Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs

Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs
Member of the FloridaHouseofRepresentatives from the Duval County district
In office 1885–1887 1887–1889
Personal details
Born	(1855-09-16)September 16, 1855 New York, U.S.
Died	October 31, 1898(1898-10-31) (aged 43) Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Alice Menard
Children	3
Education	West Point

Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs (September 16, 1855 – October 31, 1898) was a member of the 1885 Florida Constitutional Convention, served in the Florida House of Representatives, and was a school administrator. ^[1] He was nominated to West Point by Representative Josiah T. Walls, who was also African American. ^[2]

In the legislature, Gibbs helped pass legislation establishing a white normal school in Gainesville, Florida and a "colored school" in Jacksonville. State Normal College for Colored Students was a predecessor of Florida A&M College and was relocated to Tallahassee where it opened in 1887 with 15 students. Gibbs served as its assistant principal and Vice President until his death in 1898. ^[3] The only son of Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, Thomas married Alice Menard, the daughter of politician John Willis Menard who in 1868 was the first African American elected to Congress.

See also

• African American officeholders from the end of the Civil War until before 1900

References

1. Jackson, D. (September 29, 2008). Booker T. Washington and the Struggle against White Supremacy: The Southern Educational Tours, 1908–1912. ISBN   9780230615502.
2. Allman, T.D. (2013). Finding Florida. The True History of the Sunshine State. Atlantic Monthly Press. p. 260. ISBN   9780802120762.
3. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University-About The University

• Canter Brown Jr. Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924. Tuscaloosa and London: The University of Alabama Press, 1998.
• Florida A&M History 'https://www.famu.edu/about-famu/history/index.php'