Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture

Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture Collecting, preserving & promoting the unique history of the African Diaspora Self Guided Museum Tours: M, W, F at 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

to 3:30 p.m. Reading Room: M-F 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Closed for Lunch: 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

That’s a WRAP on the Heritage Interpretation Field School!We visited the Sewee Shell Ring, Captain Sam’s Spit on Kiawah ...
05/29/2026

That’s a WRAP on the Heritage Interpretation Field School!

We visited the Sewee Shell Ring, Captain Sam’s Spit on Kiawah Island, Four Holes Swamp at Francis Beidler Forest, Caw Caw Interpretive Center, McLeod Plantation and much more!

Students also received 32 hours of interpretive guide training and today they delivered 10 minute interpretive presentations and officially became National Association for Interpretation Interpretive Guides!

Next they’ll spend the month of June interning at sites like Middleton Place, the IAAM, Drayton Hall, Charles Towne Landing, McLeod Plantation, Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, Beidler Forest and the Avery Research Center!

Thank you to our amazing students, our lead Field School Instructor Erica Veal, our co-instructors Kristina Wheeler, Karl Noble and Rashad Brown; the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the College of Charleston, the National Association for Interpretation, the staff at the Avery Research Center and our partner sites for making this opportunity possible!

05/28/2026

Highlights from week two of the Heritage Interpretation Field School.

Students visited McLeod Plantation Historic Site, went on a Stolen People on Stolen Land Tour and finished with a self-guided tour at the Old Slave Mart Museum.

As we wrap our experiential learning site visits, students will now prepare to deliver 10-minute interpretative presentations to demonstrate the interpretive skills and techniques they’ve been learning for the last two weeks before heading off to their internships at heritage sites across the lowcountry for the month of June!

Presentation day is this Friday. Wish them luck!

We are pleased to highlight one of our featured artists, Tatiana Esh. To see more of their work, scroll through this pos...
05/26/2026

We are pleased to highlight one of our featured artists, Tatiana Esh. To see more of their work, scroll through this post. Tatiana will also have pieces shown as a part of the Avery Research Center’s Radical Quad: The History of the Avery Research Center. The exhibit will be opening on June 9th at 5:30pm. Registration information is at the link in the bio.

During Memorial Day weekend we remember and honor those who have passed away during their service to this country as wel...
05/25/2026

During Memorial Day weekend we remember and honor those who have passed away during their service to this country as well as those passed afterwards. We thank these individuals and their families for their sacrifices and commitments they made. Memorial Day traces its origins to the years following the American Civil War, when Americans began honoring fallen soldiers by decorating their graves. Many historians recognize formerly enslaved Black Americans in Charleston as among the first to hold a Memorial Day–like ceremony in 1865, paying tribute to Union soldiers who died fighting for freedom. The holiday was later formalized in 1868 by John A. Logan as “Decoration Day,” eventually becoming the national observance we know today.

The Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture will be CLOSED on Monday, May 25th in honor of Memorial Day/Decoration Day and will reopen on Tuesday, May 26th at 10am.

Image: Photograph of American soldier standing. Cleveland L. Sellers, Jr. Papers, 1934 - 2003, AMN 1017 Box 15 Folder 12.

Join the Black and Brown Interpreters Network™️ for an exploration of Stono Preserve with Interpretive Guide Waqia Abdul...
05/22/2026

Join the Black and Brown Interpreters Network™️ for an exploration of Stono Preserve with Interpretive Guide Waqia Abdul-Kareem.

During our tour we will explore the history of Stono Preserve (formerly Dixie Plantation), its myriad ecosystems including long-leaf pine forests, wetlands, savannahs, tidal marshes, brackish, saltwater and fresh-water ponds and how Indigenous and African people were the first botanists of the Lowcountry and served as essential guides to European Naturalists exploring this majestic site.

Register here to save your spot: https://libcal.charleston.edu/event/16936034

The registration for the Savannah Interpretive Guide training is live!This 32-hour, intensive training that covers the h...
05/21/2026

The registration for the Savannah Interpretive Guide training is live!

This 32-hour, intensive training that covers the history of interpretation, interpretive principles, techniques, how to develop and deliver interpretive programs and more. IT also includes a certificate of completion and one year professional membership with the National Association for Interpretation.

Course dates: June 23 - 26, 2026
Time: 8:30am-5pm daily
Location: Beach Institute, Savannah, GA (502 E. Harris St.)
Course cost: $600

Registrants must attend all 4 days of training to be eligible for a certificate.

Register using the link in our bio🔗
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Do you want to become a Interpretive Guide, but don’t have the funds?

Apply for a Michael A. Allen Heritage Interpretation Scholarship!

This scholarship fund is supported by the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor and the Avery Institute for Afro-American History and Culture.

To be considered for a scholarship, submit your resume and a statement of interest describing yourself, the work you do and how becoming an Interpretive Guide would benefit your career as an interpretive guide.

Click here to apply: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqs1ZkMyZvn9eqRczlgYXPL3uZMtCZNLmbi5bPiKIICXXyEw/viewform?usp=preview
Scholarship Deadline: June 12, 2026

05/21/2026

Highlights from Day 3 of the Heritage Interpretation Field School!

We spent the morning exploring the importance of developing interpretive themes and after a delicious lunch we got our steps in visiting Beachwalker County Park, the only public beach access on Kiawah Island and the beginning of Captain Sam’s Spit, an important wildlife habitat that is essential to the survival of our native shore birds, sea turtles, dolphins and much more!

05/20/2026

We spent day two of the Heritage Interpretation Field School learning about the importance of knowing your audience and Project Archivist Nate Hubler led an archival instruction to teach students the importance of researching to prepare to lead interpretive programs.

In the afternoon we visited the Sewee Shell Ring in Awendaw!

Field School co-instructors and Natural History Interpreters Kristina Wheeler and Karl Noble taught students about the 4000+ years of human history at the site!

This is only the beginning. More field school highlights to come! Stay tuned

We are pleased to highlight one of our featured artists, Wendell George Brown. To see more of their work, scroll through...
05/20/2026

We are pleased to highlight one of our featured artists, Wendell George Brown. To see more of their work, scroll through this post. Wendell will have pieces shown as a part of the Avery Research Center’s Radical Quad: The History of the Avery Research Center. The exhibit will open on June 9th at 5:30pm. Registration information is at the link in the bio.

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125 Bull Street
Charleston, SC
29424

Telephone

(843) 953-7609

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