Penn Center National Historic Landmark District, located on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, has served as a unifying center for black education, historic preservation, and social justice for tens of thousands of descendants of formerly enslaved West and Central Africans living in the Sea Islands, known as the Gullah and Geechee people. Founded in 1862, Penn School, established by white northern philanthropists, was one of the first schools in the American South to provide a formal education for previously enslaved West Africans. After the school closed in 1948, Penn Center opened in 1951. In the 1960s, Penn Center took up the mantle of social justice, ushering in the Civil Rights Movement and serving as the only location in South Carolina during the Civil Rights Movement where interracial groups, such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Peace Corps, could have safe sanctuary in an era of mandated segregation. Today, Penn Center continues to sustain the history and culture of the Sea Islands, fostering initiatives that impact local, national, and international communities. For more information, visit https://www.penncenter.com/