HOME SECRET MEETING NAACP FSTA DESEGREGATING UF RESOURCES

Throughout the Jim Crow Era, The Florida State Teachers Association remained hidden heroes in the fight for social justice. The powerful association of teachers, administrators, parents, and staff, included luminaries such as Mary McLeod Bethune (Bethune Cookman University), Nathan B. Young (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University), A. Quinn Jones (Lincoln High School, Gainesville, Florida) and thousands of lesser known professionals in rural and urban Black institutions across the state. Despite oppression, inadequate infrastructure, sparse resources, and second class citizenship, the FSTA fostered ideals of humanity, democratic participation, citizenship, and social responsibility within Black schools and their profession. Across the state, Black teachers participated in branch meetings, teacher professional development activities, an annual conference, and yearly principal meetings.

In addition to meetings, conferences, and professional development opportunities, the FSTA published The Bulletin; a journal that was distributed to all members. The Bulletin kept teachers abreast of new developments and abiding issues related to education in the state and nation. In 1966, the FSTA merged with the all-White Florida Education Association (FEA).