Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary is one of the ten theological institutions of the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was established on April 7, 1867, as a part of the Freedmen's College of North Carolina, subsequently named Biddle Memorial Institute, Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1923, Mrs. Jane Berry Smith of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, generously endowed the institution and constructed several buildings on the seventy-five acre campus in honor of her husband, Johnson C. Smith. In recognition of this gift, the Board of Trustees voted on March 1, 1923, to change the name of the Institute to Johnson C. Smith University.

The Seminary operated as a department of the University, graduating its first class of three in 1872. In 1969, the religion department moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Atlanta as Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary. Through official action of the Johnson C. Smith University Board of Trustees and the 182nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Seminary became a part of the consortium of the six Protestant seminaries known as the Interdenominational Theological Center.