Penn Center

Thank you to everyone who came out last night as Dr. Mollie Barnes led a passionate and deeply meaningful discussion about a very special memoir by Amoretta Daise describing the early years of Penn School on St. Helena Island.

Many of us were entranced by the three-page memoir Dr. Barnes uncovered in the Penn Center papers at UNC and the image it presented of a young child experiencing the early days of the school with teachers Charlotte Forten and Laura Towne.

We can`t wait for the publication of Dr. Barnes` book "Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902" forthcoming from USC Press on Feb 5th.

We`d like to make a special thanks to ISRE`s own Rhonda Carey and ISRE Board of Visitors Member Victoria Smalls for reading selections from Charlotte Forten and Amoretta Daise. We`re also grateful to the USCB Library, especially Warren Cobb, for hosting and taking care of the setup.

Thank you to everyone who came out for sharing your voices and giving of your time on a very chilly evening in the Lowcountry.

#LetsTalkReconstruction #ISRE #PaperHeroines #USCPress #PennCenter #StHelenaIsland #HerStoryMatters ...

Last year my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting Penn Center. For years it was a boarding school for black children. It continues to be a vibrant community center. Due to Covid-19 they cannot host tours that provided some income. For anyone that visits Beaufort, SC area I highly recommend visiting when it’s once again safe to travel. In the meantime donations can be made online. The photos are copied from their FB page. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way Penn Center Inc is conducting daily activities, but our Mission and Vision remain the same.

Help us to continue providing assistance to our community by donating to Penn Center. Your donation is vital to the future of Penn Center. Your gift will make an important difference is our ability to continue rendering services to so many people through our public programs. Your donation is also tax deductible.

Online donation option can be found on our website (penncenter.com/donate)

Thanks for assisting Penn Center during this difficult economic time. #penncenter#southcarolina#gullah#gullahculture#sthelenaisland#donate#oldschool#communitycenter#southcarolinaseaislands#1862#blackhistory #staysafe ...