African American history cannot be understood in only one paragraph or one exhibit.
It is vast and expansive, with many layers. It extends into art, culture, lifestyle, gender, and each person, past and present, has their own story to share. Black history is a necessary part of American history, as African Americans have contributed to and shaped this land for over 400 years. As you travel through the exhibit, we encourage you to remember that this is only one facet of that history. Here, you will follow one slice of African American history in Gainesville, but certainly not all of Gainesville’s Black history. Our goal in this particular exhibit is to show the Civil Rights movement in Gainesville, Florida, from the 1960s until the early 70s and how that affected the University of Florida’s racial atmosphere. It is also important to note that while your journey in African American history may begin here, learning that history is a self-sufficient journey. You should investigate and immerse yourself in Black history. You have to go back and dig. This exhibit is a start, but as an individual there is always more work you can do to understand and learn about African American history and culture.
(Photo left): Leader of the Black Students and Teachers Strike, George Murray, at San Francisco State in 1968.
Image courtesy of afrometrics.org
Civil Rights in Gainesville
A note on the first part of this exhibit focused on the Civil Rights Movement in Gainesville
We could never include the entire Civil Rights Movement in Gainesville or its people, as many residents fought for their rights in their own smaller ways. This piece of the exhibit serves as an introduction to the Civil Rights movement in Gainesville and how it began. It is important to remember, however, that the Civil Rights Movement in Gainesville never ended, nor has it anywhere in America. We are still fighting for civil rights today and will continue until every person is treated equally.
“Name and identification.”
These words confronted Black people at the intersection of W. University and 13th Street in Gainesville, Florida in the 1960's. Only Black university students could travel west of 13th after dark. Black community members were restricted from traveling west of the major road.
Many nights, Black people were stopped by an officer at the corner of the intersection. He would pull out a large booklet and flashlight and search various Black faces and names to make sure you were enrolled at the University of Florida. Those whose description matched that of a student were allowed to pass. Those who did not were sent away. This was the Gainesville many Black residents knew; it was a Gainesville still entrenched in its Southern past and racist way of life.
It wasn’t until the desegregation of the University of Florida in 1957 that Black people began gaining access to public spaces with White people. The issue of civil rights was pushed even further with the partial integration of Alachua County's public schools in 1964. Even with these seemingly large strides toward equality, however, social status and lifestyle remained largely unchanged for Black people in Gainesville. In a great show of strength on April 15th, 1971 Black students decided to take a stand in a protest at Tigert Hall on the UF campus. Their interaction with President Stephen O’Connell would change the course of University of Florida forever.
In April 1949, the University of Florida denied admission to Virgil Hawkins and five other Black students. In response to this university decision, one based on race, Hawkins sued. The Supreme Court of the United States ordered UF to immediately integrate in 1957. Unfortunately, Hawkins was not included in this order. Because of the case's duration of nine years, many things had changed during Hawkins’ time in court, including UF’s admission requirements. Instead of pursuing his case further, Hawkins stepped back to allow other Black students the opportunity to qualify for entrance into UF.
In 1963 when Denifield Player and Charles Chestnut, two Black men, were refused service at the whites-only lunch counter Woolworth’s, they took action. They gathered friends and formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council. Their goal was to desegregate Gainesville’s restaurants and movie theaters. Player and Chestnut, who became very active in sit-ins and protests for integration, helped begin the fight for civil rights for Black people in Gainesville.
The College Inn was one of the many restaurants on West University Avenue that refused to serve Black people. In many restaurants in Gainesville, Black residents were forced to use the back door and take their food to go. The College Inn was also one of the main restaurants frequented by UF students. Here, a student demonstration, led by Dr. David Chalmers and White students, is seen protesting against discrimination outside of the establishment.
In addition to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Youth Council, many other local organizations took a stand in Gainesville. In 1963, Gainesville Women for Equal Rights (GWER) was founded by UF faculty member’s wives and other women of the community. According to founding member Beverly Jones, they were founded specifically to address the race problem in Gainesville. The organization was half Black and half White in membership once White women learned how Black women were living. Along with the NAACP, the women of GWER worked to integrate Gainesville. One of their greatest accomplishments was the initial integration of the hospitals, including Alachua County General Hospital.
Places like Lincoln High School, Gainesville’s all-Black high school, existed as a center for the Black community in Gainesville. It was a bright spot of Black pride in a world full of separate, but not equal.
In 1964, ten years after the Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education, Alachua County began to integrate public schools. Eventually this would lead to two identical schools built on the east and west sides of town to serve all students.
After a court order to immediately integrate the schools in 1970, the school board abruptly ordered Lincoln to shut down. This forced Black students to transfer to Gainesville High School in the middle of the school year. The closing of Gainesville’s only Black high school sparked a wave of protests. Local African Americans were angry that they had to move schools and lose a part of their community when Whites did not have to make any changes.
(Photo left): Sandra Scott representing the Lincoln High School band.
Image courtesy of LHS Alumni Association
As Black students entered into Historically White Colleges and Universities (HWCUs), they found themselves lost in a sea of White faces. Not only did these universities lack Black enrollment, but they also did not have courses or social circles that reflected Black culture. With the Civil Rights and Black power movements behind them, these students knew they had to find a way to make academic organizations and White state governors listen. They had to speak up and speak out. They had to make known how difficult it was, silenced in a White world. They had to make a lot of noise.
In 1967, students went on strike at San Francisco State College. The college’s Black Student Union led a school-wide strike for greater resources for minorities and more diversity on campus. Everyday for four months between noon and 3pm, students would get together at the campus’ Speaking Platform and rally before marching to the Administration Building. It was the longest student strike in United States history.
The student march on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus on February 11, 1969, marked the start of what we know as the Black Campus movement. On February 13, 1969, protests erupted at universities all over the country in participation with the Black Campus Movement. Black students stormed their universities and protested for recognition. Their voices were loud and clear: we demand equality in our education.
(Photo left): A Black Student Union leader speaks to a crowd during a protest in December 1968. The actual location is not known. Image courtesy of the Associated Press
The University of Florida in 1970
“Blacks are so few on campus they can identify only as Black students... to be Black is to be different, it sets you apart from the vast majority of students at the university”
In 1970, there were only 341 Black students out of an enrollment of 22,253. Outside of the university, the rest of Florida stood firm against integration. Florida Governor Claude Kirk threatened to suspend local education officials if they followed integration. Florida had already stalled integration for 16 years after the Supreme Court order.
Not only were there such a small number of other Black students at UF, but the campus itself was unwelcoming. In these photos, students from the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity take part in "Plantation Balls." These annual events were held to celebrate southern pride and values of the slave period. The balls featured typical southern attire of the slavery time period with women in frilly hoop skirts and men in Confederate uniforms. At some universities, these balls took to the streets of campus, where Confederate-style soldiers could be seen riding horseback and waving the Confederate flag.
Despite UF's rigid racial structure and White atmosphere, Black students created their own spaces. In 1968, Black students established the Black Student Union (BSU). Their goal was to use their knowledge of Black Power movements to create an equal environment for Black students at UF. Black students also relied on the Black Gainesville community for support and guidance.
(Photo right): From the 1970 UF yearbook that shows how Black students found safe spaces in a Predominantly White Institution. Image from the Matheson History Museum Photo Collection
In 1969, President Stephen C. O’Connell began his presidency by creating the University Demonstration Policy. This policy allowed for protests as long as they did not disrupt daily campus life or take place in a university building. Students who violated it were first asked to leave. If they didn’t, Campus Police removed them. President O’Connell would later use this policy in his arrest of students at Black Thursday.
Black Thursday
On May 28th, 1970, BSU submitted a list of 10 suggestions to create more diversity at UF. For months they heard nothing back. Asking permission wasn't working. Finally, they decided they had to find a way to make the administration hear them. It was time to demand.
Image courtesy of University Florida Archives, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl.
Around 10a.m. on April 15th, 1971, 50 to 60 Black students walked into President O’Connell’s office where he was speaking to another student and handed him a note. “We as black students at the University of Florida demand a black cultural centre as specified by the black cultural committee,” it read. “We are here to obtain a definite and written commitment from you now!”
Image courtesy of University Florida Archives, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl.
Black students in protest came in two more groups, the second of which staged a sit-in at President O’Connell’s office. After 35 to 40 minutes of the non-violent demonstration, President O’Connell asked the students to leave once more. They refused and were promptly suspended and arrested. The whole incident lasted almost two hours.
(Photo right): Kip Smith speaking at Black Thursday protest. Image courtesy of University Florida Archives, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl.
300 students, Black and White, gathered at Tigert Hall to confront President O’Connell and the unjust arrest of the Black students at Black Thursday. The chant “O’Connell’s got to go” roared in defiance upon their arrival at Tigert Hall, where some students proceeded to occupy the building while others kept the energy up outside. Black Thursday saw the banding together of Black faculty and students, along with their White allies.
Outcomes
We declare to Black students in this state and nation that the University of Florida does not want you... Florida bid thee farewell.
Three students withdrawing from the University of Florida following Black Thursday. 123 Black students in total left UF. Two Black faculty members also resigned from the university. In their withdrawal statement, the Black Student Union mentioned that “Florida has failed us” and warned other Black students that “the University of Florida does not want you.”
Image courtesy of University Florida Archives, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl.
One of the greatest outcomes to come out of Black Thursday was the establishment of the Institute of Black Culture in February 1972. Other advancements included a plan to bring on six Black faculty members in the Fall of 1971. Also, there was money in the 1971 to 1972 school budget designated for minority needs. Finally, a new form of recruitment used Black newspapers and radio programs to reach more Black students in Florida.
Gainesville and UF today
Black Thursday inspired students to fight for civil rights both on campus and off. Student activism in partnership with the community over many years shows that the fight for civil rights is a marathon, not a sprint.
The murder of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, two Black men, and the murder of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, in the summer of 2020 caused a wave of marches and protests in Gainesville in solidarity with these families. Many students found comfort in these local protests for racial justice. The diverse community created at these demonstrations proved that in the face of injustice, students will speak up and show up.
Black Thursday stands today as a powerful emblem of Black power and student activism. It shows the influence students have to create change. Following the infamous summer of 2020 came many changes at UF. New initiatives to make students of color feel more comfortable on campus began. Change takes time, but students continue demanding accountability and progress. One of the main methods is through petitions and demands. This is the most recent list of demands made in June 2020 by the Black Student Union.
Black Thursday taught us that students will not give up the fight for justice. Today students continue to demand UF remove President O’Connell’s name, as well as the names of other controversial figures, from buildings on campus. With no commemoration of Black Thursday at the university, it is important to honor the event in some way. Many believe changing the name of the O'Connell Center is the best way to do this. Others believe a physical marker of what happened at Black Thursday is better. No matter the solution, we must continue to remember its significance and pass the story on to others. That way, the efforts and spirit of those students at Black Thursday forever lives on.
(Photo left): Poster outside UF's Library West in 2015. Photo courtesy of Dr. Steven Noll
Acknowledgments
This exhibition is dedicated to the brave students who participated in the protests at Black Thursday, those 66 students arrested, and those members in the larger community then and now continuing the fight for civil rights in Gainesville.
Thank you to those who have shared their oral histories, and those community members and UF students who shared their wisdom with us for this exhibit. Specifically, thank you to Mrs. Vivan Filer, Dr. Betty Stewart- Fullwood, Aeriel Lane, Sherise Tracey, and Nathalie Turenne.
Thank you to the State Archives of Florida and the Department of Special & Area Studies Collections at George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida for opening their collections to us. In addition, thank you to the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program and The Independent Florida Alligator for allowing us to access their countless archives of Gainesville history.
Curator: Alana Gomez
Graphic Designer: Suzanne Gentilhomme
This exhibition has been sponsored in part by funding from Visit Gainesville – Alachua County, FL; The City of Gainesville; and the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council of the Arts and Culture, and the State of Florida.