Stanton Institute, 1870
After Emancipation, a group of former slaves organized as the Colored Education Society with the intention of building a school to educate their children. The Freedman’s Bureau donated $16,000 to build Stanton Institute with the purpose of training African-American women from the ages of 16 to 25 as educators. The first two-story wooden structure was built in December 1868 on the corner of Bridge (later Broad) and Ashley Streets and dedicated as Stanton Normal School on April 10, 1869 by the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. The building was built on land purchased for $850 by the Colored Education Society from Ossian B. Hart and his wife with the express purpose of educating Blacks and training teachers. The property was deeded to C.F. Chase, I.L.F. Garvin and Edwin Randall, trustees of The Florida Institute, which was Florida's first official school for African-Americans.
The Duval County Board of Public Instruction ("the School Board") leased the property for fifty years to provide a "free school therein for colored children". In addition to operating a teacher training program, the new building also facilitated a grammar (elementary) school with six grades under the administration of J.C. Waters as the first principal. The first class at Stanton was comprised of 348 black students, six white teachers and a number of black staff. The principal that followed was D.W. Gulp. The eighth grade was added while W.M. Artrell was principal. The school was destroyed by fire in 1882.
The Duval County Board of Public Instruction ("the School Board") leased the property for fifty years to provide a "free school therein for colored children". In addition to operating a teacher training program, the new building also facilitated a grammar (elementary) school with six grades under the administration of J.C. Waters as the first principal. The first class at Stanton was comprised of 348 black students, six white teachers and a number of black staff. The principal that followed was D.W. Gulp. The eighth grade was added while W.M. Artrell was principal. The school was destroyed by fire in 1882.
