15 January 2009

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Penn Center

In the vast universe of resources about the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968), there is a small gem of a booklet that every person visiting or living in Beaufort County should read. Sometimes we forget how national figures touch -- and are touched by -- places we drive by on a daily basis. Penn Center, then known as Penn Community Services, was just such a place for Martin Luther King, Jr. and other members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This booklet helps remind us that we live in a uniquely historic place.

"I Will Not Be Silent and I Will Be Heard:" Martin Luther King, Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Penn Center, 1964 - 1967 by J. Tracy Power of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History is available at all Beaufort County Library locations under call number 323.4 POW in Local History sections.

For more information about Penn Center, visit their website. Beaufort County Library holds the Penn School Papers on microfilm in the Beaufort District Collection.

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