Palmer Memorial Institute
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The Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute better known as Palmer Memorial Institute was founded in 1902 by Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown at Sedalia, North Carolina near Greensboro. Palmer Memorial Institute was named after Alice Freeman Palmer, former president of Wellesley College and benefector of Dr. Brown.
Its original curriculum focused on providing agricultural and manual labor training to African American students. It became, before its closure in the 1970s, a fully accredited, nationally recognized preparatory school. More than 1,000 African American students attended the school between 1902 and 1970.
Bennett College purchased the Palmer campus, but in 1980 it sold 40 acres of the main campus with major surviving buildings to the American Muslim Mission. The American Muslim Mission tried to establish a teacher's college but abandoned this project due to the bad condition of the campus.
In late 1982 Maria Cole, a niece of Dr. Brown's and widow of late singer Nat King Cole, and friend Marie Gibbs of Greensboro began an effort to obtain recognition of Dr. Brown's social and educational contributions, specificially in regards to Palmer Memorial Institute. Both women, who were former students at Palmer Memorial Institute, sponsored meetings of Palmer alumni and enlisted support for this cause. They also met with North Carolina's Division of Archives and History to explore ideas.
Through the assistance of North Carolina Senator Bill Martin, a special bill was passed in the 1983 General Assembly that allowed for planning by Archives and History of the state's first African American state historic site as a memorial to Dr. Brown.
In November 1987, the memorial officially opened as a state historic site.
In 1994, the Historic Sites Section completed exhaustive, comprehensive research on Brown and the Palmer Institute, and restored or stabilized several other structures.
The restored campus buildings of the Palmer Memorial Institute are now a museum that links Dr. Brown and Palmer Memorial Institute to the larger themes of African American women, education, and social history, with an emphasis on the contributions made by African American citizens to education in North Carolina.
