Paine College Historic District

Paine College Historic District, located in Augusta, Georgia, founded in 1882, by trustees from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Colored Methodist Episcopal church. The Institution began with the goal of educating African-American youth, and they still do today. When classes began January 2,1884, they were held in a rented space above Claussen’s Bakery and were held there until 1886. Paine College began as a coeducational institution that offered general education to males and females elementary to college.

The beginnings of Paine Institute (later name Paine College) date back to as early as 1865, during the Reconstruction Era. Bishop Lucius Henry Holsey was the first to present the idea of Paine College in 1969. He said, “Establish a school to train Negro teachers and preachers so that they might in turn appropriately address the educational and spiritual needs of the people newly freed from the evils of slavery.”

Trustees from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Colored Methodist Episcopal church founded Paine College in 1882. The Methodist Episcopal Church,South was established in 1844 when it split with the Methodist Episcopal Church,Which was opposed to any of its clergy owning slaves.  The initial meeting of the board of trustees convened November 1, 1982. A committee was selected and appointed to select a temporary location for the school. They made the decision to name the school in honor of Bishop Robert Paine.

The first monetary benefits of the institute were from the Virginia and South Georgia Conference of the CME Church in the amount of $7.15 and $8.85. Initial classes were held in a temporary space above Claussen’s Bakery until 1886 when the college was moved to its current site on Fifteenth Street. Classes started with approximately thirty students and quickly increased to seventy by the second semester.

The Institution began with the goal of educating African-American youth, and they still do today. Paine College began as a coeducational institution that offered general education to males and females elementary to college. In 1885 Reverend Moses U. Payne made a generous contribution to the institute of $25,000, this made administrators feel more comfortable about the future of he institute. In 1903 adequate college- level work was provided and justified the name change to “Paine College”.  In 1931, the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited Paine College as a class “B” institution, then a class “A” in 1945.

 

"Paine College. Augusta, GA." Paine College. Augusta, GA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. United States. National Park Service. "African American History Month -- National Register of Historic Places Official Website--Part of the National Park Service-Paine College Historic District, Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 13 June 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.