Edward Waters University

Edward Waters University is a private Christian historically Black university in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1866 by members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church) as a school to educate freedmen and their children. It was the first independent institution of higher education and the first historically black college in the State of Florida. It continues to be affiliated with the AME Church and is a member of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida. History The AME Church was the first independent black denomination in the United States and was founded in 1816 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After the Civil War, it sent numerous missionaries to the South to plant AME churches. The first African Methodist Episcopal pastor in the state, William G. Steward, originally named the college Brown Theological Institute. L Charles H. Pearce was also involved in establishing an educational institution for the AME church in Jacksonville. Struggling with some financial difficulties, the school closed for much of the 1870s. It reopened in 1883 as "East Florida Conference High School”, then changed to “East Florida Scientific and Divinity High School.” Over the next ten years, the curriculum was expanded. In 1892, the school was renamed for Edward Waters, the third bishop of the AME Church. A drawing of 1893 shows that the College President at that time was John R. Scott, Sr., first pastor of the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church of Jacksonville, and a former member of the Florida Legislature.