The hope of freedom: It’s a long story, and it’s all at Penn Center on St. Helena Island
The phone rings, a 16-year-old girl picks up the receiver. “Hello?”
A man’s soft voice was on the other end.
“Hello, is Captain Martin there? May I please speak with him?”
Cupping her hand over the receiver, she called to the living room.
“Daddy? There’s a man on the phone for you. I think it must be about work.”
Her father, a captain in the Atlanta City Fire Department, took the call in another room.
After a very long time he came back out to the family. For the first time in weeks his daughter saw a smile on his face, where lines of worry and stress had darkened his expressions.
“Who was it, Daddy?” she asked.
Captain Martin hugged his daughter and his blue eyes seemed to shine with a new light of hope that she had not seen in a long time.
“Honey, that was someone who cares about us. He knows what we have been going through. That was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and he has offered to give us some help.”
For the year was 1966 and Captain Martin and 500 of his fellow firefighters had finally taken a stand against long hours and low pay and chose to fight the city of Atlanta to fulfill long overdue promises.
That was the night my mother answered the phone to hear Dr. King’s voice and knew that she could have hope once more that someone cared and that help was on the way.
The message of hope that King gave to millions during the civil rights movement was felt across the land and around the world as he helped lead the forces of change for everyday people.
He cared for African-Americans suffering under the oppression of Jim Crow laws and deep-rooted hate as he led marches to end segregation, and also took time to lend his voice to others in need.
From the halls and mall of the nation’s capital to the trials of even a small group of city firefighters seeking help as they struggled for better conditions fighting fires and keeping a city safe.
Amid these turbulent times, King found a corner of the Lowcountry where he could take refuge and work — a place of quiet cottages beneath the arms of sturdy live oaks and the sway of Spanish Moss. That place was Historic Penn Center on St. Helena Island.
Gullah school
Historic Penn Center is located a mile from Frogmore at the heart of St. Helena Island, about seven miles from downtown Beaufort.
It was founded in 1862 as the first school in the South specifically for the education of African-Americans.
At the outset of the American Civil War, Union troops landed on Hilton Head Island, capturing it and much of the area. The plantation owners and other whites fled, leaving behind thousands of slaves.
A school was founded on St. Helena with the help of Abolitionist missionaries, and what is today the Historic Penn Center became an educational and cultural center for the Gullah residents of St. Helena.
With the coming of Emancipation and the end of war, Historic Penn Center continued to grow, bringing academic advancement, trade skills and farming techniques to those who could now own the land their families had worked as slaves for generations.
When the school closed, it became a quiet home for activism. From the time of the civil rights movement to modern day, Historic Penn Center has been a place where people of all races could meet and talk in peace.
National Historical Park
When you visit Historic Penn Center, you will find a museum that preserves the history of the school and the unique Gullah way of life of the Sea Islands. Historic Penn Center is a 47-acre campus of historic buildings that have served as a school, cottages, dormitories and meeting halls.
You will visit the York W. Bailey Museum located in the Cope Building. This striking building roofed in red tile once served the school for industrial and shop students. Today, it is home to an informative museum of the history of Historic Penn Center and a gallery of local and Gullah art.
You can take a driving or walking tour of the Penn Center campus and discover other historic buildings, such as Darrah Hall, a building that has served as a meeting house, a refuge from hurricanes and is now a part of the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park.
Gantt Cottage was built for King to use during his respite at Historic Penn Center.
The Brick Church, built in 1855, is the oldest building at Historic Penn Center. Built for white slave-owners, it became a place of worship for the formerly enslaved who built it, and an important, temporary home for the Penn School.
As the message of hope spread from the Penn School, its enrollment swelled and it soon became a light of freedom that can be seen to this day.
Take an afternoon or a day to visit the museum and campus of Historic Penn Center and there, beneath the stately live oaks and the quiet halls of yesteryear, you will be rewarded by its rich history — and understand the hope of freedom that is shared by all Americans.
Getting there
Historic Penn Center is located at 38 Penn Center Circle West, St. Helena Island, S.C., and is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, year-round.
Admission to the museum is $7 per adult and $5 per student, and free to children ages 5 and under.
The Courtney P. Siceloff Welcome Center is located next to the museum and you can call at 843-838-7105 for more information on events, programs group rates and use of the campus for meetings and other gatherings.
More information is available at the Penn Center website at https://www.penncenter.com.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 5:30 AM.