The history of Paine College is tied to the history of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church. Immediately after the Civil War, Black members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South formed the Colored (now Christian) Methodist Episcopal Church. Then, realizing the need for an institution of learning for the newly freed persons, Bishop Lucius H. Hosley and other leaders of the C.M.E. Church requested assistance of the mother Church in the organization and support of a school. In 1880, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South responded by appointing a commission of clergy and lay persons to cooperate with the Colored Methodist Church in establishing an educational institute to train Black ministers and teachers. Bishop Holsey and leaders of both denominations then began work on what Paine College Trustee, the late Bishop Joseph C. Coles, Jr., termed a “holy audacity.”

In 1882, each Church appointed three of its members to a committee which established The Paine Institute, named in honor of Bishop Robert Paine. The institute was incorporated in June 1883. In January of 1884, classes began in rented quarters at 10th and Broad Street in Augusta, Georgia. In 1886, Paine was moved to its present site on Fifteenth Street. In those days’, the campus looked more pastoral than collegiate with barns, chickens, mules, and cultivated fields, in addition to its classrooms, library and residences. In 1903, The Paine Institute was re-charted as The Paine College. At that time, there were no public schools for Blacks in Augusta, and Paine provided secondary education as well as college work for its students. It was not until 1945, when a public high school for Blacks was opened in Augusta that Paine discontinued preparatory programs. Throughout its history, Paine College has maintained a tradition of interracial cooperation. Dr. John Wesley Gilbert was Paine’s first student and first graduate. He furthered his education at Brown University, and Athens, Greece, and returned to Paine in 1888 to become the College’s first Black faculty member. Since that time, the faculty has been interracial and international. Paine College has been open to all persons since its inception.

University Quick Facts

Location: Augusta, GA 30901

Founded: 1882 Enrollment: 900

Nickname: Lions

School Colors: Purple & White

Website: www.paine.edu

Office Phone:(706) 821-8379

Athletic Fax: (706) 821-8376

Email: mayk@mail.paine.edu

Sport Information Director:
Kimberly May

President:
Dr. George C. Bradley

Athletics Director:
Ron O’ Spry