We are raising funds to honor and perpetuate the memory of Charles Avery, benefactor, and The Avery Institute as a major institution created for the education of Africa-American leaders in the United States in the late 19th century through the mid 20th century.

Members of the Allegheny City Society will design and construct a fitting memorial to Charles Avery, the Avery Institute, and the Avery AME Church.

Since inception in the mid twentieth century, the Allegheny City Society’s mission has been to interpret the history of Allegheny City/North Side communities and institutions. To accomplish this broad mission the ACS has designed an sponsored many “tours and talks.”

A recent program, February 2019, focused on the role of the leaders and institutions of African American community that had roots in Allegheny City from the early years of the 19^th century. In preparing for this program the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation offered the Society  the “Avery Institute Bell, a well preserved historic artifact, if the Society could develop a plan to display it as a means of telling the story of the Charles Avery, the Avery Institute, and the Avery AME Church.

Members of the Society, working with community leaders in East Allegheny/Historic Deutschtown, agreed upon a site in the community gardens, nearby where Charles Avery resided in the mid 19^th century, to design and construct a fitting memorial to Avery and the Institute that would incorporate this historic bell.

This project would include design work on the memorial, beautifying that area adjacent to the historic Allegheny Commons park, and the development of programs designed for people of all ages to learn more about this significant part of Allegheny City/North Side history.