Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The effort to designate the Old Howard Academy a National Historic Site passed a major hurdle last week, with the Monticello Historic Design Review Board (HDRB) approving and forwarding the nomination to the Florida Department of State (FDOS) for the next step in the process.
At the HDRB meeting on Monday, April 19, Gladys Roann-Watson, who largely prepared the nomination application, explained the information gathering process, noting the difficulties involved due to the lack of centralized written cultural and
architectural records on the institution.
Ken Watson, for his part, noted that the project had the strong endorsement of Ruben Acosta, who is the survey and registration supervisor with the FDOS, and District 7 State Representative Jason Shoaf, who represents Jefferson County in the Florida Legislature. The designation, Watson argued, would help bring socio-economic development to the county.
Dr. Vivian Hall Royster, meanwhile, offered the possibility of the building serving one day as a museum on African-American history, mentioning the research on educational trends in the area from the 1860s onward that had led to the establishment of the all-black academy.
According to the FDOS Bureau of Historic Preservation, the Florida National Register Review Board will review the Old Howard Academy nomination on May 6. If the application passes muster at this next level, a recommendation for historic designation will be forwarded to the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. for a final review and decision.
Consisting of two wood-frame buildings that were constructed between 1934 and 1940 during Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Old Howard Academy served as the African-American community’s official high school in Jefferson County from 1936 until disintegration largely undermined its purpose in the early 1970s.
Following its closure as a public school, the buildings served for a time as a day-care center and later as home to the Boys and Girls Club. The buildings have been vacant now for years.
The former school is located on Mamie Scott Drive and Chestnut Street. The Howard Academy Educational and Recreational Council Inc. currently owns the property and is leading the effort to restore the building and have it put on the National Register.