Tracing Our Roots

JANELLE TENGCO | OCT. 24, 2019 | FEATURES

When a person walks through the hallways of Stanton College Preparatory School, they first encounter a display of trophies and banners streamed along the walls of the entrance. These accolades signify academic achievement, driven athletic performance, and the talents of gifted individuals attending the nationally ranked high school. Underneath these predominant accomplishments of the student population is the historical prevalence of Stanton in the surrounding communities of Duval County and the state of Florida. What remains overshadowed, however, is the school’s establishment as an educational institution primarily for African Americans during the late 1800s with the intention of providing employment and access to educational resources. 

“In order to give homage to the African American community in Jacksonville, we have to be aware of our collective history,” said Ms. Ebony Love, Stanton alumna of 2014. “We don’t move forward by ignoring the past. We have to acknowledge the past in order to see where we are today.”

After the conclusion of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery in 1865, Florida witnessed a time of recovery classified as the Reconstruction period. During this part of Floridian history, northern investors relocated to southern states in pursuit of business ventures. This also compelled unemployed African Americans to migrate into the area. As a result of the profound presence of African Americans, the state ratified black voting rights and drafted the Reconstruction Constitution to grant the construction of public schools in every Florida county.

Dubbed the Stanton School, the institution hails from the efforts of Florida legislation enforcing separate, yet poorly funded education for black students at the peak of racial segregation. The school originally held 530 students and four teachers, who taught grades seven through ten. The construction of the institution was developed to accommodate unemployed black educators and the masses of recently emancipated youth in the state. 

“In a time when an educated African American was thought to be a threat, Stanton rose up as the product of an organized effort of vigilant and dedicated individuals who sought a better life for future generations,” said Mr. Mitch Hemann, archive coordinator of the Jacksonville Historical Society. “These founding principles can be found even today within its halls, and that is a legacy worth remembering.”

As Stanton emerged as the focus of black education, the state underwent a series of reforms that sought to improve the welfare of African Americans. At the turn of the 20th century, changes in the United States’ educational systems and the promotion of diversity in the school’s student population hindered a developing African American legacy. The addition of classes from kindergarten to fifth-grade levels were incorporated into elementary schools to support the recent population growth and attendance of African Americans in schools. 

Opening a door of economic opportunities in a divided society, the site of Old Stanton became a focal point for the 62,000 African Americans who relocated to Jacksonville for employment and a chance to recover from a life of slavery. The creation of advocacy and financial aid groups for newly freed slaves, such as the Colored Education Society of Jacksonville and the American Missionary Association, supported a foundation of educators staffed by a black majority in the area. The emergence of black educators became the basis for African Americans to receive schooling at a time that it was discouraged, a fact that is appreciated today.

“It’s important for us to know that we have this school that was built for us, especially during the time when no one was [willing to] build a school for us,” said senior Heavyn Doxey. “Even though [Stanton] has changed over time, it’s good for African Americans to know that this school has advanced so much and was originally [built] for us.” 

 These changes were especially evident as the Reconstructionist period in Florida approached its conclusion. Prior funding of local groups for African Americans halted in 1877. Stanton experienced a progression of changes to receive accreditation as a school for black students and transferred under the control of the Duval County School Board to match school and state curriculum. Utilizing the funding from local groups, the school created a training program for teachers before employing a staff of a black majority. Under the leadership of Principal James Weldon Johnson, Stanton became the only secondary school for African Americans in the area, and achieved a 79 percent literacy rate, according to the Stanton High School Collection from the Jacksonville Public Library. The construction of a school that was primarily for African Americans became a landmark for their success in Jacksonville’s educational system.

“We should always remember that this [was] the first African American school in Jacksonville,” said Ms. Tamla Simmons, one of the sponsors of the Black Student Union, formally known as the Black History Club. “Especially in this community, there wasn’t another option for us. It was revolutionary in the sense that achievement was happening then. [Stanton] didn’t just start being number one. There were scholars that put this school together and came out of the school.”

The institution, however, faced shortages in funding from the school board to support the employment of its African American staff. From 1877 to 1964, the United States passed the Jim Crow Laws in the South, restricting necessary school funding that African Americans could receive, according to the state archives of the Florida Memory. The lack of local funding to employ more teachers and supply educational resources for the growing black population became a catalyst for Stanton to become a high school. This insufficiency in monetary grants resulted in Stanton closing down primary grade levels. The progress local African Americans had been aiming to achieve was impeded with racial and economic policies that hindered these strides. 

“For the first time, [African Americans] were able to establish communities for themselves, and build churches, schools, and businesses,” said Mr. Hemann. “Reconstruction was a time of great progress, but it all ended some years later with the institution of Jim Crow.”

After hearing faculty complaints about the lack of resources, the Duval County School Board permitted the construction of the new Stanton Vocational High School in 1954. In that same year, the Supreme Court voted to condemn separation based on color in the Brown vs. Board of Education court case. This prompted Stanton to integrate white students with the black majority of its classes, posing new difficulties for both racial groups and the school itself. According to the 1981 report, “‘Dumping Ground’ Given a New Life,” from The Palm Beach Post, performance rates significantly declined and dropout rates became the highest in Duval County. The transition to a district-based curriculum and the absence of college preparatory courses led to the population of 1,701 African Americans to plummet to 450 students in 1971. The school’s black population further dwindled as students left Stanton in search of less rigorous, vocational classes. This is outweighed by the school’s efforts of preserving the fading African American history through organizations that sustain these roots to this day.

“African Americans are important to the history of Stanton because the roots of the school are based on African American culture and the fact that we’re able to carry on that [legacy] is important,” said sophomore Joshua Walls-Holmes. “Stanton promotes the works of African Americans in the school by utilizing Multi[cultural Club] and groups that put African Americans in the spotlight and to embrace the culture as well.”

By shifting the focus away from a vocational-centered curriculum toward collegiate academia, students were transferred to the new senior high school, Stanton College Preparatory School. To diversify the student body while preserving the school’s African American legacy, the Duval County School Board introduced the magnet system in 1981 to foster a racial variety in the population and place an emphasis on academic performance. Despite the magnet system’s purpose of maintaining diversity in Duval’s schools, a 2017 study conducted by the Florida Department of Education revealed 48 percent of Stanton’s population was composed of white students compared to the 17.7 percent of African Americans. These demographic disproportions posed a barrier between the former black institution and the surrounding communities.

“The legacy of the school itself is not the same as when it was when I graduated,” said Mr. Lloyd Washington, president of the Durkeeville Historical Society Museum and Stanton alumnus of 1970. “Before, it was a part of the community. The school now has a separate [identity] from the community [and it should] open its doors and allow some community activities to take place in the building.”

In response to this claim, the Stanton administration points out that Stanton maintains its relationship with organizations in its surrounding communities. The school continues to offer its support through student community service and projects benefiting its residents. 

“In 2017, Stanton’s American Red Cross Club installed smoke detectors for free in the houses [of the surrounding community],” said Mr. Michael Kerr, one of Stanton’s assistant principals. “We also worked with MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation, Emmett Reed Community Center, and Mount Ararat Baptist Church for parking, [recreational activities, and to help promote them in the school]. We keep an open line of communication with these organizations.”

This communication could be hindered, however, with resonating changes to the student population. Stanton faces a persistent conflict of upholding the traditions and history of its founders. The conspicuous diversity and accolades of the school place the history of African Americans and their contributions under scrutiny, especially with a decline in their population. 

“When I hear [about] Stanton today as an alum, I don’t think of [the school itself],” said Ms. Love. “I think of an invisible community that isn’t acknowledged all the time. We have such a rich history of the black students that attended Stanton, particularly the Old Stanton, but you wouldn’t know that because we don’t talk about it. When I hear Stanton as an institution, I think of Stanton as trailblazers.”

Like Love, concerns of the recognition for African Americans have caused Stanton alumni to deliberate about whether the school itself commemorates their history. Though educating students about the history and the promotion of their works offers a way to encourage remembrance, attracting the interest and initiative of students to learn more about the black history of the school may pose as another challenge.

“There’s a fine line between educating and propagating,” said Ms. Jaelyn Taylor, Stanton alumna of 2018. “[This means] not using black and brown people in Jacksonville as propaganda for the city, but going into those communities and learning [about them]. The media has so much power and if we could use it to educate the masses without victimizing and propagandizing, I think it would be a really good place for Jacksonville to start making amends with these communities.”  

  The decline in Stanton’s African American population and their representation in the student entity affects how their works are promoted throughout the school and the local area. The lack of resources to educate these communities about Stanton’s black history lays a foundation of potential ignorance toward the issue.

“I would say African Americans [and their cultural heritage] don’t get enough recognition from the student population, but I think it’s because of ignorance,” said Ms. Simmons. “It’s not malicious, it’s more of they don’t know. You can’t give credit for something that you don’t know about.”    

The school’s reputation of providing college preparatory education and garnering recognition for its academics places weight on the unspoken unfamiliarity with black history. The school’s attempts to preserve its history is evident with groups such as the Black Student Union, that push for an atmosphere of recognition for minorities from the student population. 

“I don’t think we can wait for black students to get the recognition they deserve in Jacksonville,” said Ms. Victoria Williams, Stanton alumna of 2002. “It would take leadership [and students] saying, ‘We want to do this and let’s galvanize the student body and see how we can educate them.’ It’s not going to take just black people, but having those allies to be able to speak out.”

The ongoing call to preserve the school’s black history challenges students, alumni, and the surrounding communities to maintain these fading stories. Despite interior and racial changes, the roots of the institution continue to be represented through advocacy and leadership. Stanton’s African American legacy does not only linger in the pages of history books but with its students. The ability to carry the school’s African American origin and their work is instilled in students as they leave the halls of the school.