It had its beginnings in November 1865 when the American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) sponsored Joseph Getchell Binney (formerly of Columbian College in Washington, D.C., and later of Karen Theological Seminary in Rangoon, Burma) for a short-lived class in Richmond, Virginia for theological training of African-Americans.
They sponsored Nathaniel Colver to form a school in Richmond, Virginia, which commenced in Lumpkin's Jail, formerly a slave trading facility, in late 1867.
Both Dr. Colver and Dr. Ryland resigned after one year, and in 1868, Charles Henry Corey was transferred from the Augusta Institute (which was later to become Morehouse College) and commenced classes in October.
In 1870, the National Theological Institute was absorbed by the ABHMS, which carried on its work in Augusta and Richmond, and merged operations in Washington into its Wayland Seminary.
The L. Douglas Wilder Library and Learning Resource Center holds the records of the Richmond Theological Seminary.