Famu biography
Famu biography
Famu biography project!
FAMU celebrates its founding
In marking its 128th anniversary, Florida A&M University held its Founders Day convocation Thursday featuring two speakers connected to that history.
Sharing the stage with President Elmira Mangum were Kanei Tucker, the grandnephew of Thomas Desaile Tucker, the first president of the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students (1887-1901), and Katherine Lee, granddaughter of FAMU’s third president, John Robert Edward Lee, Sr.
(1924-1944).
The State Normal College for Colored Students — which would later become FAMU — began classes on Oct. 3, 1887, with 15 students and two instructors, according to university records. In 1884, Thomas Van Renssaler Gibbs, a Duval County educator, was elected to the Florida Legislature.
But before being forced to leave because of segregation, he was instrumental in passing legislation leading to FAMU's creation.
“Being a student of history and knowing when it was established, this is a testament of great