Christian Peterson
Reporter@riverbendnews.org
Florida Memorial University is a staple of Florida and, more specifically Suwannee County. Florida Memorial University is a private, coeducational Baptist affiliated academy, one of the oldest academic centers in the state and the only historically black university in south Florida. However, the history of the university starts in north Florida all the way back in 1879. In 1879, multiple members of the Bethlehem Baptist Association came together and discussed the need for a school for their own children, due to the complicated race issues at the time. Not too long after, the members founded the school, originally calling it the Florida Baptist Institute (FBI). The main founders were the members of the Black Baptist Church of Florida, putting the school in the middle of Live Oak and naming Reverend J.L. Fisher as the first president of the school.
Even though the support for the school cast a wide shadow, America’s national shame loomed larger. In April 1892, an unknown person fired shots into one of the school buildings. At this point, then President Rev. Matthew Gilbert and other faculty fled Live Oak for Jacksonville. There, they founded the Florida Baptist Academy (FBA) in the basement of Bethel Baptist Church, immediately starting classes in May 1892, with Sarah Ann Blocker as the main instructor. Despite the loss of members and attacks from the outside forces, Florida Baptist University continued to operate.
In 1896, Nathan White Collier was made president of the FBA, a position he would serve for 45 years. Collier garnered well-known composer and Jacksonville native, J. Rosamond Johnson to teach music. While employed at the school, Johnson composed music for “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” a poem that was written by his brother. The song would come to be enshrined as the “Negro National Anthem” and was first sung by a choir including students from the FBA. The song was sung at the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday in 1900.
In 1918, the FBA was growing rapidly and the school was in need of room to expand. It was at this point they were approached with an offer from the City of St. Augustine to relocate to the 400 acre Old Hansen Plantation. The school took advantage of the offer and began its third life in its new home in St. Augustine. This time, the FBA was renamed to the Florida Normal and Industrial Institute (FNII). The school’s education model also began following the lead of other schools, including an education model popularized by Booker T. Washington. Washington, at his Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, encouraged students to be industrious and self-sufficient. The students of FNII took this to heart, constructing many aspects of their new campus themselves. They grew and prepared their own food and received hands-on training in the practical fields, allowing them to support themselves and their families. Not too long after, in 1942, the Baptist General State Convention chose to merge its two schools, they closed down FBI in Live Oak and combined it with FNII in St. Augustine, renaming it Florida Normal Industrial and Memorial College (FNIMC). Well-known Harlen Renaissance writer Sora Neale Hurston served as an instructor at the time.
After the civil rights movement began in the 1950’s, students of FNIMC were an integral part of the movement, participating in many different kinds of protests created by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The actions of the students and protests were influential in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, the students did threaten an already delicate relationship between the city of St. Augustine and FNIMC, due to the race tensions of the time. Due to the vulnerable situation, Dr. Royal W. Puryear oversaw a relocation of the school in 1965. The trustees purchased a 48 acre air strip near Opa-locka in Dade County. On Nov. 11, 1968, the new campus was opened as Florida Memorial College. Then, in December 2004, the charter was amended and the school adopted the name Florida Memorial University.
The school continues to grow today and shows promise of growing even more. The school has created amazing graduates, including Barrington Irving, the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world in 2007. Florida Memorial University continues to show love for education and the expression of new ideas. Florida Memorial University’s mission statement remains true to its origins, “We are a community of scholars committed to the pursuit of knowledge, truth, and the free exchange of ideas. As educators, we seek to demonstrate the importance of life-long learning and devote ourselves to the responsibility of passing on the benefits of our own accomplishments. As students, we share a determination to fully participate and contribute to society as we fulfill our promise.”