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Selma Daniels: A Pioneer of Black Education in Southwest Florida
About the Presentation
For LaBelle’s Black community there are few people who are as important as Ms. Selma Daniels, the founder of the only school for Black children in the city during the era of Jim Crow. She was a counselor, teacher, and guiding spirit for the community. When reflecting upon her legacy, the editors of the school’s yearbook declared, “Mrs. Selma Daniels is to Daniels Elementary what the late Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune is the Bethune-Cookman College.” Opened in the 1930s, Ms. Daniels worked tirelessly and taught all subjects and all grades from first to sixth. After a couple of years, the superintendent recommended that the school be officially named “Daniels Elementary.” Although Ms. Daniels passed away several decades ago and the school is no longer in operation, her impact on the Fordson/Sunset Park community was undeniable. As Dorothy Johnson explained, “She was the root that made us all sprout.”
This talk will highlight the extraordinary accomplishments of Selma Daniels in providing quality education to the Black community of LaBelle by placing her story in context with the lynching of Henry Patterson just a few years prior to the opening of the Daniels School. Juxtaposing these two stories highlights the struggles faced by Black communities in southwest Florida, but also emphasizes how, despite segregation, disenfranchisement, and violence imposed by Jim Crow laws and customs, Black individuals and communities proved capable of accomplishing incredible things.
This talk will also look at local efforts to preserve the legacy and memory of Selma Daniels.
About the Speaker
Dr. Jett is a Professor of History at Florida Southwest State College in Ft. Myers and a graduate of the University of Florida at Gainesville. He studies the history of crime, violence, and criminal justice in the Jim Crow South.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2187711-0
