History of Penn School / Penn Center of the Sea Islands: Penn Archives at UNC Chapel Hill

UNC Chapel Hill Library's Southern Historical Collection has been collaborating with Penn Center for more than sixty years to preserve important archival collections that document Penn's rich history. In 1962, at the centennial of its founding, Penn sought to partner with an archival repository to care for the voluminous records that had accumulated at the Center's campus over the years.

Penn first approached the South Caroliniana Library (SCL) in Columbia, S.C., about acquiring their papers, but SCL would not agree to a clause in the gift agreement to make the papers available "to all persons without regard to race." Two Penn trustees with UNC connections intervened and connected Penn's staff with the curators of the Southern Historical Collection, which did agree to the policy of open access without regard to race. In exchange, Penn retained legal title to the collection, by placing it on indefinite loan with the library.

The resulting collection became the Penn School Papers, which consists of records from Penn's founding in 1862 up to 1948 (the year Penn School closed and the organization's mission shifted towards community advocacy and social justice). In 2012, Penn deposited a second collection of materials that covers the operation of Penn Center, from 1948 to the present.

Southern Historical Collection Curator Chaitra Powell (at right) with Penn Center leaders.