Orange City in Volusia County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Orange City Colored School

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, March 1, 2017

1. Orange City Colored School Marker Side 1

Inscription. The Orange City Colored School was the first building in town constructed for education of African Americans. Before it opened in 1927, various buildings had been adapted for use as classrooms but were small and poorly lighted. Inspired by her progressive values and the needs of the growing black population, Dr. Frances Dickenson donated five acres of land for the school. Funding was provided by the Board of Public Instruction of Volusia County and a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, which furnished plans and $1,100 to build the four teacher community school. Associated with what is now Tuskegee University, the Rosenwald program was a major force in rural school design, creating models of positive, orderly, and healthy environments for learning. Herman L. Nordman built the masonry structure with large banks of windows according to “Floor Plan No. 400.” This school is one of the four Rosenwald Schools built in Volusia County. Historically, the school taught students first through eighth grade, but the upper grades were discontinued in the 1930’s, those students who could find transportation attended

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Orange City School.

The first principal was William King. Early teachers Marian L. Coleman, Eva King, Henry J. King, Pauline Poole, Turie Thornton Small, T.E. Thornton, Rosa E, Williams, and Louis King. Marian Coleman was educated in Jacksonville and attended Edward Waters College and Bethune-Cookman College, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree. Her pay in the 1930’s amounted to seventy dollars per month, and her appointment as principal in 1943 brought in another ten dollars monthly. In the early 1960’s, the Orange City school was renamed the Marian L. Coleman School in her honor. One of the school’s prominent students was Evelyn Wiggins Sharp, who received a Ph.D. from New York University and taught in Volusia County. She was appointed an advisor to the Iranian Ministry of Education for the US. State Department in 1960, and worked in Tehran to raise standards of living, literacy, and agricultural practice. When the school closed in 1969, students were transferred to Deland. The building then served as a community center, reception facility, and a church. In 1984, it housed the Marian L. Coleman Head Start program. The

Orange City Colored School Marker Side 2 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, March 1, 2017

2. Orange City Colored School Marker Side 2

former school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Erected 2016 by The Volusia County Historic Preservation Board, Village Improvement Association, Orange City Women’s Club and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-929.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education. In addition, it is included in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the Rosenwald Schools series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1927.

Location. 28° 56.508′ N, 81° 17.791′ W. Marker is in Orange City, Florida, in Volusia County. It can be reached from East Blue Springs Avenue west of South Thorpe Avenue, on the right when traveling east. School is now the Coleman Head Start Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 200 East Blue Springs Avenue, Orange City FL 32763, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Florida’s First Coast.

It is also in the American South

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf

Orange City Colored School and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, March 1, 2017

3. Orange City Colored School and Marker

of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Orange City Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.2 miles away); Rollins College (approx. 0.4 miles away); Dickinson Memorial Library (approx. 0.4 miles away); Betsy Ross Airfield for Women (approx. 0.8 miles away); The History of Blue Spring (approx. 2.6 miles away); Thursby House (approx. 2.7 miles away); Bartram at Blue Spring (approx. 2.7 miles away); A Fossil from the Steamboat Age (approx. 2.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Orange City.

Orange City Colored School Banner image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, March 1, 2017

4. Orange City Colored School Banner

Credits. This page was last revised on November 14, 2019. It was originally submitted on March 3, 2017, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,148 times since then and 66 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 3, 2017, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.