For 140 years, Charleston s Avery Research Center has been a hub of African American education and study in the South Carolina Lowcountry. No other institution compares to Avery s scope and impact on the black community in Charleston, and Avery s compelling story and rich history reflect that prominence. The influence of Avery s teachers and students on society in Charleston and the South is immeasurable; their legacy enduring.
Established in 1865, the Avery Normal Institute educated Charleston s African American leaders and trained most of the area s black teachers. Avery flourished and emerged as a leading college preparatory institute, vital to Charleston s interracial environment. The list of important contributions by Avery s teachers and students includes the establishment of the Charleston chapter of the NAACP, a successful petition to secure positions for black teachers in the city s public schools, the fight for desegregation in the sixties, and the hospital strike of 1969 Charleston s last major civil rights confrontation.
Edmund L. Drago artfully conveys Avery s history, from its beginnings during Reconstruction to its current incarnation as an African American research center under the auspices of the College of Charleston. With a new foreword by Avery Center Director W. Marvin Dulaney, this edition brings to bear a wealth of sources, including oral histories and private papers, to reveal the history of a vaunted institution. Charleston s Avery Center places Avery s story within a larger social and historical context, offering fascinating insight into the dynamics of race relations in Charleston, the Lowcountry, and the South."