Avery: The Spirit That Would Not Die, 1865-2015

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Student Activities

Throughout the history of the school, Avery’s leaders encouraged students to participate in extracurricular activities such as drama, music, athletics, speech, and other club organizations, to develop school spirit, culture and “character.”

Music, Drama, Speech, and Clubs
Members of the Hi-Y Club in front of the Avery school building, Charleston, South Carolina, ca. 1939, courtesy of the Avery Research Center.

Members of the Hi-Y Club in front of the Avery school building, Charleston, South Carolina, ca. 1939, courtesy of the Avery Research Center for African American Histroy and Culture. Faculty member and Avery alumnus Alphonso W. Hoursey (far right) served as club advisor. Faculty and students organized the Hi-Y Club with the goal of promoting high Christian standards of character. Originally started as a club for male students, Avery students and faculty formed a female counterpart of the club in 1942.   

Athletics
Ticket for an Avery Institute versus Burke Industrial School football game, Charleston, South Carolina, November 20, 1941, courtesy of the Avery Research Center.

Ticket for an Avery Institute versus Burke Industrial School football game, Charleston, South Carolina, November 20, 1941, courtesy of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture.