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About Colored
Teachers
Associations

Florida

Founded in 1890, the Florida State Teachers Association (FSTA) sought to widen educational opportunities for black children and teachers across the state. With a powerful organization of teachers, administrators, parents, and staff, including key historical figures such as Mary McLeod Bethune, the FSTA fostered ideals of humanity, democratic participation, citizenship, and social responsibility within black schools and their profession. Florida State Teachers merged in 1966 with the Florida Education Association (FEA).

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Florida History

History of the Florida State Teachers Association

by Gilbert L.Porter and Leedell W. Neyland

Published 1977 by the National Education Association of the United States

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Cover image for [not numbered]

Florida State Teachers' Bulletin [not numbered] (gut50000c05502)

Cover image for Vol. 31, No. 1

Florida State Teachers' Bulletin Vol. 31, No. 1 (gut50000c05513)

Cover image for Vol. 31, No. 4

Florida State Teachers' Bulletin Vol. 31, No. 4 (gut50000c05516)

Organization Name

  • Association of Colored Teachers (1890 - 1902)
  • Florida State Teachers Association (1902 - 1966)

Publications

  • Florida Teachers’ Bulletin (1936)
  • Florida State Teachers Bulletin (1937-1943)
  • Bulletin of Florida State Teachers Association (1944-1966)
  • Florida State Teachers' Association newsletter (1965-1966)

Headquarters

449 W. Georgia Street Tallahassee, Florida (1952-1962)

Executive Secretaries

  • Noah W. Griffin (1938-1942)
  • Mrs. A. Hogan Brewer (1942-1945)
  • Charles L. Williams (acting 1945-1946)
  • Shirley W. Curtis (1947-1953)
  • Dr. Gilbert L. Porter (1954-1965)
  • Alvie A.Benton (1965-1966)

Presidents

  • Thomas DeS. Tucker (1890-1998)
  • James Weldon Johnson (1898-1900)
  • George M. Sampson
  • W.H. A. Howard
  • Dr. Nathan B. Young (1907-1910)
  • C. B. Green
  • W. L. McRea
  • Bishop John A. Gregg
  • J. C. Wright (1915-1916)
  • L. C. Jones
  • W. A. Rochelle
  • Mary McLeod Bethune (1919-1920)
  • C. C. Walker (1920-1922)
  • J. N. Crooms (1922-1924)
  • J. C. Wright (1924-1925)
  • R. O’Hara Lanier (1925-26)
  • James A. Espy (1926-1928)
  • Theodore D. Dansby (1928-1930)
  • Charles S. Long (1931-1934)
  • A.J. Polk (1934-1937)
  • Noah W. Griffin (1937-1938)
  • J. L. Williams (1939-1941)
  • Edward D. Davis (1942-1943)
  • Ben D. Griffin (1944-1945)
  • W. E. Combs (1947-1948)
  • Gilbert L. Porter (1948-1950)
  • Samuel O. Cohen (1951- 1952)
  • G. T. Wiggins (1952-1955)
  • James L. Gant (1955-1956)
  • L. D. Land (1956- 1957)
  • Mrs. Irene R. Straughter (1957-1958)
  • W. H. Jackson (1958-1959)
  • James J. Gardner (1959-1960)
  • John J. Hopkins (1960-1961)
  • Cato Roach, Jr. (1961-1962)
  • Samuel Hunter (1962-1963)
  • Cecil W. Boston (1963-64)
  • Alvie A. Benton (1964-1965)
  • Marian H. Shannon (1965-1966)
  • Benjamin Stephenson (1966)

More Resources

Houchen, D. F. (2020). An “Organized Body of Intelligent Agents,” Black Teacher Activism during De Jure Segregation: A Historical Case Study of The Florida State Teachers Association. Journal of Negro Education, 89(3), 267–281. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7709/jnegroeducation.89.3.0267