Page 42 - Florida Sentinel 2-4-22

Black History: The History Behind The Names
Public Schools No Longer In Existence
George S. Middleton
was a businessman and civic leader, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on July 10, 1879. Middleton arrived in Tampa in 1900, and became a boarder with the Isaac Howard family.
With the assistance of Howard, Middleton be- came employed as a post- man. In 1909, he became the President of the Negro State Fair Association.
In 1914, Middleton helped to organize the Tampa Negro Board of Trade. In 1917, he married Margaret Jane Howard, the daugh- ter of his benefactor, Isaac Howard. In 1922, he helped to organize the Central Life Insurance Company.
George S. Middleton July 10, 1879-- November 19, 1933
In 1926, Middleton joined in the founding of the Tampa Service Club and the Black community’s Young Men’s Christian Association.
Middleton served as the secretary of the insurance company from 1922 until 1933. In 1928, he also be- came the treasurer of the company.
He involved himself in var- ious other endeavors in the community. George S. Middleton died on Novem- ber 19, 1933. His wife re- mained in their home at 206 Scott Street until her death on April 14, 1959. The couple didn’t have any children.
The construction of a new high school for African Amer- ican students was completed in 1935 and named in honor of George S. Middleton.
A new school at a new lo- cation opened in 2000 bear- ing his name.
Middleton High School
Christine Meacham Elementary School
Meacham Elementary School opened in 1954, near downtown Tampa and on the edge of the Central Park Public Housing Complex. It was the largest African
American Elementary School in the district. Its name honored Mrs. Christine Meacham, an educator who served as an educator for several years.
Dobyville Elementary School
Black businessman Richard Cornelius Doby, do- nated the land for Dobyville School, a segregated public fa- cility for African Americans. The school closed in 1966.
Glover Elementary School
Glover Elementary School opened in 1878, on land donated by Alfred Beal, whose mother was one of the original settlers of Bealsville. It honors William Glover, an African American who re- cruited Joe Mathis to serve as the school’s first teacher.
Glover was born about
1814, in South Carolina. After the Civil War, Glover moved his family to the area known as Bealsville, where they owned forty acres of land.
William Glover died in 1894. The school remained in existence until it was closed by the Hillsborough County School District in 1981.
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