Dream Builders

Dream Builders. Voices of the Movement. , "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , Where We Are , The Levy Park neighborhood was built between Fourth Avenue and Tharpe Street to accommodate returning soldiers after world war two. The neighborhood features vernacular homes and gardens. In 1984 Boulevard Street, a neighborhood thoroughfare, was renamed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Nearby Raa Middle School was built for white students in 1959 and desegregated along with other local public schools after a protracted struggle. Ras Middle School now operates as a magnet school to prepare all students for lifelong learning. , Confronting Segregated Schools , The path to desegregated schools in Florida was long and hard. Segregated public schools were first mandated in the 1885 Constitution. Thus, a dual system of education was established based on the premise of "separate but equal" education for both races. There was no equality however, in the funding for white and black schools in Florida. The race-based gap in educational appropriations led to countless deficiencies in black schools, and hindered the opportunities for a quality education for generations of black students. , In 1954, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation was unconstitutional in the nation's public schools. In 1955, without setting a specific intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus timeline for desegregation, the Court declared that compliance to the ruling must take place with "all deliberate speed." , The Brown decision was vigorously opposed in Southern States: In Florida, the legislature passed a Pupil Assignment Law designed to legally discourage integration and preserve public school segregation In Leon County, attempts to desegregate county schools were thwarted by the school board's lax pupil assignment plans, which were upheld by the US. District Court. , Ending School Desegregation in Leon County , In 1962, five sets of black parents in Leon County filed a class action suit (Clifford N. Steele vs. Board of Public Instruction of Leon County) demanding that the school board adopt a plan to desegregate the public school system. The case languished for years in the US. District Court, Northern District of Florida. Tallahassee schools remained largely segregated until the late 1960s when the Supreme Court ordered local school officials throughout the South to take whatever steps necessary to eliminate racial discrimination in their schools. Leon County was then ordered by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to implement a unitary school system and provide for complete school integration beginning with the 1970-71 school year. , Harold Knowles and Marilyn Holifield , Right, Harold Knowles and Marilyn Holifield on the steps of Leon High School in 1963, the year they and Phillip Hadley integrated the school. , Tallahassee's School Integration Pioneers , The first all-white school in Tallahassee to integrate its student body, Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, was a private school not subject to the provisions of the Brown decision. Nevertheless, the enrollment of eighth grader Elaine Thorpe in 1962 was the first crack in Leon County's solid wall of segregated secondary schools. , In 1963, three black teenagers, Phillip Hadley, Marilyn Holifield, and Harold Knowles, walked for the first time into the county's all-white Leon High School. A few blocks away, as the African American sophomores were being pelted by spitballs and serenaded with "Dixie," six-year-old Melodee Thompson integrated Kate Sullivan Elementary School. Thompson was the first black student in Leon County to attend formerly all-white schools from first grade through high school. , Keith Neyland and Mahlon C. Rhaney, Jr. were the first black students to desegregate Florida High, the laboratory school of Florida State University. The two friends enrolled as freshman in 1964. Despite facing some negative experiences at the school, the boys excelled in both academics and sports. They were followed at Florida High by upperclassman Elaine Thorpe, who was the first. black student to graduate from that school in 1967. , Keith Neyland , Florida High Demon basketball player, Keith Neyland, and two of his basketball teammates in Tallahassee. , Tallahassee Democrat collection. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, December 17, 1966. , Photograph collected from Tallahassee Democrat, M87-27, Box 17 , In 1965, Clarence B. "Rick Williams, Vincent Deal and Andre Barnes integrated Rickards High School. Williams, the older of the three students, was the first black student to graduate from the new public high school. After receiving a bachelor and master's degree, Williams became a teacher, assistant principal and administrator in the Leon County Schools. , The courageous acts of the black students who integrated Leon County schools were part of the larger struggle to end school segregation in secondary and postsecondary education throughout the South. In their efforts, they followed the vision and basic principles articulated by Dr. King. , Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- , "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." , -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , Education was always important to Dr. King. He attended the segregated public schools in Georgia and graduated from high school at the age of 15. In 1948, be received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Morehouse College. In 1951, he earned a Bachelor of Divinity (BDiv) degree from Crozer Theological Seminary, where he was class valedictorian and accepted an award to further his education. At Boston University's School of Theology, he completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 1955. King received many honorary degrees and hundreds of awards for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. His words and works inspire people around the world to work for justice, equality, and peace. , To learn more about Tallahassee's cultural heritage, visit Talgov.com/Heritage.