Hungerford School

Hungerford School. . , The Robert L. Hungerford Normal and Industrial School was founded in 1889 as the first school for African Americans in Central Florida. Modeled after, Tuskegee Institute, a school started by Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Alabama, the mission of Hungerford School was to provide top-quality academic and vocational training to boarding and day students. Residents of Eatonville valued education so highly that several Eatonville families donated 100 acres of land for the school. At its height, the campus consisted of 304 acres, much of which was used to provide food for the students, faculty, and staff. Students, who came from, various parts of Florida, as well as from Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina, acquired not only an education, but also a positive work ethic, strong moral values, and proper social graces. Hungerford School fell on hard times during World War II, as enrollment declined the building deteriorated in the 1950s. Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) took over the took over the Hungerford property and improved the school by adding several buildings and facilities. With the integration of Orange County Schools in the 1960s, Hungerford became a vocational education facility. It was renamed the Wymore Career Education Center. Even so, the alumni of Hungerford School gather bi-annually to celebrate and commemorate the traditions of academic excellence, community, pride, and personal achievement they hold dear., "The whites who came down from the North were often brought by their friends to visit the village school. A Negro school was something strange to them, and while they were always sympathetic and kind, curiosity must have been present also." , , Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road, (captions) , The Campus of Hungerford School , The aerial view of the Hungerford campus gives some clue as to the variety of learning experiences available to students., The J.W. Alfred Cluett Hall housed the schools library, five classrooms, faculty living quarters, and the dormitory for male students., The sawmill at Hungerford Industrial School provides lumber for construction projects at school., Hungerford students proudly display cabinet work. Training in cabinetry was one of several vocational trades. , This is a diploma issued by the Hungerford Industrial School., Sports were important to the Hungerford experience and were enjoyed by boys and girls. Pictured above is the school’s female basketball team., Hungerford students were assigned daily chores, which included the care of poultry and livestock.