In her 2014 research, Dr. LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant recognized the unique intersectionality of Gullah and Geechee religion: "a fluid location at which a symbiosis occurs between Protestant faith, African-derived practices, and African American folk traditions." This intersection grounds Heritage Day celebration at Penn Center. Some prominent festivities include a parade, communal sing-out, heritage performances, and fish fry/oyster roast. All Heritage Day festivities highlight the special diaspora cultures of Gullah and Geechee people residing on the lowcountry costal islands of South Carolina and Georgia.
The unifying power of Penn Center is rooted in respect and remembrance for the center's past. This photo within the Penn School Papers holds a glimpse into the unique intersection of religious practices among the Gullah and Geechee people on St. Helena Island, demonstrating a fusion of the past and the present in service of community needs. During Heritage Days, Penn Center reflects on the past to bring together a larger community of believers, family, friends, and allies.
Within this 1994 Heritage Day photograph, we see Reverend Ervin Greene seeking guidance and expressing gratitude through prayer. From 1912, to 1994, and today, baptism and prayer continue to hold powerful possibilities for the Gullah, the Geechee, and wider black communities in the American South amid earthly hardships. Reaching out for the guidance of ancestors is echoed within Agnes C. Sherman's 1977 address commemorating the anniversary of Emancipation, "Let us be ever mindful of the struggles of our fore parents. Their prayers and the singing of spirituals made their hopes and dreams of freedom from slavery a reality in 1863."