Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture Oral History Project
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: 1980-1996
Creator
- 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.
Copyright Notice
The nature of the Avery Research Center's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Avery Research Center claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Copyright is retained by the authors of these recordings, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Historical Note
The Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture was founded in 1978 by a group of Avery Normal Institute alumni, their descendants, and other interested people in the Charleston, South Carolina, area. Its mission was to save the Avery Normal Institute school buildings from threats of development, which had already destroyed other historic Black sites in Charleston like the Zion Presbyterian Church building. Beyond saving the physical buildings from destruction, the Institute aimed to develop an archive and museum dedicated to preserving African American history and culture of the South Carolina Lowcountry in the former school buildings. The initial focuses of the group included organizing community support for their plans, raising awareness through grant-funded projects and exhibits, fundraising efforts, and acquiring materials related to the history of the Avery Normal Institute and the lives of African Americans in the Lowcountry for inclusion in the planned archive and museum. As a part of their work to acquire materials, they begin organizing and coordinating oral history projects.
What began as a grassroots effort grew into a partnership with the College of Charleston. Together, the two organizations acquired the properties at 123 and 125 Bull Street and, in 1985, established the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. The building (125 Bull Street) underwent renovation and restoration efforts and, despite setbacks from Hurricane Hugo, opened to the public in 1990 as an archive and museum. While 1990 marked the fruition of the Institute's initial longstanding goal, it continues to operate today. It maintains its commitment to the community through programming, publishing, and material support for the Avery Research Center.
Full Extent
.834 linear feet (2 Hollinger boxes, 79 audiocassettes, and 27.7 gigabytes (audio and transcripts))
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture Oral History Project brings together oral history projects coordinated by the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture (AIAAHC) as well as individual oral histories conducted by members of the Institute. The majority of the oral histories were done as a part of the Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project which sought to document the experiences and perceptions of former students, teachers, principals, and community members of the Avery Normal Institute. The first phase of the project was completed by the AIAAHC between 1980 and 1987 and the second phase was completed by the Avery Research Center between 1995 and 1996. The collection also contains two oral histories that were coordinated by the AIAAHC with former students of the Laing School. There are also several oral histories with AIAAHC members about the founding of the Institute and their organizing efforts to save the former school buildings. Additionally, there are oral histories with former Avery Normal Institute students conducted by Institute members about their school experiences that were not conducted as a part of the Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project but are included in this collection.
Arrangement
- Avery Normal Institute Oral History Project, 1980-1996
- Laing School oral histories, 1981
- Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture oral histories, 1983-1995
Processing Information
Funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported the processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid.
Subject
- Avery Normal Institute (Organization)
- Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture (Organization)
- Laing School (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) (Organization)
Genre / Form
Topical
- African American children -- Education -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- African American educators -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- African American high school students -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- African American school administrators -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- African American school principals -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- African American teachers -- Training of -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- Nonprofit organizations -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- Private schools -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- Segregation in education -- South Carolina -- Charleston
- Title
- Inventory of Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture Oral History Project, 1980-1996 AMN 1057
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Nate Hubler
- Date
- September 2025
- Description rules
- Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English
- Sponsor
- Funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported the processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid.
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