Haven Institute and Conservatory of Music, also known simply as Haven Institute, was an American private
historically black Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
college active from 1865 until the early-1930s, located in
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
.
It was founded in 1865 by Moses Austin, a pastor of the Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal Church of Meridian and a formerly enslaved person.
Originally it was called Meridian Academy and it was located at 27th Avenue and 13th Street in
Waynesboro, Georgia
Waynesboro is a city in Burke County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,766 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Burke County. It is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.
Waynesboro is known as "The Bird Dog Ca ...
, however the name changed in 1914 and the campus moved in 1921.
History
The Meridian Academy was founded in 1865 by Moses Austin, a formerly enslaved person and a pastor of the Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal Church of Meridian.
It initially was located at 27th Avenue and 13th Street in Waynesboro, Georgia. The school was formed by the Board of Education for Negroes of the Methodist Episcopal Church (originally the
Freedmen's Aid Society The Freedmen's Aid Society was founded in 1859 during the American Civil War by the American Missionary Association (AMA), a group supported chiefly by the Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist churches in the North. It organized a supply of t ...
). The school name was changed to Haven Institute in 1914 when Haven Academy of Waynesboro, Georgia merged with
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
of
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
.
A 1917 report published by the
United States Office of Education
The Office of Education, at times known as the Department of Education and the Bureau of Education, was a small unit in the Federal government of the United States, Federal Government of the United States within the United States Department of the ...
stated the school spent too much time teaching "ancient languages," and recommended more
industrial education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...
programs such as cooking, sewing, and gardening.
The school's growth was hampered for lack of adequate room for expansion for classrooms and dormitories, forcing it to turn down applicants. To remedy this, in 1921 the Board of Education for Negroes of the Methodist Episcopal Church purchased the 100-acre campus of the defunct
Meridian Female College a mile outside of the city. A large conservatory of music was included, with a pipe organ, numerous pianos and other musical equipment, and the school opened the Haven Conservatory of Music, directed by the Rev. William A. Sykes.
[.] The original building was sold to the church.
[
The school closed in the early-1930s because of financial pressures caused by the ]Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
Presidents
* Moses AustinMatthew Simpson Davage
Rev. Matthew Simpson Davage (June 16, 1879 – September 20, 1976) also known as M. S. Davage, was an American educator, college and university president, businessperson, and minister. He served as president of George R. Smith College (from 1914 ...
, from 1916 to 1917
References
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Historically black universities and colleges in the United States
Buildings and structures in Meridian, Mississippi
Education in Lauderdale County, Mississippi