Center for African American History, Art & Culture

Presbyterian minister Reverend William R. Coles (1840-1928) founded the school in 1881, which was affiliated with a church called the Newberry Presbyterian Mission (the church was later renamed Immanuel Presbyterian Church). Classes were first held in a private home until the school and church bought an unfinished building, a boarding house, in 1882. The church erected its own building in 1886 and, as noted above, Immanuel School was built in 1890. The boarding house was rebuilt and converted into a dormitory for students and teachers in 1891.

The school grew in the coming decade and by 1901 had 206 students and 11 staff members. The largest number of enrolled students was 300 in 1906. The curriculum consisted of regular academic classes, normal education (training students to become teachers), industrial training, arts, and music. Immanuel School closed in 1909 when Coles retired but reopened in 1911 (as the Andrew Robertson School) and operated until 1932 (the National Missions Board of the Presbyterian Church could no longer provide financial support to it and other schools due to the Great Depression).

Over the course of the next decades, the school was used for a number of purposes. It became a Black theater called Lincoln Theatre, a Catholic school for African American children, an auto parts store, furniture store, and Salvation Army store. An organization called the Aiken Corporation bought it in 2004 with the intention to preserve it and convert it into the Center. This work has been ongoing since 2004.

Bornman, Stefany. "Aiken’s Center for African American History, Art and Culture $600K short of completing final phase." WJBF. May 4, 2017. https://www.wjbf.com/news/aikens-center-for-african-american-history-art-and-culture-600k-short-of-completing-final-phase.

"Our History." Center for African American History, Art & Culture. Accessed May 2021. https://caahac.org.

Reed, Coleen Lynn. "Immanuel School." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. June 3, 2009. http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/aiken/S10817702037/S10817702037.pdf.