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On March 2, 1962, Tallahassee Reverend Charles Kenzie Steele, President of the Inter-Civic Council, and four other parents filed a class-action suit in federal district court against the Leon County School Board. The plaintiffs charged the board with illegally operating a dual school system. The case moved through the federal court system for seven years, until December 12, 1969, when the Federal Appeals Court ordered the Leon County School Board to submit a desegregation plan by February 1, 1970, for the complete desegregation of the schools in Leon County.
On February 18, 1970, Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk, Jr. released a statement for all district boards of public instruction in Florida to re-evaluate their desegregation plans to determine their conformity with the Fifth Circuit Court decision in Ellis v. The Board of Public Instruction of Orange County, and to submit new plans is necessary. By September 1970, Leon County schools were fully desegregated.
During this time, two men served as Superintendent of Leon County Schools: Amos P. Godby (ca. 1945 to 1964) and Freeman W. Ashmore (1964-1972).
Summary:
This collection consists of records documenting school desegregation in Florida and the stance of the Leon County Board of Public Instruction regarding this issue. The records also document the division between Black and white schools throughout Florida prior to desegregation, primarily in Leon County, Palm Beach County, Escambia County, and Orange County. The collection consists primarily of court documents, correspondence, minutes, resolutions, and proposals related to Florida's school desegregation issues and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The collection also includes correspondence and court documents relating to Reverend Charles Kenzie Steele, president of Tallahassee's Inter-Civic Council, and correspondence of Leon County School Superintendents Amos P. Godby and Freeman W. Ashmore.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
For more records on Clifford N. Steele, et al. v. Board of Public Instruction of Leon County, Florida, et al., see FSU Special Collections - MSS 2004-04 Kent Spriggs Papers, 1963-1976 (3 boxes).
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Collection was mailed anonymously to the State Archives. There is no indication of the origins of this collection.
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Ashmore, Freeman. Godby, Amos P. Kirk, Claude R., 1926- Steele, C. K. 1914-1980. (Charles Kenzie),
Leon County Schools (Fla.) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. United States. Supreme Court. United States. District Court (Florida : Northern District)
Civil rights Florida Courts Florida Desegregation in education. Educational equalization Florida Educational law and legislation Florida Race discrimination Florida Segregation Florida Segregation in education Florida
Acts of the legislature. Judicial records. aat Legal instruments. aat Letters. aat Minutes. aat Resolutions. aat
Florida. Escambia County (Fla.) Palm Beach County (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.)
for detailed listing.