Bennett, L. Howard, June 23, 1981
Scope and Contents
The Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture Oral History Project contains 44 oral history interviews arranged in three series based on the corresponding project or scope of the oral histories. The majority of the oral histories were conducted or coordinated by Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture members with the exception of Phase 2 of the Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project which was conducted by the Avery Research Center. Within each series, the oral histories are arranged alphabetically by last name. Greater details about the contents of each oral history can be found at the file level abstract of each interview. Each oral history, when available, includes a transcript and any supporting documentation like questions, notes, tape logs, and interview release forms. Transcripts do not currently exist for every interview and work to create them is ongoing.
Series I: Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project, 1980-1996 contains oral histories with former students, teachers, principals, and community members of the Avery Normal Institute discussing their attendance at the school including classes, teachers, extracurricular activities as well as perceptions of the school in the larger African American Charleston community and perceived reasons for why the school was closed. 12 of these oral histories are accessible on the Lowcountry Digital Library including the interviews with Ruby Cornwell, Julia Craft DeCosta, Marcellus Forrest, Dr. Joseph Hoffman, Felder Hutchinson, Anna D. Kelly, Louise Mouzon, Peter Poinsette, and both interviews with J. Michael Graves and Eugene C. Hunt.
Series II: Laing School oral histories, 1981 contains two oral histories with former students of the Laing School in which they discuss their time attending the school, their lives after graduation, and their impressions of the Avery Normal Institute.
Series III: Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture oral histories, 1983-1995 contains seven oral histories with members of the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture discussing the founding of the organization and its grassroots efforts to acquire and preserve the Avery Normal Institute school buildings. There are also oral histories in this series with former students of the Avery Normal Institute and Immaculate Conception discussing their attendance at both institutions.
Dates
- Creation: June 23, 1981
Creator
- From the Collection: Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture (Organization)
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions to this collection; however, a cassette player is required to listen to the audiocassette tapes. A cassette player will be made available to researchers in our reading room.
Full Extent
From the Collection: .834 linear feet (2 Hollinger boxes, 79 audiocassettes, and 27.7 gigabytes (audio and transcripts))
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Abstract
In this oral history interview, Lowell Howard Bennett (1913-1993), a native Charlestonian, at first talks in detail about his family history. He refers to his grandfather, Samuel Kevin Howard, who was a former enslaved man teaching Sunday School at Bethel Methodist Church and an ordained minister at the age of 14. After the Civil War, Howard was appointed the chairman of a committee for the AME Church to found Allen University in Columbia (S.C.). Bennett further mentions his eight surviving siblings who all went to Avery Normal Institute and later to prestigious HBCUs, such as Fisk and Tuskegee. Bennett also recalls his own educational career and academic aspirations at Avery, especially his classical training and the visits of influential figures, such as W.E.B. DuBois. He remembers the hardships the family faced due to his father’s early death, his mother’s eagerness to provide an education for her children, as well as her active involvement in Charleston’s YWCA. After being offered several scholarships, Bennett decided to attend Fisk University and graduated in 1935. He recalls facing a severe tuberculosis infection during his graduate studies as a Julius Rosenwald Fellow at the University of Chicago in 1939. After his successful recovery, he was asked by Charles S. Johnson and Rev. Ledbetter to take over administrative functions as Avery’s principal in 1941. He hereby describes his efforts to re-establish discipline as well as to increase Avery’s impact on the community, reaching beyond teaching.
The oral history is conducted by Dr. Edmund Lee Drago and Eugene Hunt.
Repository Details
Part of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Repository
125 Bull Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424 United States
843-953-7608
averyresearchcenter@cofc.edu