The preservation, teaching, and celebration of Gullah and Geechee experiences on St. Helena Island, as well as the lowcountry islands along the Georgia coast, flourished and continue to flourish at Penn Center. Like the new generation of proud black children within this photo, Penn Center was entering a new, proud phase during the 1960s.
In 1969, Courtney Siceloff, the first executive director of Penn Center and a pro-interracial cooperation activist, retired and was succeeded by John W. Gadson—Penn’s first black executive director. Among Mr. Gadson’s accomplishments, perhaps his most vital to present day Penn Center was the founding of Black Land Services Inc., a programming and education service to help black islanders preserve ownership and retention of land.
At this Black Land Services land retention training session, black and white advocates came together in service of aiding black farmers and landowners navigating legal systems throughout the American South. Jim Crow legal and extralegal loopholes often braided together to disenfranchise black landowners, resulting in land loss through tax lien sales. In a 2022 interview, South Carolina US Representative Jim Clyburn clearly delineated that black owned land was often stolen “in plain sight and with the help of government.” (Newkirk, M. "How Generations of Black Americans Lost Their Land to Tax Liens." Bloomberg News. June 29, 2022)
Born on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Emory Campbell was raised near Penn School both geographically and personally, as his older siblings were Penn School graduates. When Emory became the executive director of Penn Center in 1980, rather than criticizing Penn School for the shortcomings and prejudices of the institution’s white educators and administrators, Emory celebrated the heritage of "linking education to citizenship and community improvement" (2014, p. 11).
Emory's wisdom is encapsulated within the first page of the the 1981 Heritage Day celebration. Two hallmarks of Emory's leaderhship are empasized within this text: reflection and respect.
"Today, we pause to reflect on the past, but more importantly to use the past as a springboard into the future...The philosophy of Penn Center has also always included the respect for and understanding of one’s heritage. Today is an opportunity to learn more about those whose heritage is linked to Penn Center, but respect should be given to the heritage of others as well."