The School for Freed Slaves Founded on a Confederate Island in 1862 South Carolina

Penn Center, South Carolina

Union forces took over South Carolina’s Sea Islands in 1861, freeing about 10,000 enslaved people after plantation owners fled. These newly freed people had no education or resources to support themselves.

To help them, Northern abolitionists started the Port Royal Experiment in 1862. They built schools and hospitals, and created ways for freed people to buy land cheaply.

Penn Center was one of the most important schools from this project. Founded in 1862 on St. Helena Island, it became the first school in the South created specifically to educate former slaves.

Union Forces Capture St. Helena Island

Federal gunboats sailed into Port Royal Sound in November 1861 and fired on Confederate positions. White plantation owners and soldiers immediately abandoned St. Helena Island, leaving behind thousands of enslaved people.

Union General Thomas Sherman took control of over 30 islands from Charleston to Savannah. The cotton plantations on St. Helena now had no owners or overseers.

Faced with thousands of freed people who couldn’t read or write, Sherman asked for teachers from the North in January 1862. His request reached Northern groups eager to help.

The Port Royal Experiment Begins

On February 6, 1862, General Sherman issued Order No. 9, creating plans for the abandoned plantations. This opened the door for Northern charity groups to send volunteers south.

More than 50 abolitionists arrived in March 1862 from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. These teachers, doctors, and missionaries helped freed people move from slavery to citizenship.

The experiment divided plantation lands among freed families. Each family could buy up to 40 acres at $1.25 per acre. During their first season of freedom, many planted food crops instead of cotton.

Northern Abolitionists Arrive to Teach

Laura Matilda Towne arrived on St. Helena Island in April 1862. This 35-year-old from Philadelphia had medical training and strong abolitionist beliefs.

Ellen Murray joined her friend Towne in June 1862, bringing valuable teaching experience from Rhode Island. Charlotte Forten arrived in October, becoming the first African American teacher at the school.

These three women formed the core teaching staff in the early years. While Forten left in 1864 due to health problems, Towne and Murray stayed on St. Helena Island for the rest of their lives.

First Classes at Oaks Plantation

Penn School started in one room of the abandoned Oaks Plantation house in June 1862. Only nine students attended the first classes taught by Ellen Murray.

At first, Towne focused on providing medical care to island residents while Murray handled teaching. Students were eager to learn, though South Carolina law had forbidden teaching enslaved people to read or write.

June 18, 1862 marks the official beginning of Penn School, when Murray taught her first class of Black students. The school had no permanent building or formal name yet.

Moving to Brick Church

As student numbers grew quickly during summer 1862, the school needed more space. By September, classes moved to Brick Baptist Church near the center of St. Helena Island.

The church had special meaning. Enslaved people had built it with their own hands in 1855 for white plantation owners who later fled.

Now 80 students filled the building, learning in a space once denied to them. Children attended daytime classes while adults came in the evenings after finishing field work.

The church housed Penn School classes until a dedicated school building arrived in 1865.

Curriculum for Freedom

Students at Penn School learned reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, and music. Teachers used a classical curriculum like those in Northern schools.

They taught standard English rather than Gullah, the local Creole language of the Sea Islands. Students used textbooks like The Second Reader of the School and Family Series and The Common School Speller.

Learning to read was especially important to the former slaves, who remembered when literacy was illegal and punishable by whipping. Students of all ages worked together, united by their desire to gain knowledge.

Land Acquisition from Hastings Gantt

In 1864, Penn School bought land from Hastings Gantt, a freed man who owned property on St. Helena Island. This purchase secured space for the school’s permanent building.

The sale showed important progress in the community. A formerly enslaved person now owned land and could sell property to help others.

Many freed families were also buying small plots from former plantations divided by Union authorities. Gantt’s contribution ensured education would continue on the island.

His name remains part of Penn Center history as someone who helped build educational opportunities for future generations.

The First Dedicated School Building

A ready-to-assemble building arrived from Pennsylvania in January 1865. The Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Association donated the structure, which came in sections by ship from Philadelphia.

Workers put together the three-room schoolhouse on the land bought from Hastings Gantt. This became the first school building in the American South built specifically for teaching freed slaves.

Construction finished by spring 1865, just as the Civil War ended. Students moved into the new space after years in borrowed rooms. By year’s end, 436 students attended classes across four school buildings on the island.

Naming the School After William Penn

Towne and Murray named their school after William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. This honored Penn’s Quaker principles of human liberty, equality, and brotherhood.

The name also acknowledged the financial support from Pennsylvania Quaker abolitionists who paid teachers’ salaries and provided school supplies. Philadelphia’s Quaker community gave significant resources through the Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association.

Students learned about Penn’s ideals while benefiting from Northern Quaker support. The name connected their isolated island community to broader ideas of freedom and equality.

The Liberty Bell Arrives

A special bell arrived for Penn School with the words “Proclaim Liberty” carved into it. Based on Philadelphia’s famous Liberty Bell, it called students to classes from miles around.

Towne arranged for the bell to be made and shipped to St. Helena Island. People across the island could hear its sound over fields and marshes.

Many walked miles when they heard it, eager to learn. The bell became a symbol of education as freedom.

Its daily ringing announced learning opportunities for communities who had been denied knowledge during slavery.

Visiting Penn Center

You can explore Penn Center at 16 Penn Center Circle West on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. The York W. Bailey Museum, open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 4pm, features exhibits on the 1862 founding and early teachers Towne, Murray, and Forten.

Start at the visitor center for maps of the historic district. Don’t miss Brick Church where classes moved in September 1862 after outgrowing the Oaks Plantation house.

The original school bell with “Proclaim Liberty” inscription is displayed in the museum. Admission is $7 for adults. Call 843-838-2432 or visit penncenter.com for current hours and special tours about the Port Royal Experiment.

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