Edwin A. Harleston Collection

About

The Edwin A. Harleston collection contains three original paintings by African American artist and community activist Edwin “Teddy” Harleston (1882-1931) of Charleston, South Carolina. The pieces are representative of the early twentieth-century artists famous portraits and landscapes of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Edwin A. “Teddy” Harleston (1882-1931) was an African American artist and community activist in Charleston, South Carolina. A graduate of Avery Normal Institute and member of Plymouth Congregational Church, he founded the Charleston chapter of the NAACP in 1917 and served as first president of the organization. His father, Captain Edwin G. Harleston (1854-1931), opened Harleston Funeral Home in 1917, and duo ran this business until their deaths in 1931.