Richmond Theological Institute

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Richmond Theological Institute had its beginnings in November 1865 when the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) sponsored Joseph Getchell Binney, formerly of Columbian College in Washington, DC, and later of Karen Theological Seminary in Rangoon, Burma, in a short-lived class in Richmond, VA for theological training of African-Americans.

Around the same time, the National Theological Institute of Washington, DC was forming schools for ministerial training of freedmen in Washington and Augusta, GA. They sponsored Nathaniel Colver to form a school in Richmond, VA, which commenced in Lumpkin's jail, formerly a slave trading facility, in late 1867. Robert Ryland was hired as an instructor the first year. Both Dr. Colver and Dr. Ryland resigned after one year, and in 1868, Charles Henry Corey was transferred from the Augusta Institute (which was later to become Morehouse College) and commenced classes in October. At the recommendation of Dr. Ryland, a female instructor was hired at half the pay he had received. The school took the name Colver Institute in 1869. In 1870, the National Theological Institute was absorbed by the ABHMS, which carried on its work in Augusta and Richmond, and merged operations in Washington into its Wayland Seminary.

  • New building in 1870
  • Incorporated as Richmond Institute in 1876
  • Incorporated as Richmond Theological Seminary in 1886 after become the central college for advanced theological training of Black Baptist ministers in the South.
  • Two graduates were sponsored for continued training in Madison University and became faculty members.
  • Was combined with Wayland Seminary to form Virginia Union University in 1899.


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