Fairfield County · Marker 20-16
Fairfield Institute
Congress St., between Moultrie and Palmer Sts.
Front inscription
This grade school and normal institute for blacks was founded in 1869 during Reconstruction by the Northern Presbyterian Church. The Reverend Willard Richardson was principal. In 1880, one- hundred of its students were studying to be teachers and twenty others to enter the ministry. The school closed in 1888 to merge with Brainerd Institute in Chester. The site is located one block west.
Kelly Miller (1863-1939)
Born in Fairfield County, this renowned black educator attended Fairfield Institute, 1878-1880, and won a scholarship to Howard University, from which he graduated in 1886. After graduate work at Johns Hopkins, Miller received his A.M. and L.L.D. degrees (1901 and 1903) and was for many years professor and dean at Howard. His writings on race problems were widely read and used in major universities.