GA-JCTS Newsletter
The
newsletter of the Gilmore Academy-Jackson County Training School Alumni
Association, Inc.
Vol.
1 No. 1
September
1996
Roy L Roulhac, Editor
It
Was A Grand Success !!
On December 1, 1995, the Jackson County Training School Reunion
Committee sent out a call to former students, faculty and staff of Gilmore
Academy and Jackson County Training School to attend a July 5-7, 1996,
all-school reunion in Marianna, Florida. Over 600 came from far and near with
spouses, children, grandchildren, friends, and family to witness this historic
event. Recognizing the significance of Gilmore Academy and JCTS in Jackson
County's history, the Mayor and the Jackson County Board of Commissioners
proclaimed July 5-7, 1996, Gilmore Academy-Jackson County Training School
Weekend.
The
weekend included a Get Acquainted Banquet/Dance at the Chipola Fine Arts
Center; a picnic at the last JCTS campus; and a worship service at the 2nd West
Florida Missionary Baptist Association Facility located on the first site of Gilmore Academy. The
reunion was a time for reminiscing. For some, memories were vivid and clear, as
if it were only
yesterday.
Others pretended to remember but could register neither name nor face. For
everyone, it was a chance to get together with longtime
friends
and to renew acquaintances.
Mattie
Belle Fagan Berrian and Linda Darby Jones' leadership and commitment made the
reunion a grand success and a memorable experience.
The
steering committee included: Raymonia Paramore Robinson, Elmer Roger Clay, Gina
Darby Highsmith, Barbara Thompson Johnson, Vema' Black Mack, and Gwen Inez
Swilley Summers. They all deserve our heartfelt appreciation for a job well
done.
The
reunion, however, was more than fun and fellowship. It served as a
unique
opportunity for GA-JCTS alumni to formally organize themselves
and
explore mutual interests and possibilities; We decided to organize a
Gilmore
Academy-JCTS Alumni Association. An association will provide an opportunity;
for alumni to use their collective talents to plan future
reunions,
renew and foster a spirit of camaraderie, and to give something back to Jackson
County. Its success hinges on member support.
The
Idea of an Alumni Association
During
the July 7 worship service at the 2nd West Florida Missionary Baptist
Association, I proposed that we use our homecoming to organize an alumni
association. The idea was heartily supported. Each class selected
representatives to form an interim organizing committee (See enclosed list). I
agreed to explore the formation of an alumni association and review the
articles of incorporation of the Jackson
County
Training School Panther Foundation, Inc., to determine whether
another
organization was necessary.
The
JCTS Panther Foundation, Inc., a Florida business for-profit corporation, was
incorporated October 19, 1990 to:
(1)
grant scholarships; (2) provide assistance in training in /business
administrative
skills; and (3) improve the educational and business aspects of Jackson County.
The foundation was administratively dissolved by the State of Florida, October
11,1991. Although the foundation can be reactivated its existence as a
for-profit corporation does not conflict with the objectives of a non-profit
alumni association. The missions are different.
The
GA-JCTS Alumni Association
The
name of the corporation shall be the Gilmore Academy-Jackson County
Training
School Alumni Association, Inc. The purpose of the GA-JCTS
Alumni
Association is to: (1) support and foster a spirit of camaraderie and community
among former staff, students and faculty of the former
Gilmore
Academy and Jackson County Training School, (2) assemble and
preserve
historical records and memorabilia about the school, its
founder,
former students, staff and faculty; (3) create a database of
Gilmore
Academy-JCTS alumni; (4) broaden professional contacts by
networking
with fellow alumni; (5) sponsor activities that will enhance
feelings
of identity between alumni and the Jackson County community; and (6) such other
purposes as the Board of Directors may authorize. The association can also
coordinate a drive to change rename Marianna Middle School to Gilmore
Academy-JCTS Middle School as proposed at the reunion banquet by a former
student.
Membership
in the alumni association is open to all former GA-JCTS faculty, staff, and
students. Alumni who pay dues by January 15, 1997 will be listed as
incorporators on the Articles of Incorporation that will be filed with
Florida's Department of State in late January 1997.
Association
membership will run from January 1 to December 31, except the first year, the
membership year will run from October 1996 to December 31, 1997. Former staff,
students and staff who pay alumni dues
before December 31, 1997, will be charter members.
Alumni
membership dues shall be $20 per year. Dues will be used to: publish and
distribute a bi-annual newsletter; defray organizational expenses (filing fees,
etc.); provide seed money for the next reunion; create a scholarship fund; and
such other purposes as the interim organizing committee shall direct.
Application
will be made to the State of Florida to become a Florida Non-profit Corporation
before the end of January 1997. Thereafter, application will be made to the
Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status. An interim organizing committee
meeting will be held in Marianna during July 1997 to elect interim officers,
adopt interim by-laws, appoint committee chairs, make plans for the next
reunion, and conduct such other business as may come before the body. The
meeting shall be open to all dues paying members of the GA-JCTS Alumni
Association.
The Gilmore Academy-JCTS
Alumni Association Organizing Committee
1931 1959 1966 1975
Maggie Pender
Atwater Fletcher L
Gibson Linda
Darby Jones Raymonia Paramore
Marianna FL 32448 Plantation FL
33325 Marianna
FL 32448 Robinson
Marianna
FL 32447
1941 1950 Dovie
White Lewis
Willia S Baker Arthur
Graham Marianna
FL 32448 1951
Tallahassee FL 32308 Marianna FL 32447 . Annie
Barkley Roulbac
1974 . Marianna
FL 32446
Johnnie J
Datson 1963 Verna'
Black Mack
St Petersburg FL Dorothy
Adams Harley . Tallahassee FL 32308 Catherine Barkley
Roulhac
1950 . 1949
Lucille J Bentley 1953 Elizabeth
S MeElveen
Lithonia GA 30038 Bonzell
Harrison Ft
Washington MD 20744 1960
Donme
Roulbac
1964 Marianna
FL 32448 Marianna
FL 32446
1978
Mattie B. Fagan Berrian 1961 Sheryl
Johnson MeGriff
Miami FL 33167 Naomi
Harrison Detroit
Ml 48208 1961
Orlando
FL 32818 Roy
Lee Roulhac
1959 1963 Detroit
MI 48208
Shirley Bronson 1970
Evelyn Gant Moore
Marianna FL
32447 Tonia
Pope Hill Tampa FL 3361O 1967
Marianna
FL 32446
Gloria Russ
1944. B Brown 1953 .Marianna
FL 32448
Queen 1975 WillieHazel
Rdlack Morris
Marianna, FL 32448 Gina Darby
Highsmith Opa
Locka FL 33054 1966
Marianna
FL 32448 . . Patricia Speight
Elmore Bryant 1948 . Jacksonville
FL 32208
Marianna FL 32448 Corine
Holland Eldean
S Nichols
Cottanweod
AL Pensacola
FL 32501 1959
1961 Waymon
Speight
Elmer Roger Clay 1965 1957 . Freeport
NY
Marianna FL 32446 Leroy Holland Sarah
Speights Pender
Tallahassee
FL Marianna
Fl 32448 1959
1951 . . Tereather Boykins
White
Eloise Cotman 1968 Curley
Spires Porter Lakeland
FL 33805
Newark NJ 07108 Vivian
Holland Bronx
NY 10473
Riviera
Beach FL 33404 1969
1970 . Eddie L Porter Harvey
Williams
Valaria Wallace Davies 1968 Newark
NJ 07108 Marianna
FL 32446
Marianna Fl. 32447 Catherine Johnson
Tallahassee
FL 32308 1937 Lillie
C. Williams
Marianna
Fl, 32446
Linda 13 Franklin Roberta
Ellis Pressley
Cottondale Fl. 32443 1962 Marianna
FL 32448
Barbara
Thompson Johnson Nellie
Forrest Wilson
1965 Marianna
FL 32446 Mary
Alice B Reeves Marianna
11 32448
Amous Leon Gibson Tallahassee
FL 32301
Lauderhill FL
Food for Thought
The history of African Americans
has been ignored, suppressed and distorted more than any other group. The
627-page book, Jackson County Florida - A History by Jerrell II. Shofner (1985), includes the following
history of Gilmore Academy and Jackson County Training School:
R. T. Gilmore's academy was attended by most of the young blacks of
Marianna in the 1920's and 1930s. It later became the Jackson County Training
School. The Baptist College continued during the period and a few Marianna
blacks started their education career at Cook's Institute at Two
Egg. (p.468).
We must write our own history. GA-JCTS alumni can become
advocates for the preservation of our own Jackson County heritage. We can
correct the distortions and tell the true story of our experience in Jackson
County.