The Only Historically Black University in Southern Florida: Florida Memorial University Archive, 1940s

1940. [African American] [Education] Now known as Florida Memorial University, Florida Normal & Industrial Institute is a product of two all Black Baptist institutes eventually becoming an accredited University offering 41 undergraduate degree programs. This set of two black and white photographs showcases the university during one of their renaissance periods in the 1940s. One is an 8" x 10" silver gelatin photograph featuring a football team of 13 boys alongside their coach who dons a fedora and pinstriped suit. The second photograph is a 3.5" x 5.5" real photo post card and shows one of the main class buildings at their location in St. Augustine, which was formerly a plantation built by enslaved Black persons. In 1918 the junior college controversially moved onto the "Old Hanson Plantation". This act of reclaiming buildings once meant to oppress African Americans was now being turned into the four year institution it is today. The advent of civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s brought about a whirlwind of challenges and change to St. Augustine. When local African Americans decided to protest and resist segregation in the city, students from Florida Memorial joined the effort, participating in sit-ins, wade-ins, and swim-ins, orchestrated by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The events in St. Augustine significantly influenced federal legislation resulting in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Some minor edge wear and corner creasing, a few pin holes to the corners of the larger photo. Overall in very good condition. This set of photographs is a testament to the success of Black Americans given the proper resources and opportunities for higher education.