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The Buckman Act was a Florida law passed by the state legislature in 1905. It reorganized the state's institutions of higher learning and created a Florida Board of Control to govern the system. The act, named for legislator Henry Holland Buckman, consolidated the state's six institutions of higher education into three: one for white men, one for white women, and one for
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
. Four institutions—
Florida Agricultural College The history of the University of Florida is firmly tied to the history of public education in the state of Florida. The University of Florida originated as several distinct institutions that were consolidated to create a single state-supported un ...
in Lake City (called University of Florida in 1903–1905), the
East Florida Seminary The East Florida Seminary was an institution of higher learning established by the State of Florida in 1853, and absorbed into the newly established University of Florida in 1905. The school operated in Ocala from 1853 until 1861. After being clo ...
in Gainesville, the
St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...
in St. Petersburg, and the
South Florida Military College The South Florida Military and Educational Institute was established in 1895 by Evander M. Law in Bartow, Florida, United States, and is considered one of several predecessors of the University of Florida. It was renamed the South Florida Milit ...
in Bartow—were merged into the new University of the State of Florida for white men. Gainesville was chosen for the location of the new school among several competing cities, and the UF campus opened in 1906. The Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes (the future Florida A&M University) in Tallahassee served
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, and the Florida Female College, later named the
Florida State College for Women Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...
(the future
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
), also in Tallahassee, served white women. A fourth school in
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
provided specialized training and education for the deaf and blind (the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind). The Buckman Act was discontinued after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, when the
GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
provided a college education for returning U.S. military veterans, the overwhelming majority of them male. It was replaced by a Board of Regents. Single-gender provisions of the Buckman Act at the University of Florida (UF) and the Florida State College for Women (FSCW) were officially eliminated in 1947. FSCW returned to coeducational status as
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
, while UF became coeducational for the first time. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes, the future Florida A&M University, taught both genders from its founding. Civil rights efforts and federal legislation in the early 1960s also led to all three institutions becoming racially integrated during that decade, although FAMU remains a historically black university, with over 87% of its student body African-American as of 2014.


References

{{cite book , last1=Armstrong , first1=Orland K. , title=The life and work of Dr. A.A. Murphree , date=1928 , publisher=University of Florida , location=Gainesville, FL , page=41 , url=http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00055592/00001/citation , accessdate=20 April 2019 , language=en 1905 in Florida Education in Florida