The York W. Bailey Museum at the historic Penn Center will host a special event — A Day at Penn School — on Saturday, Oct. 12.
A Day at Penn School will provide guests the opportunity to enjoy a guided walking tour of the Penn School National Historic Landmark District, an outdoor community vendor fair, the Penn Club fish fry fundraiser and the opportunity to hear from special guest speaker, Michael Boulware Moore, the great great grandson of Robert Smalls.
Moore will share his thoughts on why history matters.
“History is far more than an academic pursuit. It has critical contemporary meaning in the way that it frames current national perceptions and individual realities,” Moore said in a release. “This connectivity creates incredible pressure to ensure that the stories that we, as a nation, are telling our children — all of our children — put them in the best position to be successful.”
Moore leverages his personal connection — as the great great grandson of Civil War hero and Reconstruction Congressman Robert Smalls — to illustrate his story.
Moore will also talk about the power that museums like the York W. Bailey Museum at Penn Center and the forthcoming International African American Museum, can have on our collective future.
In addition, Moore will also share how the Penn Center, a cultural epicenter and national historic site, is vital to our nation’s collective heritage.
Moore is the founding President and CEO of the International African American Museum in Charleston. Located on the spot where almost half of all enslaved Africans brought to America took their first steps, the museum is scheduled to open in 2021 and will be an innovative, informative, and emotionally powerful experience for all.
A Day at Penn School will kick off at 9 a.m. with a self-guided tour of the York W. Bailey Museum’s Education for Freedom exhibition, a viewing of Penn’s documentary film, a special viewing of Penn Center’s Sam Doyle art collection, and a guided walking tour of the 50-acre Penn School National Historic Landmark District led by Victoria A. Smalls, Penn Center’s Director of History and Culture.
The day will also include an outdoor community vendor fair, with farmers, craft makers, and artists like Gullah wood-burning artist Rev. Johnnie Simmons and Gullah Sweetgrass sewer Jery Bennett-Taylor.
Beginning at 11 a.m., the museum will host special guest speaker, Michael Boulware Moore, with lunch to follow at noon. The Penn Club is sponsoring their local favorite fish fry, as a fundraiser for Penn Center.
For more information on A Day at Penn School, museum admission, the guided walking tour fee and vendor fair, please call 843-838-8554 or email vsmalls@penncenter.com.
