Awendaw native, Grammy winner headlines benefit concert for historic school

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCBD) – The 1904 Long Point School Benefit Concert was headlined by Awendaw native and Grammy Award winner Charlton Singleton.

A local music legend came back home to help preserve history.

“There’s a lot of people that don’t really know about the Long Point School,” Singleton said. And how important it is, not only to the Snowden community, but just to the Lowcountry community and how significant it is.”

The African American Settlement Commission held a benefit concert to raise money for the historic Long Point School.

“The last Black school that’s in Mount Pleasant,” African American Settlement Commission president John Wright said. “That’s served the community from 1904 to 1953. And has been sitting there since 1953.”

Now, the commission is repurposing the school for an educational center to showcase Awendaw’s history.

“We think that what we’re doing will give the future generations something to look at and say, ‘We preserved something,’” Wright said.

Singleton says playing in his hometown is a dream come true.

“To be able to play all over the world and now play in my backyard so to speak,” he said. “It’s just an amazing experience.”

Singleton says he’s honored to lend his talents for such an important cause.

“We hope that everybody will look at that school,” he said. “Look at that project, look at how they can help, and jump in for helping to keep that legacy. That’s the best way you can say it.”

The commission says they’re working to ensure the new Long Point Center is special.

“We plan to make this something that’s going to last for centuries,” Wright said. “And in order to do that, we have to make sure that we partner with those that are doing some of the same things that we tend to do, or at least shares our same vision.”

News 2’s Octavia Mitchell was the MC for Saturday’s concert.

The Long Point Educational Center is scheduled to open next year.