Live Oak in Suwannee County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

The Douglass Center

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, August 29, 2018

1. The Douglass Center Marker Side 1

Inscription. (Side 1)
This is the site of the Douglass Center, a consolidated school complex that offered elementary, junior, and high school level classes to African American students. The center's origin can be traced back to the Reconstruction era. Public education for African Americans in Suwannee County began in 1869 with the formation of two schools, one in the town of Live Oak and the other in unincorporated Houston. The Live Oak school was renamed after famous African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and located on the west side of South Houston Avenue. This school occupied a two-story wooden building and was only open from June through September. A second school, also named after Douglass, was built in the 1920s. Donations from the African American community, combined with matching funds from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation, financed the construction of a single-story brick school house on the east side of South Houston Avenue. In 1939, it was the first African American school in Live Oak to offer high school level classes. The school built on this site was the third in the district named after Douglass. Construction

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began in 1950 on the new 30-classroom school facility that housed grades one through twelve. (Continued on other side) (Side 2) (Continued from other side) The new school was operational for the 1956/1957 school year. The campus featured a music room, teacher's lounge, office space, clinic, cafeteria, library, chemistry lab, and agricultural and homemaking departments. The physical education department had locker rooms with showers, and offered multiple athletic programs, including football, basketball, baseball, and softball. After the acquisition of school buses, many rural African American students gained access to a high school education. In 1965, construction on a new gymnasium was completed, the first one for an African American school in Suwannee County. With the integration of Florida's public schools, Douglass School graduated its final high school class in 1969, the last segregated class to graduate in Suwannee County. The school then served as Suwannee Middle School until 1990. It was renamed the Douglass Center and used as an alternative school until 2006. The Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners acquired

The Douglass Center Marker Side 2 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, August 29, 2018

2. The Douglass Center Marker Side 2

the campus in 2008 and adapted it to a community center. The Douglass Center is the last publicly-owned, historically African American school site in Suwannee County, and remains a vital part of the Live Oak community.

Erected 2018 by Douglass High School Alumni & Historical Assn., Inc., Board of Directors: Robert I. Ford, Rev. F.W. Williams, Jr., Annette Herring, Ruthie M. McClendon, Otis Johnson, James Cooper, Annie M. Herring, Gary Caldwell, Jimmy Cherry, Rev. Nelson Perry, Susan H. Ford and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-1000.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Education. In addition, it is included in the Rosenwald Schools series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1869.

Location. 30° 17.776′ N, 82° 59.848′ W. Marker is in Live Oak, Florida, in Suwannee County. It is at the intersection of Douglas Street Southwest and Lafayette Avenue Southwest, on the right when traveling east on Douglas Street Southwest. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Live Oak FL 32064, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally,

The Douglass Center Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, August 29, 2018

3. The Douglass Center Marker

this marker is in North Florida.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf 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 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Florida Memorial College ~ Original Site (approx. 0.4 miles away); Lynnette Ricketson Millennium Park (approx. ¾ mile away); Suwannee County (approx. ¾ mile away); Suwannee County Veterans Memorial (approx. ¾ mile away); To Honor Stephen Collins Foster (approx. ¾ mile away); Harry Tyson Moore ~ A Native Son of Suwannee County (approx. 1.2 miles away); Edward Waters College Original Site (approx. 1.2 miles away); Plot Exposed (approx. 1.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Live Oak.

Additional commentary.
1. County Commissioners vote to demolish Douglass Center
The Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners

The Douglass Center image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, August 29, 2018

4. The Douglass Center

voted on February 19th, 2019 to tear down the current buildings with plans to have Suwannee Parks and Recreation develop the site and a possible future community center.

After 10 years of talks and inactivity around devising a plan for the Douglass Center since the Suwannee County School District gave the property to the county in 2008, the buildings have continued to deteriorate and be vandalized.

— Submitted February 22, 2019, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.

The Douglass Center Gym image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, August 29, 2018

5. The Douglass Center Gym

Credits. This page was last revised on February 23, 2019. It was originally submitted on December 9, 2018, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 2,251 times since then and 187 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 9, 2018, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.