The first African Methodist Episcopal (AME) pastor in the state, William G. Steward, originally named the college Brown Theological Institute. Charles H. Pearce was also involved in establishing an educational institution for the church. The school went through some financial difficulties and closed for much of the 1870s. It reopened in 1883 as "East Florida Conference High School”, then changed to “East Florida Scientific and Divinity High School”. Over the next ten years, the curriculum was expanded and the school was renamed for the third bishop of the AME Church, Edward Waters.