John Gardner was born in Hilton Head, SC (South Carolina), and raised in a tight-knit Black community in Beaufort, SC. In this interview, Gardner recalls his early years when his father owned a grocery store, and his mother was a schoolteacher and were both active community members. As a teenager, Gardner participated in seminars and training sessions at the Penn Center. Later he attended an NAACP Youth Council Seminar where he met Vernon Jordan. Gardner moved to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Morehouse College, where he continued his involvement with the civil rights movement. He graduated in 1968 and went to work in corporate America. In the interview, he reflects on his experiences and the value of history lessons in the present days. Gardner was a historical interpreter at McLeod Plantation and Historic Site on James Island in Charleston, South Carolina.
