The Home for Aged Colored Women was founded by Christiana Carteaux Bannister (1819-1902) in 1890 to care for retired African heritage domestic workers, who often found themselves in financial difficulties once they were no longer able to work. A successful hairdresser and entrepreneur of African and Narragansett heritage, Bannister was born in North Kingstown and moved to Boston as a young woman to work as a wigmaker and hairdresser. She eventually owned several salons in Boston before moving to Providence in 1869 with her husband, the painter Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828-1901), where she also started a salon.

She used her connections to the wealthy families of Providence to help fund the Home For Aged Colored Women. The land the original Home was built on was donated by Elizabeth Goddard Shepard, wife of T.P. Shepard, who also funded the construction of the building. The Home initially served retired African heritage women over the age of 60 exclusively, "except under peculiar circumstances," until being reorganized as the Bannister House in 1974, becoming fully integrated for all races and genders. It is currently known as the Bannister Center, serving also as a rehabilitation center.