St. Augustine Seminary (Bay St. Louis)

Founded in 1920 in Greenville at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, it relocated in 1923 was the first seminary intended to educate African Americans for the priesthood.

The idea for an all-Black seminary dated back to the early 19th century, when various bishops saw the need for ministry to African Americans, especially following the Civil War.

The climate of racism, which was displayed even among the bishops themselves, was such that the only Black priests ordained before the late 19th century were the Healy brothers, all of whom passed for White during their ministries.

[5] By 1920, The Divine Word Fathers had gained the support and funds necessary to establish a seminary of their own for African Americans, which originally began at the order's Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Greenville, Mississippi.

[6] It was separated from the high school and moved to Bay St. Louis in 1923 to be closer to a large city and avoid harassment from the Ku Klux Klan.

[8] In the following years, it educated many of the nation's African American priests, as most US seminaries remained closed to Blacks through the mid to late 20th century.