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Inventory of the Laing School Records, 1883 - 1990

Source: College of Charleston Avery Research Center Archives

Laing School was founded January 29, 1866 by Cornelia Hancock (1839-1926), under the auspices of the Friends Association for the Aid and Elevation of the Freedmen of Philadelphia. The school began with 50 African American students in the damaged remains of the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. At different times, Laing served as an industrial school, a high school, middle school, and elementary school. In the early 1970s, the Charleston school system desegregated, the Moultrie School District was established and in 1975, Laing became a Middle school. The collection relates to the history of the Laing School. Included are histories of the school, ephemera such as commencement programs, copies of photographs of the school and its pupils, school publications such as annuals and newsletters, and other printed material relating to the school.