Florida Memorial College

Between 1879 and 1968, Florida Memorial grew from an industrial institute with elementary classes to a four-year liberal arts college offering bachelor's degrees. Established forty years after the school's founding, St. Augustine was the school’s third location.

The legacy of the Florida Memorial campus is marked by the Abraham Lincoln (A.L.) Lewis Archway, the original entryway to the College. Named for Florida’s first Black millionaire, this restored arch sits at Collier Blocker Puryear Park, diagonally across from the College's former grounds. 

Founded in 1879 in Live Oak

Florida Memorial College began as Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak, Florida in 1879, created to be "a College of instruction for our ministers and children." 

In April 1892, racial tensions resulted in shots fired into one of the school’s buildings. In response, many of the teachers and students relocated to Jacksonville under the name Florida Baptist Academy. However, Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak continued to operate.

Second Location in Jacksonville, 1892

Under the guidance of then-President Reverend Matthew Gilbert and lead teacher Sarah Ann Blocker, the school set up in the basement of the Bethel Baptist Church in Jacksonville under the name Florida Baptist Academy. 

Longtime faculty member Nathan White Collier was elected President in 1896, and Sarah A. Blocker continued her tenure as Dean of Women and Vice President. Both held their positions at the college for 40+ years.  

While located in Jacksonville, J. Rosamond Johnson taught music at the Florida Baptist Academy. During this time, Johnson composed the music to accompany his brother James Weldon Johnson’s poem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” Their collaboration was promoted by the NAACP as the "Negro National Anthem" and is still referred to today as the "Black National Anthem." To listen to two renditions of this historic song, scroll down to the "Related Media" section.

The Move to St. Augustine

By 1918, the school had outgrown its space in Jacksonville, and President Collier accepted the city of St. Augustine’s offer to purchase land west of the Historic Downtown region. They moved to St. Augustine under a new name, the Florida Normal and Industrial Institute (or "Florida Normal" for short).

The 400-acre property was once a part of the "Old Hanson Plantation," a pre-Civil War sugar plantation run by slave labor. Since the school was founded to serve "former slaves and their descendants," some viewed its relocation to this former plantation as a reclamation of land once used to oppress and enslave Black people. 

Inspired by Booker T. Washington's belief in the value of industrial education, the school’s early mission was to help students become "industrious and self-sufficient." 

Growth & Development in West Augustine

Because of the rise of racism against African Americans during the Jim Crow Era (~1900-1964), Florida Memorial kept a low profile. Many racist people and groups were not in favor of money being spent on educating Black people. 

The campus was built on a remote property in West Augustine. The buildings were not ornate or overly visible from the road and faced inward for student safety. 

Yet, embraced by supporters in the community and beyond, Florida Memorial continued to grow. By 1923, the St. Augustine campus included an arts and crafts building, a manual training shop, barn, dairy silo, and a sawmill. Courses included broom-making, gardening, first aid, farming, and among others. The gardening and farming provided vegetables, pork, beef, milk, butter, and eggs for the kitchen and dining hall, and the students even constructed campus buildings. 

Other prominent campus buildings included Anderson Hall (the main academic building), Fisher Hall (a men’s dorm), Bacon Hall (a women’s dorm), and the Heckscher Gymnasium. 

Despite the economic challenges of the Great Depression (1929-1939), the school began offering 4-year degrees as the Florida Normal and Industrial Memorial College in 1941. (The class of 1945 was the first to graduate from Florida Memorial with bachelor’s degrees in hand.)

Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes 

In 1942, Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak was closed and combined with Florida Normal and Industrial Memorial College in St. Augustine. 

At this time, acclaimed writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, who was living in St. Augustine, taught literature at the College. (To learn more about Zora Neal Hurston's time in St. Augustine, scroll down to the "Related People" section.)

More than 10 years later, in 1954, Florida Memorial's Student Christian Union organized a presentation by Langston Hughes, who knew and worked with Zora Neale Hurston. As a renowned writer and leader of the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes' work helped inspire the Civil Rights movement. It is possible that his talk inspired Florida Memorial's students to take a nonviolent stand against racial inequality. 

By 1959, the expanding campus included more liberal arts-focused amenities, like a stand-alone library, health center, student center, and a music building. The college was an economic staple of West Augustine, with a Black middle class growing around it. Then came ... 

The St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement

Florida Memorial's students became involved with the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and established an NAACP Youth Council on campus in the early 1960s. In March of 1960, students staged two sit-ins at the Woolworth’s lunch counter downtown. 

Although student activism was initially prohibited by then-college President Dr. Puryear, there was little he could do as the fervor grew. Students continued to protest as the movement intensified, collaborating with local organizations and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). 

A tense relationship between Florida Memorial College and the City of St. Augustine developed due to student activism. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, Florida Memorial continued to be the target of racist attacks. Local law enforcement declined to protect the campus, so the College was forced to train and arm some of its male students to defend the school. 

Concerned for their students’ safety, along with a subsequent decline in enrollment, the College was spurred to purchase land in Dade County in 1965. 

After Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, crosses were burned on the front lawn of Florida Memorial, and the school moved to the land they had purchased in Miami, even though only three buildings were ready for use. 

City of St. Augustine Apologizes to Florida Memorial University

In 2014, St. Augustine Mayor Jim Boles attended a ceremony hosted by Florida Memorial University where he apologized for the city’s failure to protect the College and students. Long overdue, the apology helps to heal a once healthy, mutually beneficial relationship between the College and the city of St. Augustine. 

Visit the Site of Florida Memorial College in St. Augustine

It would be remarkable if Florida Memorial College was still operating in St. Augustine’s West Augustine neighborhood. 

The expanding community space named Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park after some of the College’s early administrators, Nathan W. Collier, Sarah A. Blocker, and Dr. Royal W. Puryear, indicates that St. Augustine has not forgotten the College and its history. The restored A.L. Lewis Archway entrance to the College and the Civil Rights Act 40th Anniversary marker are also visible reminders of a pivotal time in the history of St. Augustine. 

Several large panels at the park outline the history of Florida Memorial College. These are well worth reading. 

Resources

Online Resources

• Tap here to read the history of Florida Memorial University on their website.
• Tap here to read the Miami Times article "Civil Rights from St. Augustine to South Florida" by Dr. Tameka Bradley-Hobbs.
• Tap here to view the Florida Memorial University marker at Collier Blocker Puryear Park.

Further Reading

• Tap here to read "Before the King Came: The Foundations of Civil Rights Resistance and St. Augustine Florida, 1900-1960," Masters Theses by James G. Smith from the University of North Florida.
• Tap here to watch Sheryl Lee Ralph perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at Super Bowl LVII.
• Tap here to view a student bulletin from Florida Normal & Industrial Institute in the University of North Florida archives.