The College of Charleston's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture

Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture

College of Charleston, 2023

African American Civil Rights Network

The Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, which opened in 1985, is located in Charleston, South Carolina on the campus of the College of Charleston. The Center occupies the former Avery Normal Institute building, Charleston's first accredited secondary (high) school for African Americans.

After the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865, the American Missionary Association of New York City founded a secondary school for African American students in Charleston, South Carolina. Classes were initially held in various federally owned buildings throughout the city however, Reverend Francis Cardoza, the school’s second principal, wanted a more permanent location for the school. He asked the Association to seek funds for a new building from the estate of Reverend Charles Avery of Pittsburgh, a noted abolitionist and supporter of education for African Americans. The new school building was completed in 1868 and the school was named the Avery Normal Institute.

The Avery Normal Institute served Charleston's prominent Black families and was a hub for the city's African American community. The Institute encouraged a classical liberal arts curriculum and offered college preparatory classes and a teacher education program. By 1880, the school had close to 500 students. Avery Normal Institute also prepared its students for leadership roles, helping to establish Charleston's first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Multiple Avery graduates went on to become prominent civil rights activists both before and during the African American Civil Rights Movement.

After WWII, the Institute transitioned from a private school to a public city school. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that the practice of segregating students into separate public schools based on their race was inherently unconstitutional. This led the city of Charleston to close the Institute and merge its students and faculty with Burke High School. After its closing, the Institute’s two buildings - the school building and the neighboring teachers' residence building - were used by Palmer Business College. The college occupied the buildings until the late 1970s.

In 1978, the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture was established to purchase and renovate the Avery Normal Institute buildings and create a museum and archive centered around African American history and culture in South Carolina. Led by the Honorable Lucille Whipper, a graduate of the Class of 1944, and other alumni, the Avery Institute was able to purchase the original Normal Institute buildings. It then worked with the College of Charleston to explore options for establishing a museum and archive. The buildings were deeded to the College which entered into a partnership with Avery Institute to establish the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture as part of the College of Charleston.

Located in the Avery Normal Institute buildings, the Avery Research Center operates a museum and research center and houses a large archival collection. It focuses on evaluating, acquiring, preserving, and interpreting materials that promote the unique history and culture of the African diaspora. The Center's collections range from the 19th century to the present and include diverse items focusing on topics such as civil rights, labor movements, education, and church records. The Avery Research Center also promotes education outreach by providing tours, hosting workshops, presenting lectures, and working with local school systems and surrounding communities on educational and cultural programs.

The Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture is a separate nonprofit organization that supports the Research Center's operations as well as its museum, education, and public history outreach programs. The Institute also assists the Center with acquisitions for its archival collections.

Today both the Avery Research Center and the Avery Institute preserve the legacy of the Avery Normal Institute by continuing to educate students and the community about the history and culture of African Americans in Charleston, the South Carolina Lowcountry, and beyond.

The College of Charleston's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture became part of the African American Civil Rights Network in 2022.

The African American Civil Rights Network recognizes the African American Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the sacrifices made by those who fought against discrimination and segregation. Created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017, and coordinated by the National Park Service, the Network tells the stories of the people, places, and events of the U.S. African American Civil Rights Movement through a collection of public and private resources to include properties, facilities, and programs.