Beaufort Co. school celebrates 25 years on namesake Joseph Shanklin’s birthday

Students at Joseph S. Shanklin Elementary School were celebrating more than their upcoming holiday break this past week: On Monday, the school’s 380 students came together to honor the 25th anniversary of Shanklin Elementary, and the birthday of its namesake.

“Joseph Shanklin was really a pioneer for education in Beaufort County,” principal Elizabeth Rivera said Wednesday.

Now in her seventh year at the school and her first as its principal, Rivera said she researched the school’s name when she was hired, and was stunned by the legacy she found.

After graduating from Booker T. Washington’s famed Tuskegee Institute at the turn of the 20th century, Joseph Shanklin came to Beaufort County in 1903 to educate black students like himself at the Port Royal Agricultural and Industrial School.

He taught farming for two years at the school, which was founded in 1901 from the efforts of Beaufort citizens, abolitionist Abbie Holmes Christensen and minister Paul Watson as a response to the lack of educational opportunities for black children in the county. By 1905, enrollment had grown from seven students to 150.

Around that time, Shanklin was promoted to principal of the school. He remained its principal for 40 years.

He was aided by his wife, India Gordon Shanklin, who served as the school’s matron, housekeeper, and nurse in addition to teaching domestic science. The couple had three children, all of whom graduated from the school and came back as teachers.

Under Shanklin’s tenure, the school became a public institution and grew to encompass 800 acres, as well as two barns, two dormitories, a power plant, equipment, and an endowment of around $11,000, according to the University of South Carolina.

Until its closing in 1955, it was known as the Shanklin School, a legacy Rivera said she’s proud to carry on today at Joseph S. Shanklin Elementary School, founded nearly 40 years later in 1994.

“Outside of our name, we keep the legacy of Joseph Shanklin alive through having high expectations for our students,” she said Wednesday.

Rivera pointed to the school’s mission statement: “Learn. Lead. Make a difference.”

“I think about that, that Joseph Shanklin would want the same things for his students,” she said.

The school celebrated its past and present on Monday, with a performance by the school’s step team and a collection of poems written by students who researched Shanklin’s life.

One of those students was fourth grader Tyler Greene, who read his poem “Shanklin” aloud at the event.

“This school is a dream,” he recited. “Inspiring leaders to shine bright like Joseph Shanklin himself. Forty-two years of leading and making a difference. Shanklin is where I want to be.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the year Joseph S. Shanklin Elementary School was founded, in 1994.