» Unveiling the Legacy of Avery Research Center
This post is written by DaNia Childress, the Project Director for the Avery and Liberatory Literacies: Commemorating 160 Years of Black Education grant funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation.
One of the prides of the College of Charleston’s Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture is the young adults who have come through its doors as interns, volunteers, fellows, scholars, and student workers. Their work has provided valuable resources to fulfill the Avery Research Center’s mission. In preparation for the anniversary of the Avery Research Center’s inception, we are reflecting on how students shaped the ways the Avery Research Center engages the community on African American history through exhibits, programs, and outreach.
From the beginning, the first executive director, Myrtle Glascoe, recruited students to volunteer to promote the work of the Avery Research Center when it was located on St. Philip and George Streets. Student volunteers would assist Dr. Glascoe in providing visibility of the Avery Research Center by working on exhibits in local churches, and the first conference she hosted in 1986 focused on Black women in the South.
When the Avery Normal Institute’s original building reopened in 1990 for the research center’s use, early internship programs recognized the impact of Averyites (alumni of the Avery Normal Institute, Avery Normal School, and Avery High School) with the J. Arthur Brown Student Internship program. The internship was built upon the legacy of civil rights activists in the tasks assigned to the students. As the Avery Research Center began collecting materials, interns assisted in archival processing, organizing, and creating finding aids. One of the early inventories written by intern Valeire Frazier was the Charleston County Black School Directory collection. Dr. Frazier currently serves as an associate professor at the College of Charleston.
In addition to learning from the Avery Research Center faculty and staff, interns have learned how to be community-conscious from our supporters. One such supporter, James Campbell, volunteered and donated his papers. His work with then-graduate assistant Erica Veal inspired her master’s thesis based on his activism. To celebrate his influence on students, an award named in his honor is given to students with a passion for social justice and activism. For other interns, learning community consciousness began at home. For example, the great-granddaughter of community leader Herbert Fielding, Kanyisile Barrett, interned at the Avery Research Center and helped provide context to his papers by mapping buildings he constructed around Charleston.
The Avery Research Center continues to train the next generation of scholars and community leaders. The reflections of previous workers remind us of our duty to continue our work and use African American history to uplift and educate the community. We are proud to be a stop on their journey as they grow in their respective fields as educators, historians, archivists, community stewards, and beyond. To learn more about the students who have helped fulfill the mission, please follow us for the Unveiling the Legacy of Avery blog series and social media campaign showcasing where our workers are now.
Students highlighted include Dr. Otis Pickett Sr., author of Southern Shepherds, Savage Wolves: Presbyterian Domestic Missionaries and Race in South Carolina, 1802–1874, and Dr. Edda Fields-Black, author of COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War.