POLK COUNTY, Fla. — At a time when black children had few options for a good education, a Polk County school proved to be a godsend.
- Polk County school earns historical recognition
- Union Academy opened in 1897
- School created to advance black education in the south
Union Academy was born out of a collaboration between a 19-century black educator and a wealthy white businessman. District 2 Commissioner Jan Parham briefly attended the school but knew nothing about its background.
“My family had just moved here from Winter Haven so l didn’t have any history of the school,” Parham said. “The teachers that were here were like neighborhood teachers. The teachers knew the students, the students knew the teachers, so they were invested.”
Union Academy was the result of a successful pilot program funded by Julius Rosenwald, the then-president of Sears and Roebuck, to advance black education throughout the rural south at a time when segregation and discrimination was written into law.
Noted Educator and Author Booker T. Washington partnered with Rosenwald in that effort. In total, nearly 5,000 schools were built, five of which were in Polk County. Union Academy opened in 1897.
“We had the president of Sears and Roebuck and Booker T. Washington actually cry out and say we want African-American children to have all of the same things that white students have,” said Maria Trippe, curator for the Polk County History Center.
Over the years, Union Academy went from an elementary school to a middle school. But its history remains largely unknown. That's why commissioner Parham spearheaded an effort to get a historical marker placed on the property. The alumni association came on board and agreed to pay for the marker.
“I was just really excited about it,” she said.
A date for the installation of the marker has not been set.
This is the second Rosenwald school to have a historical marker placed on its campus. Fruitlands Institute in Lake Alfred had one installed last June.