Mather alumni celebrate school's history

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By Jaime Dailey - bio | email

BEAUFORT, SC (WTOC) - As Black History Month wraps up, a group in Beaufort is celebrating an important part the area's African-American history.

The Mather School alumni rang the school's old school bell Friday on what was their campus and is now the Technical College of the Lowcountry.

It's all part of TCL's Annual Mather School Celebration. The Mather School was established in 1868 to educate the daughters of freed slaves and to prepare young black women teachers.

In 1881, the school became part of the New England Baptist Missionary Association and continued educating area African-Americans in 1968, when it opened to all races. Alumni say this is a celebration they don't want to miss.

"We look forward to Mather Day every year, an opportunity to go back into the past, relive some of the tips we learned on campus because it meant so much to us," said Irene Hicks.

"It is one of the big things for us that we are able to socialize with each other and it brings back a lot of memories," said Vernell Thompson Young.

In 1972, the Mather School became part of the South Carolina Technical College System.