In this episode of The Avery Messenger Podcast, host D’Aujai Kelley and co-host Georgette Mayo, Processing Archivist at the Avery Research Center, explore the story of the Avery Normal Institute, Charleston’s pioneering school for African-American education.
Drawing on historic records and a conversation with guest Daron Lee Calhoun II (scholar, organizer, and former Charleston County School District trustee), the episode traces Avery’s evolution from its 1865 founding through the Civil Rights era. You’ll hear how Francis Cardozo, Benjamin F. Cox, and the American Missionary Association shaped generations of educators and activists; how Avery students helped catalyze Black-led public schools in Charleston; and how its legacy endures today.
Calhoun also discusses the research journey behind The Cross, the Candle, and the Crown: A Narrative History of Morehouse College, 1867–2021, and examines philanthropic influence on Black education. DaNia Childress (Project Director, Mellon Grant) leads the interview segment.
Avery Normal School history: excerpts from booklet: A History of Avery Normal Institute from 1856 to 1954 by Edmund L. Drago and Eugene Hunt, PhDs.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Welcome & introduction by D’Aujai Kelley and Georgette Mayo
00:35 – Origins of Avery Normal Institute (1865–1868)
01:23 – Francis Cardozo’s leadership & Reconstruction headwinds
02:27 – Dedication of Avery; classical, college-prep curriculum
03:16 – Tuition challenges & breaking pre-war racial barriers
04:08 – Growth under the AMA and Principal Morrison A. Holmes
04:47 – Benjamin F. Cox becomes first permanent Black principal
05:29 – All-Black faculty tradition, student life, and culture
06:38 – Glee Club, athletics, and rising Black intellectual life
07:11 – NAACP petition for Black teachers in Charleston schools
08:20 – WWII era; transition from private to public education
09:41 – Closure (1954) and continuing legacy into Civil Rights
10:12 – 1916 photo of Benjamin F. Cox & its symbolism
11:11 – Guest introduction: Daron Lee Calhoun II
12:14 – Calhoun’s background & community leadership
13:07 – Researching The Cross, the Candle, and the Crown
14:29 – Philanthropy & control: Rockefeller’s influence
16:10 – Calhoun’s Morehouse story & research spark
17:18 – Alumni-powered fundraising at Avery & Morehouse
18:28 – Community role in sustaining Avery’s mission
19:16 – “Elitist” perceptions & classical vs. industrial education
21:27 – AMA’s post-war education objectives
22:09 – Rise of HBCUs & teacher-training models
23:14 – Avery’s pipeline to AMA-affiliated colleges
25:09 – How Avery safeguarded curricular autonomy
27:36 – Significance of an all-Black faculty
28:31 – Why Avery remained a training school (not a college)
30:01 – Avery’s lasting legacy in Black education & culture
30:55 – Closing & thanks to the Mellon Foundation
