Penn Center
Founded in 1862 as one of the first schools in the South for freed Black people, it is now a center for Gullah culture. Martin Luther King Jr. planned civil rights work here.
Penn Center is on St. Helena Island. It began as the Penn School, founded in 1862 by Northern Quakers and missionaries to educate freed Black people. It was one of the earliest schools of its kind in the American South. Today it is a center for research and education on Gullah culture and African American history. It is a National Historic Landmark and part of the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. In the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference held retreat meetings here to plan the civil rights movement. The Penn Center Heritage Museum (York W. Bailey Museum) displays Gullah history and school archives. The grounds include the old schoolhouses and a brick chapel. Museum admission is about $7, and the center is about 20 minutes from Beaufort by car.
Opening hours
Tue–Sat 09:00–16:00
Nearby sights
- Beaufort Historic District
- Hunting Island State Park
- Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park
- Folly Field Beach Park
- Hudson's Seafood House on the Docks
- Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island
- Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge
- Coastal Discovery Museum