 92 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: he called the inseparable triplets, three intrinsically connected evils in America, racism, 93 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: excessive materialism, and militarism. He urged his fellow leaders there 94 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: to consider and address all three in their attempts to 95 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: elicit change. The organizers who gathered at Penn Center didn't 96 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: always agree on the best courses of action, and although 97 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: it is remote, they still had to exercise caution to 98 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,159 Speaker 1: keep each other safe, perhaps especially doctor King, who was 99 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: very much in the public eye and was assassinated in 100 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: April nineteen sixty eight in Memphis, Tennessee, just four months 101 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: after his last meeting at Penn Center, and the day 102 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: after he had told striking sanitation workers, We've got to 103 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: give ourselves to this struggle. Until the end. After the 104 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: Civil Rights era, the center continued its work, hosting retreats 105 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: for churches and other organizations, training peace corps agricultural workers, 106 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: promoting environmental sustainability, and serving as an educational site for 107 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: black history and culture. The Old School campus was added 108 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: to the National Register of Historic Places in nineteen seventy four. 109 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: The original trade class shop, built in nineteen twelve, was 110 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: rededicated in nineteen ninety nine to honor doctor York W. Bailey, 111 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: who attended the Penn School as a child in the 112 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds, earned his medical degree from Howard University, 113 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: and returned home to become Saint Helena's first black physician. Today, 114 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: the shop houses a museum, the showcases and archive of 115 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: rare photographs of African Americans, as well as artifacts related 116 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: to Glagichi history and culture. In twenty sixteen, Penn's then 117 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: executive director, doctor Rodell Lawrence wrote for The Hill quote, 118 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: most Americans came from somewhere else to this continent, and 119 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: Penn Center provides us with a direct link to the 120 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: African origins of slaves that occupied America's southeastern seaboard. It 121 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: is a window to a place in which many African 122 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: Americans emerged from bondage and set out on a new 123 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,559 Speaker 1: journey as free men and women. It is a place 124 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: and a time to celebrate. Penn Center vividly embodies the 125 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: American ideal of liberty and justice for all, and in 126 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: every sense is a true historic national monument. To that end, 127 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: President Barack Obama named a swath of Beaufort County, South Carolina, 128 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: including the Penn Center, a national historical monument to the 129 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: Reconstruction Era, a week before he left office in January 130 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,680 Speaker 1: of twenty seventeen. It's now part of the Reconstruction Era 131 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: National Historic Park managed by the National Park Service. Today 132 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: you can visit the center to explore the museum and 133 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: take a tour. Penn hosts lots of local events too, 134 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: including the Heritage Days Festival in early November of every year, 135 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:09,959 Speaker 1: celebrating the area's Gllageechee cultural legacy with an educational symposium, 136 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: a space for artists and authors, craft and genealogy workshops, music, 137 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: and a fish fry and oyster roast. Today's episode is 138 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,680 Speaker 1: based on the article Pen Center, a little known haven 139 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: of the Civil Rights Movement on how stuffworks dot com, 140 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: written by Kerry Tatreu. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio 141 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and is produced 142 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit 143 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 144 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.