In this two-part series, producer Sara A. Lewis visits the South Carolina Sea Islands, where the triumphs and tragedies of Reconstruction have left a unique legacy. In Part II, join Sara on Hilton Head and St. Helena, two more islands where the promises of Reconstruction blossomed into independent, self-sufficient communities of formerly enslaved people. On Hilton Head, Sara visits Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park, once the site of a self-governed Black community; on St. Helena, she explores the Penn School, the nation’s first school for emancipated slaves and home to a civil rights legacy that stretches into the 20th century and beyond.

This episode was produced by Sara A. Lewis, Christian Leus, and Christian Brown, with Dr. Kidada Williams. Thank you to Lola Campbell and Dr. Marie Gibbs. Post-production and score thanks to Curtis Fye and Trey Pollard of Spacebomb. This episode featured musical performance by Frankie James, Olivia Stith, Samantha Higgs, and Dominique Jones, with arrangement by Frankie James.

This episode is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the African American History Commission.

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