Laura Towne (May 3, 1825 - Feb. 22, 1901) - Penn Center

Rev. Nate Walker, minister of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, takes a pilgrimage to Beaufort, South Carolina to celebrate Laura Towne's 184th birthday. Laura Towne was a member of First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. PBS writes, "Laura Towne was one of the first Northern women to go south to work with freed slaves...Towne opened the Penn School, the first school for freedmen, while the Civil War was raging. As a white woman living and working among former slaves, she defied convention. Unlike most of those who went south at the time, Laura Towne made a life for herself on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, and ran the Penn School until her death in 1901." Featured leaders in this video include Rosalyn Brown, Director of History and Culture at the Penn Center; Rev. Nan White, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort, South Carolina; Annette Marquis, District Executive and Jim Key District President of the Thomas Jefferson District; Janice Marie Johnson, Director of Lifespan Religious Education at Community Church of New York; and Rev. Hope Johnson, UU Congregation of Central Nassau, NY.

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Nonprofits & Activism

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• unitarian
• universalist
• laura
• towne
• rev
• nate
• nathan
• walker
• philadelphia
• beaufort
• south
• carolina
• fellowship

[QRahman]

Dear Nate: I am so inspired by this video and the acknowledgments of each of the speakers, all of whom I knew.I feel so proud of the work that Laura Matilda Towne did and that you all are keeping alive. Thank you for sharing this! I want to be in counted in the numbers next year when you do this! Qiyamah