Education on Hilton Head 1862 - 1871 

In November of 1861, a man by the name of Bernard Lee was appointed as the Superintendent of Contrabands on Hilton Head Island by Captain Rufus Saxton, Chief Quartermaster of the Expeditionary Force. With the approval of Saxton, he opened what was the first known school for former slaves on Hilton Head Island at the end of January 1862. At first, he was the sole teacher on the island, but it wasn’t long before the American Missionary Association (AMA) in Boston, Massachusetts gathered missionaries and supplies to man schools for contrabands and, eventually, freedmen up and down the southeastern coast wherever the Union had established control. The AMA was followed by members of the National Freedmen’s Relief Association, the Freedmen’s Aid Society, the New England Freedmen’s Aid Society, the New York Freedmen’s Aid Society, the National Freedmen’s Relief Society, the New England Freedmen’s Relief Society, the American Union, and the Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association.

Below are links to the stories of the teachers and superintendents that were found to have some connection to Hilton Head Island.

Teachers:

Teachers A - C

Teachers D - H

Teachers J - W

SUPERINTENDENTS:

Rev. Mansfield French

Rev. Solomon Peck

Edward Lillie Pierce

In conjunction with the development of this research, a lesson plan for area teachers was developed on Education during Reconstruction on Hilton Head and St. Helena Islands