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Penn Center
Penn Center, established in 1862 as Penn School, was the first school in the South for formerly enslaved African Americans. Located in the heart of the Gullah culture on St. Helena Island, it became a crucial hub for education, cultural preservation, and civil rights leadership during Reconstruction and beyond, earning its place as part of the Reconstruction Era National Monument.
Counter-Narrative
The myth this site refutes: that Black communities lacked investment in learning. HBCUs and freedom schools existed before many white institutions.
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Before & After This Era
← Before · Early Republic
→ After · Jim Crow
Sites in Conversation
"Both connected to Martin Luther King Jr."
"Both connected to Laura Towne"
"Both part of: Reconstruction Era"