{"id":69,"featured":1,"modified":"2023-06-08 20:52:24","latitude":32.78063299894059667849433026276528835296630859375,"longitude":-79.9449008832534246948853251524269580841064453125,"title":"Avery Research Center","address":"125 Bull Street, Charleston, South Carolina","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/af602cf1d6b56c13af6c2df8488b353b.jpg","creator":["Aaisha Haykal","The College of Charleston's Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture"],"description":"To understand the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, it is important to consider its rich history. Founded in 1865 as the Avery Normal Institute, this community hub provided education and advocacy for the growing Charleston African American community and trained Blacks for professional careers and leadership roles. Although the Institute closed its doors in 1954, its graduates preserved the legacy of their alma mater by establishing the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture (AIAAHC).
Avery alum Lucille Whipper<\/a> worked with Margaretta P. Childs, a white archivist for the City of Charleston, and various other supporters to organize efforts to acquire the Avery building. The AIAAHC formed in 1980 with a mission to obtain and preserve the former Avery Normal Institute building as an archival repository and museum to promote Black history and culture in the Lowcountry. Whipper became the first AIAAHC president and launched a campaign that grew to involve dedicated Avery alumni, local volunteers, the College of Charleston, and state political leaders.
The modern rebirth of Avery began in 1985 with the establishment of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston. The newly christened center came to fruition through a memorandum of understanding between the former Avery Institute and the College, with many of the charter members graduates of the original Avery Normal Institute. The ribbon cutting and grand opening was held on October 6, 1990. Dr. Myrtle G. Glascoe was the first director of the Avery Research Center, and she served in this role for eight years. Dr. Glascoe\u2019s signature work during her tenure at the Avery Research Center included highlighting Gullah history and culture and fusing important Avery Research Center\/Lowcountry African Diaspora links by connecting the ancestral dots between people of the Lowcountry and Sierra Leone, West Africa. Attendees of the ribbon cutting ceremony heard from Sierra Leonean educator and diplomat Dr. George Carew.
Over the years, the Center\u2019s mission and vision has been stewarded by Dr. Marvin Dulaney, Dr. Karen Chandler, Ms. Georgette Mayo (interim), Dr. Patricia Williams Lessane (now Dr. Patricia Williams Dockery), and Dr. Tamara Butler. For the last thirty years, the Avery Research Center has collected books, art, and archival materials that document the history, traditions, and legacies of African Americans and their influence on American society and culture, as well as their place within the American narrative. The Avery Research Center also regularly hosts public programs, conducts educational outreach activities, and displays exhibitions for thousands of local, national, and international visitors.","sponsor":null,"subtitle":"A community hub providing education and advocacy ","accessinfo":null,"lede":"To understand the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, it is important to consider its rich history. ","website":null,"related_resources":["Adam Parker. \u201c<\/span><\/span>Avery Research Center Receives MLK Speech and Other Donated Items<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u201d <\/span><\/span>Charleston Post and Courier<\/span><\/span>, June 30, 2022.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>","\u201c<\/span><\/span>Avery Reseach Center Awarded $2 Million Grant from Mellon Foundation<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u201d <\/span><\/span>The College Today,<\/span><\/span> January 20, 2023.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>","Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture<\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>","Avery: The Spirit that Would Not Die<\/span>, 1865-2015<\/span><\/span><\/a>. Lowcountry Digital Hist<\/span>ory <\/span>In<\/span>i<\/span>tia<\/span>tive<\/span>, 2015.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>","\u201c<\/span><\/span>Collection Overview<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u201d Avery Research Center.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>","Drago, Edmund L.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Charleston\u2019s Avery Center: From Education and Civil Rights Preserving the African American Experience<\/span><\/span><\/em>.<\/em> Revised and edited by W. Marvin Dulaney.\u00a0Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2006.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>","Drago, Edmund L.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Charleston\u2019s Avery Normal Institute: Initiative, Paternalism, and Race Relations<\/span><\/span><\/em>. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 1990.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>"],"factoids":["The Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture was founded in 1865"],"files":{"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/af602cf1d6b56c13af6c2df8488b353b.jpg":{"id":639,"mime-type":"image\/png","title":"Avery Research Center for African American Culture","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/af602cf1d6b56c13af6c2df8488b353b.jpg","description":"Avery Research Center for African American Culture | The College Today"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/fffdf68ee301f1be9cff137f5625aa56.jpg":{"id":645,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Flyer for Juneteenth program at the Avery Research Center","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/fffdf68ee301f1be9cff137f5625aa56.jpg","description":"Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/56d3b19aa9873c728bec509a328a5991.jpg":{"id":640,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"The Brotherhood of Mount Pleasant performing","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/56d3b19aa9873c728bec509a328a5991.jpg","description":"The Brotherhood of Mount Pleasant performing, June 19, 1995. | Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/35db8d9923b1cd2ea21437ff9abaa083.jpg":{"id":641,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"The Brotherhood of Mount Pleasant performing","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/35db8d9923b1cd2ea21437ff9abaa083.jpg","description":"Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/b81394dc84d9a86eda9c02e6ed1b08d5.jpg":{"id":664,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Avery audience for Juneteenth 1995, including Art Gillard, Millicent Brown, Thomas McFall","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/b81394dc84d9a86eda9c02e6ed1b08d5.jpg","description":"Audience members, including Millicent Brown and Thomas McFall and Art Gilliard, celebrate Juneteenth at the Avery Research Center on June 19, 1995. | Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/fc392452d2f8d5fe81d5bde6cd69580b.jpg":{"id":644,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Avery ED Marvin Dulaney presenting an award to Elmore Browne","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/fc392452d2f8d5fe81d5bde6cd69580b.jpg","description":"Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/ab45eed7df6bf436d4863a445aa31ef8.jpg":{"id":646,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Avery Research Center Grand Opening","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/ab45eed7df6bf436d4863a445aa31ef8.jpg","description":"Dr. Myrtle Glascoe, the first director of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston, with Dr. George Carew, October 6, 1990. | Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/5e780fd868f45c39837dd253b1b62010.jpg":{"id":656,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Black Power Conference at Avery","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/5e780fd868f45c39837dd253b1b62010.jpg","description":"\u201c<\/span>The Fire Every Time: Re-framing Black Power Across the Twentieth Century and Beyond<\/a>,\u201d September 21-22, 2012.<\/span> | Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/5d76050be857c95360385771d391e2d9.jpg":{"id":665,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"The Mount Zion AME Male Chorus, Led by Mr. J.M. Graves performing","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/5d76050be857c95360385771d391e2d9.jpg","description":"The Mount Zion AME Male Chorus, Led by Mr. J.M. Graves performing, June 19, 1995. | Avery Research Center"},"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/fullsize\/6ccb8bc2971c294ad1d259a2c3833636.jpg":{"id":713,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","title":"Maroon Walk for Juneteenth, 2023","thumbnail":"https:\/\/discovering.cofc.edu\/redirect\/files\/square_thumbnails\/6ccb8bc2971c294ad1d259a2c3833636.jpg","description":"The College of Charleston's 2023 Maroon Walk for Juneteenth began at the Avery Research Center, where Dr. Kameelah Martin , far right, poured libations for ancestors. June 5, 2023. | Photo by Catie Cleveland, College of Charleston"}}}