PENN CENTER 1862 CIRCLE INDUCTEES FOCUS ON EDUCATION

The purpose for which Penn School was founded—education—is being celebrated at this year’s Penn Center 1862 Circle Gala.  Through its choice of inductees into the 1862 Circle, Penn Center has affirmed the value it places on education, from its inception as the first school for freedman in the region to the present mission as a center for cultural and historical preservation.
Marian Wright Edelman, President and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund, will deliver the Keynote Address after her induction into the Circle.  A graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, Edelman was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi, and worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as counsel for his Poor People’s Campaign.  She then founded the Children’s Defense Fund which for forty years has challenged the United States to improve policies and programs for children.
The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours, and eight other books, Marian Wright Edelman is also the winner of many awards for her work, including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings.  In 2000, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Herman Gaither has served this community for 45 years as an educator and administrator.  After graduating from Claflin College in Orangeburg, S.C., with a Bachelor of Science degree, and earning a Master’s degree in Mathematics from Reed College in Oregon, he began teaching.  His two decades of experience in the classroom led him into administration, where he worked as Deputy Superintendent for Finance and Administration in Beaufort County Schools (1990-1995, and as Superintendent (1995-2005).
His distinguished career was recognized as he was cited by South Carolina Gov. Hodges for his innovative leadership, named a Congressional Black Caucus Distinguished Educator in 2002, and selected as the South Carolina Superintendent of the Year in 2005.  Consistent with his desire always to give back to his community, Mr. Gaither has held numerous positions on local executive boards and committees, including the Penn Center Board of Trustees, while writing a regular column on educational, social and political issues for the Gullah Sentinel Newspaper.
Brick Baptist Church, as site of first Penn School classes in 1862, occupies a unique place in the history of Penn School and the education of a nation of freedmen.  It was built in 1855 by enslaved Africans and, after white plantation owners left St. Helena Island when Union forces occupied the region, the church was turned over to the Black congregants left behind.
When Penn School founders Laura Towne and Ellen Murray moved their teaching to Brick Church, an association began that continues today.  They began special classes for the Deacons and church leaders in Bible study, public speaking, English and spelling in 1865, and in 1883, Ms. Murray started the first Sunday school classes on the islands.
Brick Baptist Church and Penn School, now Penn Center, share 150 years of challenges and successes.  In 1974, Brick was designated as part of the National Historic Landmark District that      is the Penn campus.
Once again, Penn Center is honoring individuals In Memoriam who have made significant contributions.
Harriet Keyserling served on the Board of Directors from 1992-1995, and on the Board of Trustees from 1992 to 1998.  She also was elected to represent the Beaufort district in the S.C. House of Representatives for sixteen years from 1977-1993.  In her elected positions and in her work with Penn Center, Harriet Keyserling was a persistent and effective advocate for equal educational opportunity for all children.  Dr. Herbert Keyserling served as a Navy doctor during World War II and returned to Beaufort to open a distinguished fifty year career in general practice, building long associations with the Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, the Lowcountry Medical Association, and the TB Association, while serving as chief of staff of Beaufort Memorial Hospital.  He served on the board at Penn Center during the 1960s.
Agnes C. Sherman was known as “Keeper of the Culture.”  Her determination to improve the quality of life for St. Helena citizens led her to become the first woman elected to public office—the County Board of Education.   She worked for employment opportunities for African Americans, serving as Secretary to the local NAACP branch for two decades.  When her talents and energies turned to Penn Center, she developed efforts to create and maintain the York W. Bailey Museum, revived the monthly Community Sings, and worked on the first Heritage Days Celebration committee.  Her activism and concern for cultural preservation well-represented the values of the community she served.
The Penn Center located on St. Helena Island, is in its third and final commemoration year, “Celebrating 150 Years of Education, Leadership and Service” and the 1862 Circle Gala is its major fundraiser held annually.  The 1862 Circle, first established in 2003, recognizes leaders who embody the spirit of Penn Center and who serve as national advocates for the enduring history, arts and culture of the Sea Islands.  The name celebrates the founding of Penn School, now Penn Center, in 1862.  Some notable 1862 Circle Members from South Carolina are:         Dr. Emory S. Campbell of Hilton Head Island, James Denmark of Yemassee, Philip Simmons of Charleston, Congressman James E. Clyburn of Sumter, Jonathan Green of Gardens Corner, Senator Ernest “Fritz” Hollings of Charleston, Thomas C. Barnwell, Jr. of Hilton Head Island, Mary Inabinett Mack of St. Helena Island, Roland J. Gardner of St. Helena Island, Louis O. Dore of Beaufort, Congressman Robert Smalls of Beaufort and Ronald Daise of St. Helena Island.
Penn Center invites you to the eleventh 1862 Circle Gala to be held on Saturday, April 26, 2014.  The elegant affair will be held at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island beginning at 6:00 p.m. with a reception and silent auction followed by dinner, induction ceremony and live auction at 7:00 p.m.  For more information on the 1862 Circle Gala, sponsorships opportunities and to make reservations, contact Penn Center (843) 838-2432 or info@penncenter.com.