This timeline situates the founding of the Rollins College Black Student Union (BSU) within the greater national narrative around desegregation, the emergence of the Black Power movement, and the formation of the Black Panther Party (BPP). It is intended to encompass a long span of history (100 years) for the purposes of showing just how… Read More The Rollins Black Student Union and Black Awareness Week
This digital timeline looks at the creation and activity of the Inter-Racial Club (Race Relations Committee) of Rollins College, created c. 1939 and active until the late 1970s. This club was created during the Hamilton Holt Presidential era at Rollins, had support from faculty and administration, and was dedicated to discussing issues about race and… Read More The Role of the Rollins Race Relations Committee
Following the The Supreme Court decision to mandate the integration of public schools in the landmark Brown v. the Board of Education case (1954), colleges across the country slowly began integrating their campuses and sports programs. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Sunshine State Conference (SSC), the Florida-based collegiate sports conference that Rollins College holds membership in,… Read More Rollins’ First Generation of African American Athletes
The town of Winter Park experienced many of the social and economic impacts of the Civil War’s reconstruction era. During that time, despite African Americans gaining freedoms through multiple constitutional amendments, Jim Crow laws allowed for segregation and discrimination to occur. A vote for incorporation to make Winter Park a city failed due to a… Read More Gus Henderson and Early Civil Rights Activism in Winter Park
The name, Hannibal, derives as a tribute to the Carthaginian general who led the Carthage military against the Romans in the Second Punic War. Widely considered throughout history as a great military mind, Hannibal demonstrated resilience in the face of his lighter skinned, Mediterranean foes. As tribute to the triumphs of the Carthaginian Empire under the… Read More Hannibal’s Resilience: The Fight Against Gentrification in West Winter Park
By tracing the establishment and activity of the Rollins Black Student Union in its first five years of existence, approximately 1969 to 1976, it is possible to see the organization’s efforts and achievements in connecting with the national civil rights movement and creating a positive environment for Black students at Rollins College. The record of… Read More The Formation of the Black Student Union at Rollins
Towards the end of World War II and into the mid 1950s, the United States was accelerating towards the peak of the Civil Rights Movement. As tensions built, communities, often through the known avenue of philanthropy, were actively navigating issues of disparity and prejudice for the first time. On a local level, Rollins College was reacting to racial issues and disparities… Read More Winter Park Philanthropy and the Rollins College Race Relations Committee (1943-1955)
Rollins administrators and faculty maintained close connections with leading black educational institutions in the state, like Bethune-Cookman University and the Hungerford Vocational School of Eatonville. Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) was a celebrated early African American educator and the founder of Bethune-Cookman College (founded in 1904), a still successful HBCU located in nearby Daytona, Florida. After… Read More Early Leaders in Black Education
The integration of black athletes into American sports was a pivotal moment in the fight for racial equality. The success of iconic black athletes such as Jackie Robinson and Bill Russell made sports integration a popular movement, and by 1960 white and black athletes were playing professional sports on the same team and in front… Read More Integrating Rollins Sports Teams
While Rollins College and the city of Winter Park were founded around the same time and with similar values, when it came to the Civil Rights movement these two community partners were often in conflict with one another. Using the archival record as a window into three local controversies, I explore here the sometimes extremely… Read More Campus and Community Controversies