*The Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture was established on this date in 1985.
Located at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, the Avery Research Center has served Charleston and the state in various ways. Locally, it has sponsored historical exhibits, lectures, and conferences that educate the community about the African American experience and the history of the Lowcountry. It is a repository for some of the state’s best African American history collections and is developing its archive collections on the state’s civil rights movement.
It collects oral histories of the state’s African American legislators. The Center is on the former Avery Normal Institute in the Harleston Village district. It has developed historical tours of the Lowcountry and is part of the development of the African American National Heritage Museum, a multi-site museum in the Lowcountry.
The Center is a vital community resource whose clientele includes schoolchildren, families, community groups, and civic organizations that visit, tour, and use the facilities. The Avery Research Center is recognized as a leader and major contributor to preserving the African American experience in South Carolina.
