Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
Februry 4, 2016 11:00 a.m.
In recognition and celebration of African-American History Month, at the February 2, 2016 Fernandina Beach City Commission meeting, Fernandina Beach Mayor Johnny Miller read a proclamation honoring Peck High School as one of the few remaining Florida schools built with money from the Rosenwald Fund.
In the proclamation, Miller extolled the valuable and lasting contributions of African Americans to our country, state and city. He recapped the history of formal African-American education in Fernandina Beach dating back to the establishment of a Freedmen’s Bureau school in 1863. In 1880, a group of men led by H.B. Delaney petitioned for a permanent “Negro School,” and the original “Colored School No. 1” opened on N. 11th Street in 1884. It served the community until 1927, when a new facility opened on S. 10th Street. That school was subsequently named Peck High School after William H. Peck, a long-time principal and great champion of African-American education in Fernandina Beach.
Peck High School was built in part with money from the Rosenwald Fund, a philanthropic program funded by Julius Rosenwald of Sears Roebuck. During the early 20th century, that fund built 5,300 schools for African-American students in the South. Today Peck High School is known as the Peck Center and continues to serve as an important cornerstone for the city.
Mr. Neil Frink and members of the Peck Alumni Association group accepted the city Proclamation. Frink thanked the city and reminded the audience that African-American achievements and contributions are part of American history, not just African-American history. He gave special thanks to Community Development Director Adrienne Burke, whom he termed “an angel,” for helping to develop a month of programs centering on Peck High School, the Rosenwald schools, and preserving local African-American history.
The city of Fernandina Beach has partnered with the Amelia Island Museum of History, the Nassau County Public Library-Fernandina Beach Branch, the Friends of the Fernandina Beach Library, and the National Center for Jewish Film to host a series of events this February regarding Peck High School and the Rosenwald Fund. Events for African-American History Month are listed below. They are all free of charge and open to the public.
