Edward Waters University is a private historically Black college in Jacksonville, FL. It was established after the Civil War by leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.

The university traces its origins to 1866, when Reverend Charles H. Pearce, with assistance from Reverend William G. Steward, launched an AME-supported educational initiative for recently emancipated African Americans in Live Oak, FL. Pearce, an AME presiding elder sent to Florida in 1865 by Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, recognized the urgent need for schools and a well-educated Black ministry. The institution offered education at multiple levels, including elementary, secondary, college, and theological training.

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The institution gained a clearer legal identity in the early 1870s. At an 1870 AME conference, a resolution was passed to support the creation and expansion of a school, later named Brown’s Theological Institute. The Florida Legislature officially incorporated the school on February 10, 1872.

The charter stated that the school would focus on theology and the classics, with room for other subjects that promote a liberal education. Additionally, the AME Church purchased 10 acres of land in Live Oak on March 5, 1872, and laid the cornerstone on July 4, 1872.

Financial challenges forced the school to suspend operations in the 1870s, but AME leaders revitalized the educational initiative in the following decade.

The school operated under various names, including East Florida Conference High School and East Florida Scientific and Divinity High School, before relocating to Jacksonville. In 1892, it was renamed Edward Waters College in honor of Edward Waters, the third bishop of the AME Church.

The devastating Jacksonville Fire on May 3, 1901, destroyed its buildings, necessitating reconstruction. By 1904, trustees had purchased the Kings Road property that now serves as the school’s permanent campus. The historic campus, including Centennial Hall, stands as a testament to Edward Waters’ role as a lasting hub of African American higher education in Florida.

Throughout the 20th century, Edward Waters evolved from a secondary and teacher-training institution into a four-year liberal arts college. It earned junior college accreditation in 1955, reestablished a four-year program in 1960, and gained regional accreditation as a baccalaureate college in 1979.

The university’s academic offerings expanded beyond its traditional areas — religion, teacher education, business, and liberal arts — to include the sciences and professional disciplines. In 2021, this expanded into graduate education, marking its transition from Edward Waters College to Edward Waters University.

Edward Waters has shaped generations of teachers, ministers, business leaders, professionals, and civic figures. Notable alumni include Carrie C. DeJournette (1969), a distinguished business educator, and Gloria Pinkney (1974), a dedicated elementary school educator.

Buck O’Neil (1911–2006), the Negro Leagues baseball star, manager, scout, and later the first Black coach in Major League Baseball, attended Edward Waters College because segregation prevented him from attending the white high school in Sarasota. He earned his high school diploma at Edward Waters, then completed two years of college-level study before leaving to pursue professional baseball.

Edward Waters’ academic mission has evolved far beyond its 19th-century roots in theological and teacher-training programs. Its offerings now span business, communications, criminal justice, education, psychology, biology, social work, computer and information science, and public health, complemented by graduate and professional degrees. The university’s recent expansion into cybersecurity, public administration, business administration, and education policy reflects its efforts to connect its historic access mission with modern professional disciplines.

More than a century and a half after Black AME leaders founded an educational institution for Florida’s recently emancipated population, Edward Waters University continues its association with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and sustains the educational mission initiated during Reconstruction.

Selected Sources:

• Edward Waters University. Undergraduate Catalog, 2024–2025. Jacksonville, FL: Edward Waters University, 2024. See “History of the University,” 15–16. This institutional source identifies 1866 as the university’s founding year and describes the roles of Charles H. Pearce and William G. Steward.
• Florida Legislature. “An Act to Incorporate Brown’s Theological Institute.” February 10, 1872. In Acts and Resolutions Adopted by the Legislature of Florida, at Its Fifth Session, Under the Constitution of A.D. 1868; Also the Laws Adopted at an Extraordinary Session of the Legislature, Beginning April 22, 1872, 68–69. Tallahassee, FL: Tallahassee Sentinel, 1872.
• Hall, Robert L. “Tallahassee’s Black Churches, 1865–1885.” Florida Historical Quarterly 58, no. 2 (October 1979): 167–191.
• Newkirk, Vann R. “Edward Waters College.” New Life for Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A 21st Century Perspective, edited by Vann R. Newkirk, 26–33. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2012.
• National Park Service. Edward Waters College Historic District, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. 
• Edward Waters University. “History of Edward Waters University.” Jacksonville, FL: Edward Waters University. (The university identifies itself as founded in 1866 and as Florida’s first independent institution of higher learning and first institution established for the education of African Americans.)