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(female speaker) Brick is the first place that African Americans were able to worship.
Brick was erected in 1855, built by slaves for the white plantation owners.
They were permitted to attend worship services here,
upstairs in the balcony, where they could hear but not be seen.
You will notice the width of the balcony enclosures. They are somewhat higher
so that slave owners knew that their slaves were there,
but they couldn't necessarily be seen. The steps on either side,
they're built one for men, one for women. This side is steeper than the other.
They sat separately and apart. (Dakers) The first formal classes of Penn
School, founded to educate the former slaves following
emancipation, were held at Brick Baptist Church.
(female speaker) Laura Towne and Ellen Murray were cofounders of Penn School,
and Brick Baptist Church was used as the facility once they left the Oaks Plantation schoolhouse.
Definitely a sacred space because of the history of Brick and the Penn
Center and the connections that so many of us have
on the island with so many family members who attended Penn,
who got their first real glimpse of education and what it could accord
them and their families for the future. All of the other churches on the island came
out of Brick, so we all see it as our kind of spiritual
foundation.