Hampton Junior College

Last updated

Hampton Junior College, located in Ocala, Florida, opened its doors in 1958. It was one of eleven black community colleges which were founded, at the urging of the Florida Legislature, to show that a "Separate but equal" educational system for blacks existed in Florida; the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated by the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. At the time, the closest public college that would accept negroes was Florida A&M University, 175 miles away. [1]

It operated under the direction of the Marion County Board of Public Instruction, with support from adjacent Citrus and Levy counties. [2] Three representatives from each county made up the college's advisory committee. [3]

Its original name, Howard Junior College, was changed during its first year of operation in honor of L. R. Hampton, Sr., a local dentist who had advanced black education in Marion County. [4] [5]

It began operations using the facilities of the black Howard High School (today Howard Middle School), which meant classes had to be held in the late afternoon and evening. [6] In 1960-61 its own facilities were completed. [7] They consisted of a classroom building, a library shared with the high school, an industrial building, and an administrative building which housed faculty offices and the student lounge. [8]

The only president of the college was its founding one, William H. Jackson. Like most of the black community college presidents he was principal of a high school, in this case Howard High School, on whose campus the junior college was located. However, in contrast with most of the other principal/presidents, in 1961 he became full-time president of the college. [9]

Its peak enrollment, in the 1964–65 school year, was 890. [10] A total of 3,905 students studied there during its eight years of operation. 317 graduated. [11]

In 1966 the institution was merged with Central Florida Junior College, today the College of Central Florida, which was also founded in 1958. It was the last of Florida's twelve black junior colleges to be merged. Of the 778 students during its final year, 207 enrolled at Central Florida Junior College. 10 of the 19 regular faculty members transferred to Central Florida. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

St. Petersburg College (SPC) is a public college in Pinellas County, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of the institutions in the system designated a "state college," as it offers a greater number of four-year bachelor's degrees than traditional two-year community colleges focused on associate degrees. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and enrolled about 29,000 students in the fall of 2018.

Daytona State College is a public college in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. DSC competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Mid-Florida Conference in 10 sports, including men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country, women's golf, men's basketball, women's basketball, softball, and baseball. Swimming was discontinued following the 2012-13 academic year. As of 2011, DSC held eight NJCAA Team National Championship titles.

Forest High School (Florida) Public secondary school in Ocala, Marion, Florida, United States

Forest High School is a school in Ocala, Florida, United States. It has an EMIT (engineering) program. The school's colors are green and gold and the school mascot is the Wildcat. As of 2014, it had an enrollment of some 2,058.

College of Central Florida

The College of Central Florida is a public college with campuses in Marion, Citrus, and Levy counties. It is part of the Florida College System. Founded in 1957 as Central Florida Junior College, CF has grown to span three counties and include the Appleton Museum of Art and Vintage Farm, a 103-acre farm in Marion County.

West Port High School Public secondary school in Ocala, Florida

West Port High School is an American high school in Ocala, Florida and one of eight public high schools in Marion County. Founded in 2000 and constructed at 3733 SW 80th Avenue, West Port is the district high school for West Ocala. The campus formerly housed both West Port Middle and High Schools. The middle school relocated in 2008, after Liberty Middle School was built. As of the 2019–2020 school year, there were about 2,681 students attending West Port High School, making it the largest school, by population, in the district. West Port also has the largest campus by area.

North Florida Community College

North Florida Community College is a public community college in Madison, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. It enrolls around 1,200 students and serves six rural counties in North Florida: Madison, Hamilton, Lafayette, Jefferson, Suwannee, and Taylor.

Lake–Sumter State College

Lake–Sumter State College is a public college in Central Florida. It is a member of the Florida College System. The college has three campuses in Lake and Sumter Counties: the original campus in Leesburg, the South Lake Campus in Clermont, and the Sumter Campus in Sumterville. The college also partners with The Villages Charter High School as a dual enrollment site.

Suwannee River Junior College, located in Madison, Florida, opened in 1959. It was one of eleven black junior colleges founded in the late 1950s at the initiative of the Florida Legislature. Since racial integration in schools was prohibited in the Florida Constitution of 1885 then in effect, the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated in the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954 by demonstrating that a "separate but equal" higher education system existed in Florida for African Americans.

Roosevelt Junior College was an institution serving African-American students, located on an 18-acre campus at 1235 Fifteenth Street in West Palm Beach, Florida. It took its name from the adjacent black Roosevelt High School, named in honor of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

Booker T. Washington Junior College, the first and longest-lasting junior college for African Americans in Florida, was established by the Escambia County school board in 1949. Previously, the only higher education available in Florida to African Americans was at Bethune-Cookman College, Edward Waters College, Florida A&M University, and Florida Memorial College all historically black.

Gibbs Junior College was created in 1957 by the Pinellas County Board of Public Instruction to serve African-American students in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the first and most successful of Florida's eleven new African-American junior colleges, founded in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the racial integration mandated by the unanimous 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision. It was named for the minister and abolitionist Jonathan C. Gibbs, who opened a private school for freed slaves after the Civil War, and was later Florida's Secretary of State (1868–1872) and then Superintendent of Public Instruction, the first African-American member of the Florida Cabinet.

Jackson Junior College, in Marianna, Florida, county seat of Jackson County, opened its doors in 1961. It was one of eleven black junior colleges founded in the late 1950s at the initiative of the Florida Legislature. Since racial integration in schools was prohibited in the Florida Constitution of 1885 then in effect, the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated in the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954 by demonstrating that a "separate but equal" higher education system existed in Florida for African Americans. Support by local African Americans, who wanted integration, was unenthusiastic.

Carver Junior College, in Cocoa, Florida, was established by the Brevard County Board of Public Instruction in 1960 to serve black students, at the same time that it founded Brevard Junior College, now Eastern Florida State College, for white students. It was named for the black agricultural researcher George Washington Carver. Like 10 of Florida's other 11 black junior colleges, it was founded as a result of a 1957 decision by the Florida Legislature to preserve racial segregation in education, mandated under the 1885 Constitution that was in effect until 1968. More specifically, the Legislature wanted to show, in response to the unanimous Supreme Court decision mandating school integration, that the older standard of "separate but equal" educational facilities was still viable in Florida. Prior to this legislative initiative, the only publicly funded colleges for negro or colored students were Florida A&M University, in Tallahassee, and Booker T. Washington Junior College, in Pensacola.

Rosenwald Junior College, located in Panama City, Florida, opened its doors in 1958. It was one of eleven black junior colleges founded in the late 1950s at the initiative of the Florida Legislature. Since racial integration in schools was prohibited by the Florida Constitution of 1885 then in effect, the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated in the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954 by demonstrating that a "separate but equal" higher education system existed in Florida for African Americans.

Volusia County Junior College, located at 875 Second Avenue in Daytona Beach, Florida, opened its doors in 1958. It was one of eleven black junior colleges founded in the late 1950s at the initiative of the Florida Legislature. Since racial integration in schools was prohibited in the Florida Constitution of 1885 then in effect, the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated in the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954 by demonstrating that a "separate but equal" higher education system existed in Florida for African Americans.

Collier-Blocker Junior College, located at 1100 N. 19th Street in Palatka, Florida, opened its doors in 1960. It was one of eleven black junior colleges founded in the late 1950s at the initiative of the Florida Legislature. Since racial integration in schools was prohibited in the Florida Constitution of 1885 then in effect, the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated in the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954 by demonstrating that a "separate but equal" higher education system existed in Florida for African Americans.

Lincoln Junior College, located in Fort Pierce, Florida, opened its doors in 1960, at the same time as Indian River Junior College, restricted to white students. It was designed to serve Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie counties. It was one of eleven black community colleges which were founded, at the urging of the Florida Legislature, in the late 1950s and early 1960s to show that a "separate but equal" educational system for blacks existed in Florida; the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated by the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. At the time, there was no nearby college for Negroes, while the distances and lack of funding effectively closed off most local blacks from college.

Johnson Junior College, located at 1200 N. Beecher St. In Leesburg, Florida, opened its doors in 1962, for black students, at the same time as Lake-Sumter Junior College, for white students. It was designed to serve Lake and Sumter Counties. It was one of eleven black community colleges which were founded, at the urging of the Florida Legislature, in the late 1950s and early 1960s to show that a "separate but equal" educational system for blacks existed in Florida; the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated by the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. At the time, there was no nearby college for Negroes, and the distances and lack of funding effectively closed off most local Blacks from college.

Howard Academy, at 306 NW 7th Avenue in Ocala, Florida, was a school for African-American children opened in 1866 or 1867 by the Freedmen's Bureau. Up until that time there had been no public and almost no private education for African Americans in Florida; education for slaves was prohibited by law and free blacks were made to feel unwelcome and encouraged to leave the state.

The East Florida Seminary was an institution of higher learning established by the State of Florida in 1853, and absorbed into the newly established University of Florida in 1905. The school operated in Ocala from 1853 until 1861. After being closed during the Civil War, the school re-opened in Gainesville, Florida in 1866.

References

  1. ↑ Walter L. Smith, The Magnificent Twelve: Florida's Black Junior Colleges, Winter Park, Florida, FOUR-G Publishers, 1994, ISBN   1885066015, p. 54.
  2. ↑ Smith, p. 52.
  3. ↑ Smith, p. 53.
  4. ↑ Kevin M. McCarthy, African American Sites in Florida, Pineapple Press, 2007, ISBN   1561643858, p. 148.
  5. ↑ Smith, p. 52.
  6. ↑ Smith, pp. 71-72.
  7. ↑ Smith, p. 74.
  8. ↑ Toby Hunt, "Hampton Junior College: The Excellence Continues", Ocala Star-Banner , August 4, 1993, pp. 78-79 (pp. 20-21 of the Supplement).
  9. ↑ Smith, p. 52.
  10. ↑ Smith, p. 63.
  11. ↑ McCarthy, p. 149.
  12. ↑ Smith, pp. 57 and 75.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.