The Muslims, who belong to the community which followed, Imam Warith Deen Mohammed; tried to establish a teacher's college but abandoned this project due to the bad condition of the campus.

In late 1982, Maria Cole, a niece of Dr. Brown's and widow of late singer Nat King Cole, and friend Marie Gibbs of Greensboro began an effort to obtain recognition of Dr. Brown's social and educational contributions, specifically in regard to Palmer Memorial Institute.

In 1994, the Historic Sites Section completed exhaustive, comprehensive research on Brown and the Palmer Institute, and restored or stabilized several other structures.

[2] The restored campus buildings of the Palmer Memorial Institute are now the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum, which belongs to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and links Dr. Brown and Palmer Memorial Institute to the larger themes of African American women, education, and social history, with an emphasis on the contributions made by African American citizens to education in North Carolina.

The museum's visitor center is located in the Carrie M. Stone Teachers' Cottage (1948), and features exhibits about Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, the Institute and African American education in North Carolina.