The Commission of Higher Education officially established the South Carolina Center for Oral Narration as a center in 1999. In 2016, under new direction, the center changed its name to The Center for Oral Narrative in order to reflect the many programs it hosts.

Presently housed in the Arts and Letters building at the University of South Carolina Sumter, the Center serves to document, preserve and present oral histories, oral and digital storytelling, spoken word, and dramatic literatures. Its humble, yet growing collection of publications and documentations is housed in the center and USC Sumter’s Anderson Library. Resources are available to researchers and subjects of oral traditions.