Education
2
Kendall Institute, founded on this site in 1891, was one of the first black schools in Sumter. It was funded by the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. The institute was named for Mrs. Julia B. Kendall, late wife of Rev. Henry Kendall, secretary of the Board of Missions from 1870 to 1892. It emphasized academics for primary and secondary grades, and some students boarded there in a girls’ dormitory or a boys’ cottage. The pastors of the Second Presbyterian Church of Sumter also served as principals of Kendall Institute: Revs. J.C. Watkins from 1891 to 1903, A.U. Frierson from 1903 to 1916, J.P. Foster from 1916 to 1928, and J.P. Pogue from 1928 to 1932. Under Foster’s tenure, the institute had 272 students in 1918 and added agricultural and industrial classes and athletics. It closed in 1932 after the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. stopped funding its Southern parochial schools during the Depression.
Hear stories like this as you drive
ExploreHere reads historical markers out loud as you pass them: over 325,000 stories across the US. No account needed.
4.7 · 800+ ratings · Free
FIND IT
Sumter, South Carolina · United States
