♪ (gentle music) ♪ (birds chirping) <Narrator> When you look at the scenery of South Carolina's Lowcountry, it's hard not to admire its beauty and wildlife.

Even more difficult is to know that these peaceful shores were once the epicenter for one of the greatest atrocities to ever take place on American soil.

Nearly 40% of all enslaved Africans were sailed through these calm waters.

Countless stories, traditions, languages, and above all, people were lost.

However, along a chain of islands off the South Carolina and Georgia coast, an isolated group has held on to their African roots throughout the centuries.

This is their story told... From the Sky!

♪ (soaring music) ♪ ♪ The descendants of the Gullah or "Geechee" people were brought from the Sierra Leone region in Africa to work primarily on rice plantations along sea islands in the southeast United States.

Because these remote islands offered relative isolation from whites, enslaved Africans were able to preserve parts of their cultural heritage and language that later blended with new influences in America to create an entirely different culture.

One of the most notable traditions practiced is the art of making sweetgrass baskets.

This skill was carried on from Africa, and has been practiced for nearly 300 years.

Today, sweetgrass baskets are sold in places like Charleston's City Market, and in small stores along Highway 17.

For over a century, Penn Center National Historic Landmark District has been the focal point of African American education, historical preservation and social justice.

Located on St Helena Island, the Penn School was established six months before President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and three years before the 13th Amendment legally abolished slavery.

Founded in 1862 by Laura Matilda Towne, this was one of the first academic schools in the South to provide a formal education for formerly enslaved West Africans.

After the school closed in 1948, Penn became the first African American site in South Carolina whose primary purpose was to safeguard the heritage of a Gullah-Geechee community.

In the 1960s, Penn Center took up the mantle of social justice by ushering in the Civil Rights Movement.

It was the only location in South Carolina where interracial groups such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Peace Corps could have safe sanctuary in an era of mandated segregation.

Penn Center became a bastion of peace and a place of refuge where King could unwind, breathe freely and express himself openly, saying things in front of groups that he couldn't say on a national stage.

Local legend has it that King composed many of his speeches here, including his "I Have a Dream" speech, which he wrote while staying in the Hastings Gantt cottage where he often retreated.

Today, the mission of Penn Center remains much the same, preserving and promoting the history in culture through its commitment to education, community development, and social justice.

It's easy to see how vital places like this are when viewed... From the Sky!

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