ELIZABETH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The Elizabeth School, a three-room, vernacular shingle-clad building , was a school for black students on Groover Road in 1938 and was funded by parents and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Miles Edward Groover (1887- 1966) and his wife, Daisy Black Groover (1889-1984) donated two acres of land to the Jefferson Co. Board of Public Instruction, now the Jefferson Co. Public School District. Groover, who began teaching public school in 1902, is listed in the 1915 Florida Education Directory as principal at a monthly salary of $20. The Groover’s daughter, Doris Groover Herring (1918-2006), also taught at the school. Daisy’s sister, Mamie Black Scott (1892-1970), was district supervisor of Negro Schools and later Supervisor of Negro Education (1927-1962). Her salary was provided by the Anna T. Jeanes Foundation. (Anna T. Jeanes had set aside one million dollars to fund a program for fostering education in small, African-American rural schools.) Three teachers staffed the school, one as both principal and teacher. The school once educated students in 12 grades, but when student transportation began in 1949, grades included only 1-6 and continued until it closed in 1964.