Poinsette, Peter, March 31, 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: March 31, 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, Peter T. Poinsette (born 1900) begins by focusing on his family background. Of note is the discussion of his father, Peter Porcher Poinsette’s birth into slavery on Poinsette Plantation near Pinopolis, South Carolina and his position as a messenger during the Civil War before he was sold to Colonel Gabriel Maingault in Charleston, South Carolina. Poinsette then elaborates on his father’s work catering for the St. Cecilia Ball and its wealthy Charleston customers. He further emphasizes his father’s flamboyant life style traveling the coast on the Clyde Steamship Lines. Poinsette mentions his mother’s Haitian origin and that she was brought to Florida as a child. He also recalls his family’s differing religious affiliations. Poinsette continues by referring to his own education and upbringing: his time spent at Shaw and Burke Industrial Schools before his decision to attend the Avery Normal Institute. As a student, he worked for German grocers and upon graduating from Avery in the 1920s, he became a porter for Mr. Henry L. Willie. Poinsette vividly recalls the racist discrimination he faced when applying for a job with the United States Post Office, before he was finally offered a position in 1936. During the last part of the interview, he focuses on his musical education playing the violin and recalls taking lessons from Charleston’s renowned music teacher, James Logan. Poinsette concludes by emphasizing Avery’s academic excellence through Benjamin F. Cox’s impact on the curricula by instituting rhetoricals, plays, and visits of inspirational African American figures.
The oral history is conducted by Eugene Hunt and Dr. Edmund Drago.
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