Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

The “Reconstruction Era” is generally considered to have started at the end of the American Civil War. Its intent, among many things, was to bring the former Confederate States back into the union, under the new reality of the 13th and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution. Though intended to be used for healing, laws were often passed and implemented more as revenge or punishment, designed to humiliate citizens of the south.

I discovered two things at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. First, reconstruction started in some areas far earlier than the end of the war; and second, it could work when all those involved wanted it to work.

I had learned at Fort Pulaski that Union troops had already occupied sections of the Carolina coast not too long after the Civil War began, something that, as a history aficionado, I should have known before but didn’t. Troops also occupied the areas around Beaufort, South Carolina about midway between Charleston and Savannah. This became a haven for escaped slaves, and on January 1, 1863, those under the protection of Union troops were now legally free men and women. The Union army had established Camp Saxton, and some of the first army units of freedmen were formed here.

Shortly after the area was securely in Union hands, educators and missionaries came from the north to establish schools. It was a crime to educate slaves in the south, partially fueled by the belief that blacks were incapable of learning. The educators intended to prove this wrong. That they did.

The Penn School was built on nearby St Helena Island and the area evolved into something like a community center. Darrah Hall was built as the primary meeting and recreation building. Many of the people who were educated here went on to very successful careers, even in the still highly bigoted south. The school remained open well into the 20th century.

Sadly, this model was not repeated throughout most of the south, and eventually “reconstruction” gave way to Jim Crow laws that segregated southern society for more than half of the 20th century.

As a National Park unit, Reconstruction Era National Historical Park is rather new. There is a very small Visitor’s Center located near the library in downtown Beaufort, with several large informational posters about reconstruction, emphasizing the local history. Camp Saxton is now part of the park but was closed during my visit.

Darrah Hall (mentioned above) is also owned by the Park Service. It sits on the campus of Penn Center – which is now a private complex consisting of meeting places, accommodations, museums, and the original Penn School. The Park Service works in cooperation with Penn Center, and access to Darrah Hall is free. The rest of the center (being privately owned and maintained) does have admission fees.

Just up the road, and highlighted in the park brochure, is Brick Baptist Church. It was built in 1855 by enslaved labor, then used exclusively by the white landowners. When the landowners fled at the approach of Union troops, the freed peoples that were in, or came to, the area around Penn School began using the church as their own. It holds services to this day. The Park Service does maintain the exterior of and area around the church.

As I left, I couldn’t help but wonder what this country might be like today if the methods and lessons used at Penn School, and in general around St Helena Island, had been implemented everywhere in the south. Unfortunately, too many in the north wanted vengeance, and too many in the south hated just because of one’s skin color.

Steve