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Douglas Anderson
School of the Arts |
Named to honor Douglas Anderson, a highly respected African-American
businessman, in 1948. Mr. Anderson was one of the most respected and
best-loved citizens of South Jacksonville. He, along with W. R. Thorpe,
spearheaded activities which led to securing the present school site and
school building at San Diego and White Avenue. His interests in the school
never ceased. He served as PTA president of the South Jacksonville School
for many years. Mr. Anderson may be classed as a great humanitarian. He
lived in Jacksonville for more than a half century. He was a member and
official of the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church.
Douglas Anderson is best known for his successful and
untiring efforts to provide free transportation to Negro pupils in the
county. For many years, he operated for a long time, the only buses
servicing black children in Duval County. |
Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary
Note: School closed in 2001. |
Named for educator, Dr. Mary
Mcleod Bethune. Among her many accomplishments,
she founded Bethune-Cookman
College in Daytona Beach in 1904. Dr. Bethune became an advisor to four
presidents on education issues. She was appointed Director of the Division
of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration by President Roosevelt
and was the first African-American woman to hold so high an office in
federal government.
Her
Washington, D.C. home is on the National Register of Historic Places and is
a landmark. |
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Richard L.
Brown Elementary |
Richard L. Brown was the first
African-American architect in Jacksonville. He built Mt. Olive AME Church on
Pippin and Franklin and
Edward Waters College Library. He was a civic and
religious leader and legislator. |
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Eugene Butler Middle |
Eugene Butler was an educator and
assistant principal at I.A. Blocker, Stanton High and then went on to become
principal of Matthew Gilbert High School. While at Gilbert, the school
received a superior rating and was accredited by an interracial committee.
Eugene Butler was known as an excellent orator giving speeches at colleges,
civic groups and churches. |
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George Washington Carver Elementary |
Named for
George Washington Carver noted educator, scientist, businessperson,
agriculturist, artist, author, lecturer. His work resulted in the creation
of 325 products from peanuts, more than 100 products from sweet potatoes and
hundreds more from a dozen other plants. He was elected to the Hall of Fame
for Great Americans in 1977 and was inducted into the National Inventors
Hall of Fame in 1990. |
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R. V. Daniels
Elementary |
Named in honor of Roosevelt Verdell Daniels, 1904-1963. Mr.
Daniels was a school bus contractor but was most well known for his active
role in PTA. He served as President of
Duval County Council PTA, Treasurer of Florida Council PTA, Florida Council
of Human Rights member and on the YMCA Board of Directors. |
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Darnell-Cookman
Middle |
Rev. S. B. Darnell built a church
school known as the Darnell Institute which was later destroyed in the
Jacksonville fire. His friend, Cookman, visited every winter and helped him
finance a new school which Darnell named the Cookman Institute. The
Cookman Institute merged in 1923 with the Daytona Educatonal and
Industrial Training Institute for Negro Girls which later evolved into
Bethune-Cookman College. Noted
Jacksonville social welfare activist,
Eartha White suggested the Jacksonville school be named to honor both men. |
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Saint Clair Evans
Academy
|
Moncrief Elementary School was
renamed in 1998 to honor the memory of Saint Clair Evans, the school's first
principal when the school opened in 1952. Mr. Evans was a graduate of
Florida A&M and received a Masters Degree from New York University. He was
also principal at Douglas Anderson High School and West Lewisville
Elementary. He raised money to ensure that no child went hungry in his
school years before the free lunch program. |
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John E. Ford Elementary |
Named in honor of John E. Ford,
pastor of the historic Bethel Baptist Institutional Church and
LaVilla
resident. |
|
Matthew Gilbert
Middle |
Named in honor of Dr.
Matthew Gilbert, pastor of Bethel Baptist Institutional church and the first
principal of the Florida Baptist Academy which later moved to St. Augustine. The new
school was first called Franklin Street public school but was later named
for Gilbert. |
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Samuel A. Hull
Elementary |
Named in honor of civic activist,
Samuel A. Hull, president of the Florida NAACP. He donated the land the
school is built upon. Hull lived to the age of 107. |
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James
Weldon Johnson Middle
|
James Weldon Johnson was born in 1871 in
Jacksonville's LaVilla neighborhood. After his college
education at Atlanta University, he returned to Jacksonville to become a
principal of Stanton School at age 23. He added curriculum until Stanton
became the first black high school. In 1900, in honor of Lincoln's birthday,
he and his brother, Rosamond, wrote the song "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," which was later adopted
by the NAACP as the "Negro National Hymn." Johnson went on to become a
songwriter,
poet, U.S. Consul to Venezuela, author and was the first
African-American admitted to the Florida bar since the end of
Reconstruction. In 1920, he became a national organizer for the NAACP.
See the "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" exhibit at The Ritz Theatre and LaVilla Museum. |
|
Martin Luther King,
Jr. Elementary |
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was
one of the leaders of America's civil rights movement, a believer in
nonviolent protest and a man whose name is synonymous with human rights,
equality, justice and peace. Although his life was tragically cut short, his
accomplishments are numerous and his legacy continues to shape and inspire
our country today. His birth home is now a museum and the Ebenezer Baptist
Church, where Dr. King, his father and grandfather were all pastors is now a
National Historic Site.
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S. P.
Livingston Elementary |
Named in
honor of Smart Pope Livingston, a prominent African-American physician. In
1916, he was appointed city physician. He worked around the clock tending to
the medical needs of Jacksonville residents when the influenza epidemic
struck the city in 1918.
Livingston was born in Marianna, Florida, where he was raised and attended
school in his
youth. At age 14, he came to Jacksonville to attend Cookman Institute, then under the principalship of Dr. Sameuel B.
Darnell. Upon graduation, Pope entered Howard University's Law School.
However, near graduation, he became ill and was inspired to become a doctor.
After receiving his law degree, Livingston entered Meharry Medical School in
Nashville, Tennessee. Following graduation, he began medical practice
Clarksville, Tennessee, married and had two children. In 1910, he returned
to Florida with his family, setting up practice here with a childhood
friend.
Livingston was always a man who thought of others in his
medical practice and in life. In keeping with that spirit of giving,
Livingston assisted other young men from his home town, seeking higher
education by offering them a place to live in Jacksonville and offering them
jobs in his drug store while they, too, attended Cookman Institute.
Livingston died November 26, 1934. |
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Sallye B. Mathis Elementary |
Named in honor of Sallye B. Mathis, long time school teacher
and beloved member of the Jacksonville City Council, one of the first to
serve in that capacity. |
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Rufus E. Payne
Elementary |
Named
in honor of Stanton teacher Rufus E. Payne who died suddenly at age 37. He
was a Sunday school teacher at Bethel Baptist Institutional Church. He was
involved in Boy Scouts, Duval County's Teacher Association and the NAACP.
His wife and two daughters retired from the Duval County Public School
System. |
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Rutledge Pearson Elementary |
Rutledge Pearson was a local civil rights leader, teacher,
activist and president of the local NAACP. |
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William M. Raines High |
Named in honor of William M.
Raines, principal of Matthew Gilbert Middle School. |
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A.
Philip
Randolph Academies |
A. P. Randolph was an
African-American
labor movement and
civil rights leader. He was the first
president of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded in 1925 and the first
African-American labor union to sign a collective bargaining agreement with
a major U.S. corporation. He first proposed a March on Washington in 1941
which led to President Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 8802 banning
discrimination in the federal government and defense industries. Twenty-two
years later, Randolph again played an important role in organizing the 1963
March on Washington at which Martin Luther King, Jr. made his "I Have A
Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Following the march,
Randolph, Dr. King and other civil rights movement leaders met with
President Kennedy. Within a year, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed. |
|
Andrew Robinson Elementary |
Andrew Robinson was the first
principal of Raines High School from 1965 - 1969. |
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Sadie T. Tillis Elementary |
Named in honor of Sadie T. Tillis for her dedication to
children and the communities in which they lived. She began her career in
education at school #116 where she taught grades 1 - 8 in a one room school.
Tillis' concern for her students led her to partner with local health
agencies in creating outreach projects aimed at improving home life and the
social recreational environment of the community. As the result of her
efforts, parental involvement increased to unprecedented levels and school
attendance increased as well. As the school outgrew its one room home. In
time, land was donated and a new school was built. Tillis became the
school's first principal. She spent more than 25 years at the school
and 40 years in the public school system. School #116, then known as Morse
Elementary, was renamed to honor this dedicated education and community
leader in 1999. |
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Susie E. Tolbert Elementary |
Susie E. Tolbert was born in the
1880s and was a strong force for many positive developments in our city. She
was instrumental in the development of the New Bethel AME church. As a
member of the Garden Circle, she worked to beautify black neighborhoods in
Jacksonville. Ms. Tolbert started a distribution of food to the homebound,
financially assisted poor students at Edward Waters College, was president
of the PTA and lobbied for better equipment for black students. Through her
dedicated effort land was appropriated to build New College Park, New
Stanton High and James Weldon Johnson. In 1951, New College Park was renamed
in her honor. |
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Carter G. Woodson Elementary |
Carter G. Woodson wanted to uplift
his race by acknowledging their accomplishments. He organized the second
week of February as Negro History Week, first celebrated in 1926. Negro
History week evolved and is now Black History Month. Click here to
learn more about Carter G. Woodson and his life's work. |
