Martin Luther King, Jr. at Penn Center

Martin Luther King, Jr. used to visit Penn Center on St. Helena Island for respite from his public political activities campaigning for Civil Rights during the 1960s. It is said that he wrote much of his "I Have a Dream" speech there. In honor of his life and work, we recommend 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. The booklet is in the BDC for permanent retention of course, but there are plenty of print copies to borrow. There’s even a digital copy in the SC State Documents Depository collection online.

All units of the Beaufort County Library, including the BDC, will be closed on Monday, January 16th for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Regular hours resume on Tuesday, January 17th. 

Reminder: We will keep registration open for the "Civil War Union Bands" program at St. Helena Branch Library on January 19th until we reach room capacity. There will be a repeat of Dr. Johns' program at Hilton Head Island Branch Library on January 24th. Check the Beaufort County Historical Society's  website for seat availability for our co-sponsored "Bands" programs. Also, registration for "The Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779" will open on January 19th for that BDC/BCHS "Historically Speaking" series program.   

Free "Making Gullah" Lecture on November 8, 2019

We are grateful for all the folks who help us bring enlightening, illuminating and informative local history programs to you. Since June, we've collaborated with Beaufort Branch, Beaufort County Historical Society, Beaufort History Museum, Hilton Head Branch, and the Pat Conroy Literary Center on a wide range of topics from bootlegging to teaching kids; from colonial life to Beaufort County in the 1970s; natural disasters and disasters made by humans (Civil War) - and through all those time periods, there were African American people who endured and affected that history. We are delighted to collaborate with the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, Penn Center, and the St. Helena Branch Library to offer another program about the Gullah people  to you. 

"Making Gullah: Reflections on Finding Gullah Folk in the American Imagination" by 
Dr. Melissa L. Cooper | BDC@ St. Helena Branch Library,  6355 Jonathan Francis, Sr. Road | Friday, November 8, 2019 at 2 PM

Melissa L. Cooper, PhD specializes in African American cultural and intellectual history, and the history of the African Diaspora. She is an Associate Professor in History at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Cooper's book, Making Gullah: A History of Sapelo Islanders, Race, and the American Imagination (University of North Carolina Press, 2017) is an intellectual and cultural history that examines the emergence of "the Gullah" in scholarly and popular works during the 1920s and the 1930s. Using Sapelo Island, Georgia as a case study, Cooper's manuscript explores the forces that inspired interest in black southerners’ African heritage during the period, and also looks at the late twentieth, and twenty-first century legacies of the works that first made Sapelo Islanders famous. She is the author of Instructor's Resource Manual--Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans with Documents (Bedford/St. Martin's Press, 2013) and a contributor to Race and Retail: Consumption Across the Color Line (Rutgers University Press, 2015).  

Please join us for this free lecture being held as a component of Penn Center's 37th Annual Heritage Days Festival. 

Also, we do hope that you have reserved your seat at "Guns of the Big Gun Shoot" as registration is required.The link is https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-3552471.  Registration is closed once room capacity is met.

As of this writing, there are still seats available for Jim Alberto's Daufuskie Daze Author Book Talk at Beaufort Branch on November 15th: https://daufuskiedaze2.bpt.me.

Looking ahead: The Library system will be closed on Monday, November 11, 2019 for Veterans Day.

Programs in November - and Registration?

Frequent readers of this blog understand that the special local history collection and archives unit of the Beaufort County Library provides some programs on its own as well as co-sponsors others on a one-time or recurrent basis through time. At present, the BDC is coordinating two local history series with other organizations on a regular and recurrent basis: Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library local history series and the new "Historically Speaking" series with the Beaufort County Historical Society. Since August we have also held programs alone and in concert with the Beaufort Branch Library and will soon do one or more with the Pat Conroy Literary Center, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, Penn Center and St. Helena Branch Library. Some of our partners have reservation software; some of our partners do not; and the Beaufort District Collection does not. Thus, some of our programs request registration, some require registration and others are simply first come, first seated. In other words, be sure to read the details per each program in which you are interested.

Registration is required to attend lectures in the Beaufort History Museum/Beaufort County Library local history series. Reservations often go quite quickly. If there are any no-shows the day of the lecture, Museum ushers seat stand-by customers at 5 minutes to lecture start time. Registration for "Guns of the Big Gun Shoot" with Dave Smoot opens Thursday, October 24th on the Beaufort History Museum website http://www.beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-3552471.
Registration is requested to attend the Author Book Talks with Jim Alberto, co-sponsored with the Pat Conroy Literary Center. There are two sessions:

• Friday, October 25 at 2 pm at Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road https://daufuskiedaze1.bpt.me
• Friday, November 15 at 2 pm at Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street https://daufuskiedaze2.bpt.me

There is no reservation process at all for "Making Gullah: Reflections on Finding Gullah Folk in the American Imagination." We want everyone who is interested in Gullah culture to be able to attend this free lecture by Dr. Melissa Cooper. The BDC is happy to collaborate with the St. Helena Branch Library, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and Penn Center to bring this  Author Book Talk to our community as part of Penn Center's 37th Annual Heritage Days Festival. The Festival runs from November 7 - November 9, 2019. Dr. Cooper's lecture will be held at 2 pm on November 8th in the St. Helena Library's large meeting room. This lecture is a first come, first seated program.

We finish up BDC local history programs in late November with another "Historically Speaking" lecture in concert with the Beaufort County Historical Society.

"'Not Just Gossip:' Who Dwelt in Beaufort's Historic Houses?" 
with Maxine Lutz
Thursday, November 21, 2019 | 2 pm | Beaufort Branch Meeting Room

At present, the BDC has no programs scheduled for December 2019. That could change, of course, so be sure to check the Library's calendar https://www.BeaufortCountyLibrary.org/calendar for program details and updates.

We hope that you take advantage of one or more of our upcoming programs to increase your understanding and appreciation of Beaufort District's long and storied history.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Rested and Wrote at Penn Center

This post was last updated on 10 January 2024.  

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Photograph by Marion S. Tikosko, 1964.
Library of Congress

Many folks are not aware that King used to visit Penn Center for respite from his public political activities campaigning for Civil Rights during the 1960s. It is said that he wrote much of his "I Have a Dream" speech at Penn Center. You can view that historic speech online.

To celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we suggest one item of particular local historical interest. For more information about his visits to our area, please check out 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. The booklet is available through the SCLENDS consortium catalog.

Interested in the role that one of the first schools organized to educate formerly enslaved people played from 1862 until the present day? We suggest that you read Penn Center: A History Preserved by Orville Vernon Burton to learn more about this highly significant local institution.

For those who want to dig even deeper, we have the microfilm series of the Penn School Papers in the BDC along with a number of other materials about Penn Center.

The Beaufort County Library has lots more about Martin Luther King, Jr., too!  Hoopla, our digital service, has a suggested list of 21,915 ebooks, movies, and audiobooks about him with materials for kids, teens, and grown-ups. 

Just remember that if you want to come into the BDC to read the contents of the King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968) vertical file we have, you'll need to make an appointment directly with BDC staff. Contact us: 843-255-6468 or email bdc@bcgov.net. Please understand that BDC staff makes an effort to respond to inquiries within 72 hours of receipt by staff of the request. This means, of course, that we do not monitor incoming on weekends or on County holidays. 

A heads up: The Library system, including the BDC, will be closed on Monday, January 15th, 2024 in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. - gmc

Civil War Era Living History Encampment, March 11 - March 13

The 50th Pennsylvania (USA) is occupying Beaufort and the Arsenal - again - next weekend.

Beaufort History Museum will be hosting 30 re-enactors from all over the Eastern Seaboard, March 11 - March 13th.  You'll be able to see aspects of daily life during the Civil War occupation: the Brigade Headquarters; business conducted by Army quartermasters and merchants (called "sutlers"); examples of the daily routine of a soldier; and the interaction of the missionaries and teachers with the former enslaved. Activities will include rustling up a meal cooked over a campfire, an infantry drill, a Freedmen's school lesson, a march along Bay Street, and a wreath laying ceremony in the Beaufort National Cemetery. The official Schedule of Events and details are found at https://beauforthistorymuseum.wildapricot.org/event-2128759.
  
Beaufort County Library and Penn Center are partnering with the Beaufort History Museum to bring this free event to the community.


Ashley and I will be on hand on Saturday, March 12th to show off some of our Civil War related treasures and to facilitate the book signings by Beaufort's own well beloved and highly regarded favorite historians, Dr. Larry Rowland and Dr. Steve Wise. The book signing will be held in the Beaufort Branch's Children's Programming Room from 9 am to 11 am.

Penn Center will have representatives on site Saturday to share information about its historic campus and history as one of the first schools for the freedmen as well. 

Nerds and students of local history may appreciate our recently compiled "Civil War in Beaufort District (SC), 1861 - 1865" webpage. A companion site is the "Reconstruction Period in Beaufort, South Carolina, 1862 - 1893." Why the overlap? Here in Beaufort District at least, Reconstruction began shortly after the Union took control of Port Royal Island, Hilton Head Island, and St. Helena Island in November 1861.

If you'd like to bone up about the military actions of the 50th Pennsylvania, the Beaufort District Collection has three books about the 50th Pennsylvania in our holdings: A history of Company C, 50th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment: From the camp, the battlefield and the prison pen, 1861 - 1865 edited by J. Stuart Richards, 2006; The 50th Pennsylvania's Civil War Odyssey: The Exciting life and hard times of a Union volunteer infantry regiment, 1861 to 1865 by Harold B. Birch, 2003; and A Scratch with the Rebels: A Pennsylvania Roundhead and a South Carolina Cavalier by Carolyn Poling Schriber, 2007.

Since the 1st South Carolina (USCT) was critical to the success of the Union Army, you may enjoy our "Black Soldiers and Sailors during the Civil War" list http://bit.ly/1WMVOzG. The Civil War Trust has a great complete collection of resources for maps, historical articles, battlefields and more relating to the USCT. Take their quiz to test how much you really know about the role of black soldiers in the war. (I only got Captain's rank - mostly on account of my lack of knowledge about the course of the war in the Western theater. Perhaps you'll do better.) 

While you're visiting the Encampment, you may want to mosey down to the Historic Beaufort Foundation's John Mark Verdier House, 801 Bay Street, to see  their latest exhibit "They Came to Beaufort ... Three Women of the Civil War." HBF says "The stories of Clara Barton, Frances Dana Barker Gage and Susie King Taylor all merge here in Beaufort during the occupation by the Union troops from 1861 until the end of the Civil War.

This exhibit examines how their paths crossed during this crucial period of American history and their contributions. Many women of courage and commitment came to the Lowcountry …. this is the story of three of those brave women."

Can't get enough of the Civil War? On Tuesday, March 15th Dr. Eric Poplin will discuss the Battle of Congaree Creek during the Hilton Head Chapter, ASSC meeting at Coastal Discovery Museum at 7:00 pm.

Selected Materials about Penn Center

Penn Center has been celebrating its 150th Anniversary since 2012. Penn School was established in 1862 by two Northern missionaries, Laura M. Towne and Ellen Murray.  It was among the first American institutions to provide a formal education for formerly enslaved people. In 1901, the Penn School expanded to become the Penn Normal, Agricultural and Industrial School after adopting the industrial arts curriculum taught at Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes. Penn School closed in 1948. During the 1960s, Penn Community Services reinvigorated its involvement in the Civil Rights Movement as the only South Carolina location where interracial groups could meet and discuss civil disobedience activities in peace.  During the 1970s, Penn Community Services evolved into Penn Center, an organization dedicated “to promote and preserve the history and culture of the Sea Islands.” Check out the recently updated list of selected resources about Penn School, Beaufort County's own historic and hallowed institution.

Road Trip!

Road Trip! a SCETV Know-It-All interactive website allows virtual tours of historical places in South Carolina marking important events from the civil rights movement. The modern Civil Rights Movement began in the 1940s and many changes had taken place by the early 1970s, with the major events happening between 1954 and 1968. The movement involved Blacks, Whites, Native Americans, young and old, as well as churches and non-religious groups.

Because Road Trip! Through SC Civil Rights History was designed with young students in mind, a user gets to make lots of choices. Explore the many features of Road Trip! including: virtual tours of historic locations, ability to download pictures and video clips, using downloaded items to create a civil rights report for class, lesson plans created to standards, a searchable database, a timeline of all civil rights events, a photo gallery, email and contact information for site consultants, information to archival institutions, a reading list and more and you're sure to find something of interest whether or not you are currently enrolled in an educational institution at an elementary or secondary level.

Of particular note are significant sites in Beaufort County. The website highlights the role that local sites such as Penn School, Mather School, Michael C. Riley schools, the Green on St. Helena Island, and Daufuskie Island played in the story of the national Civil Rights Movement.

A very special treat on Road Trip! is an oral history provided by Joseph McDomick, Jr., former Penn Center project supervisor for over thirty years, talk about Dr. Martin Luther King's many visits to Penn Center and how the visits had to be kept quiet because of the threats on King's life.

Experiment in Freedom Video

Mary Long's Yesteryear: Penn School: Experiment In Freedom traces the history of the Port Royal Experiment and the establishment of Penn School, one of the first schools in the South for freed slaves. For more than 100 years, the school has played a historic and vital role in the lives of the South Carolina sea Island people. The program follows the history of the center, from its founding to its role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Copies of the video are available through the Local History sections at our branch libraries. Some branches have VHS and DVD versions; some branches have only VHS; some branches have only DVD. Call numbers: 975.799 PEN or 370.9757 MAR

Black History Month 2014

Carter G. Woodson began highlighting the distinct and crucial history of African-Americans in 1926.  Since then, a week long celebration has turned into a month-long emphasis and reminder of the role that African Americans have made to American life and culture.  The 2014 theme for Black History Month is "Civil Rights in America."

The Beaufort District Collection makes an extra special effort to draw attention to the deep and broad history of African-Americans through our Facebook  and Connections posts, genealogy workshops, and emphasis on Library materials and services about Black History. Be sure to check out the posts in this blog labeled "African Americans" and "Black History Month" to get started.  

 

Already underway, in cooperation with Penn Center, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the St. Helena Branch Library is hosting "Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle" a film and lecture series.  Schedule.  

In addition, several of our sister cultural heritage organizations are hosting special exhibits or workshops on topics of African and African American history to commemorate Black History Month:

UPDATE: 14 Feb 2014, 4:27pm:The Toni Carrier Presentation at the Heritage Library scheduled for this Sunday, February 16, at 2:00 pm is CANCELLED. Please pass the word! -- Linda Piekut, Executive Director, Heritage Library Foundation,843-686-6560,lindapiekut@gmail.com

The Heritage Library Foundation is hosting a workshop: 

Breaking Through the 1870 Brick Wall: Locating Your African American Ancestors in SC Freedmen’s Bureau Records Toni Carrier, Founding Director of Lowcountry Africana and the USF Africana Heritage Project

Sunday, February 16, 2014;

2:00 – Wine Reception; 2:30 – talk

$10/Person

Researching African American family history before 1870 has always been difficult because of the lack of plantation and civil war records documenting the enslaved peoples of the lowcountry. Toni’s special research interest is finding and digitizing records to assist African American famly history researchers in tracing ancestors back before the 1870 federal census.

Call the Heritage Library at 843-686-6560 to reserve a seat.

Visit the Coastal Discovery Museum on Hilton Head Island to see "Finding Freedom's Home: Archaeology at Mitchelville."Recent archeological discoveries at the site of one of the first self-governed Freedmen's communities include evidence of possible homes, several barrel wells, a large refuse pit, and more than 20,000 artifacts, including personal belongings, tools and household goods.The exhibition will be on display through December. Details: 843-689-6767 or www.coastaldiscovery.org.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2014/01/30/2920834/exhibit-highlighting-mitchelvilles.html#storylink=cpy

Penn Center has "Bunce Island, a British slave castle in Sierra Leone" on exhibit through the end of May in the York W. Bailey Museum.  Bunce Island was one of about 40 slave castles, or fortified trading posts, that European merchants built along the coast of West Africa during the period of the Atlantic slave trade. Details: 843-838-2474, www.penncenter.com.

Parris Island Museum exhibits focus on the long and honored history and traditions of the Marine Corps, including the history of African-American Marines before Harry S. Truman desegregated the military. Museum: 843-228-2951

"Created Equal: America's Civil Rights Struggle" Series Continues

 

The St. Helena Branch Library is bringing "Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle" in  partnership with South Carolina State University and  Penn Center, with financial support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.  The film screenings, presentations, and discussions are free.  Visit the "Created Equal" webpages for details www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/created-equal.

Loving Story

Watch the film at Penn Center then come to the library in the evening for a discussion about love and to hear stories from members of the community who will share their stories. Wednesday, February 12^th, 2014 at 11 AM (film only – Penn Center) and 6 PM (Presentation & Discussion-St Helena Branch Library) St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Rd, St. Helena Island, SC 29920

De Gullah/Geechee an Reconstruction 

Join Queen Quet for a discussion of a documentary covering the lives of the Gullah Geechee during Reconstruction. Saturday, February, 15^th, 2014 from 12:00-4:00 PM St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Rd, St. Helena Island, SC 29920

Slavery By Another Name

Watch the movie at Penn Center then join the community to meet Tonya Groomes, who is featured in this documentary and hear how she found her roots and contributed to this film. Wednesday, February 19^th, 2014 at 11 AM (Film only – Penn Center) & 6 PM (Discussion and Meet Tonya Groomes – St Helena Branch Library).

Support History This Holiday Season

Beaufort County is blessed to have more than a dozen cultural heritage agencies, many of which hosting special events and programs during December. Why not support local history and cultural heritage organizations - and entertain your holiday guests - at the same time?  (Please be sure to check with each institution about its holiday hours.)  

Old World Christmas Gala 

Description of event:  Come support historic preservation in Bluffton with BHPS and friends. Enjoy a traditional meal and dance the night away under the stars in a live oak grove near the Oyster Factory Park on the May River. Period dress is encouraged, hoop skirts are optional.
Time and date of event:  Friday, Dec. 13th from 6-10 pm
Location of event: Colcock-Teel Property, 46 Colcock Street, Bluffton
Price:  Fee.
Contact: 843-757-6293; info@heywardhouse.org


Beaufort Model Railroaders Exhibit
Description of event: Scaled models of trains run through cities, countryside, and villages and towns courtesy of the Beaufort Model Railroaders hobby group.  For the young and young-at-heart!  A time-honored and celebrated tradition for more than 20 years at Beaufort Branch Library. 

Time and date of event:  Tuesday, Dec. 17th - Saturday, Dec. 21st during regular Beaufort Branch Library hours.

Location of event: Beaufort Branch Library, 311 Scott Street, 1st floor, Beaufort
Price:  Free.
Contact: 843-255-6456; www.beaufortcountylibrary.org

Beaufort County's Most Hated Man: William Henry Brisbane, Planter-Turned-Abolitionist
Description of event: Dr. J. Brent Morris (USC-B) discusses how Brisbane, a staunch supporter of slavery and a plantation until the 1830s had a turn of heart and became an active abolitionist.  In the 1840s he sold his land and moved to Ohio, only to return to his birthplace as a Federal Tax Commissioner during the Civil War.  On January 1, 1863, it was Brisbane who publicly read the Emancipation Proclamation in Beaufort - including to some men and women who he had owned. 

Time and date of event:  Wednesday, Dec. 18th at 3 pm

Location of event: Coastal Discovery Museum,
Price:  Fee.
Contact: Reservations and details:  843-689-6767, ext. 223 www.coastaldiscovery.org

PS: For those of you who live North of the Broad River, Dr. Morris will be speaking about Brisbane during the Beaufort County Historical Society meeting at the Beaufort Yacht Club on Jan. 16th, too.

First South Carolina Volunteers Exhibit
Description of event: As a special treat to the residents of Beaufort County, the Beaufort History Museum is offering free admission during December.  The First South Carolina Volunteers exhibit closes on December 22nd.
Time and date of event:  10 am - 4 pm, Monday through Fridays; 1 - 4 pm Sundays
Location of event: Beaufort History Museum, 1911 Boundary Street, Beaufort (In Town Hall) 

Price: Free for residents during December; Fee for everyone else.

Contact: 843-277-1443; www.beauforthistorymuseum.com

Parris Island Museum
Description of event: In addition to documenting the history of the United States Marine Corps, Parris Island Museum has exhibits about the Spanish and French settlements on the island and the Civil War history of the area.
Time and date of event:  10 am - 4:30 pm, Daily (closed Christmas Day)
Location of event: Parris Island Museum, 111 Panama Street, Marine Corps Recruit Depot

Price: Free.
Contact: 843-228-2951; http://parrisislandmuseum.com/

Civil War Exhibits at the John Mark Verdier House
Description of event: Historic Beaufort Foundation maintains the John Mark Verdier House museum.  Historic images illustrate text panels of the town during the Civil War and there is a scale-model diorama of Bay Street 1863 currently under construction.  In addition with paid admission, visitors can see "Robert Smalls: Beaufort Hero" and the "Unsurrendered Flag" featuring the history of the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery and its recently restored 1858 flag.
Time and date of event:  10 am - 4:00 pm, Monday - Saturday 
Location of event: John Mark Verdier House, 801 Bay Street, Beaufort

Price: Some free; some fee.
Contact: 379-6335; historicbeaufort.org

York W. Bailey Museum

Description of event: The Education for Freedom permanent exhibit chronicles Penn Center's most important history as a place of education, leadership and service, offering a glimpse into the stories of the Gullah Geechee people whose lives were changed by this important American institution. Rare artifacts, photographs, writings, and letters documenting Sea Island life during the 18th-20th century are on display.

Time and date of event:  9 am - 4 pm, Mondays through Saturdays 
Location of event: Cope Building, Penn Center Historic District, St. Helena Island
Price: Fee.

Contact:  843-838-2474



N.B. Please forgive the formatting issues. On the creation page, this looks just fine, all spacing, typefaces, and size of font are the same.  The posted version looks different because the free version of Blogspot (what we have to use) gets a little off kilter when one cuts-and-pastes text and images and proceeds to resize things to suit itself. Alas, it's the price one pays for free versions of software and a desire to "pretty" things up for readers.