the view this week

penn center on st. helena island near beaufort, south carolina, was the point of this trip --- founded in 1862 by a bunch of do-gooding liberal-type yankees to help the freed slaves --- the sea islands of georgia and carolina were very quickly occupied by the union, here after the battle of port royal in november 1861 --- all the white peoples fled and many of the antebellum mansions in beaufort were acquired by freed slaves --- the center continues to operate --- in the 1960s, mlk often stayed there ---- when he was assassinated in april 1968, this house, the retreat, was under construction especially for his use --- as was pointed out on more than one occasion, "he never got to use it" --- great site, right on the marsh --- i may have to rent it for a few days this winter, just so i can sit for hours on end, staring stupidly at the marsh ---