Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side One: Bryant Academy opened in the 1950-1951 school year, the result of an effort by the Nassau County School Board to provide more adequate schools for African Americans. The school board issued revenue bonds and closed nine existing African American schools in Nassau County. The students were consolidated into three schools, one each in Callahan, Fernandina, and Yulee. The Yulee schools were combined into what would become Bryant Academy, named in honor of its principal, James B. Bryant (1911-2010). The school board selected a 17-acre site and built a new elementary school in 1950. It consisted of 6 classrooms, a cafeteria/assembly room, an administrative suite, and a general facility space. Bryant Academy operated from 1950 to 1969. Per the county’s desegregation plan, the new Nassau County Public School District integrated black and white schools and removed the original names of formerly segregated African American schools. Bryant Academy became Yulee Elementary School, and over time the buildings that had made up the original school were replaced. This marker is a symbol for future generations of the value of Bryant Academy, and schools like it, to the communities they served. Side Two: Bryant Academy (B.A.) embodied the spirit of its principal and namesake, James B. Bryant. It symbolized his passion for education, for shaping the formative years of hundreds of young minds, and instilling in them the value of never giving up until a job is done. Bryant drew support from parents, teachers, and alumni to provide his students with resources such as the only reading improvement machine in the county. This same self-help philosophy was manifested in Bryant’s gathering of several boys from the school to assist him in pouring the concrete for the outdoor basketball court. Families and friends congregated there to cheer on the B.A. Dragons and Dragonettes. Through him, Bryant Academy became a community center where people could gather for operettas, the Miss and Little Miss B.A. pageants, and commencement and graduation ceremonies. Whether dressed in his black and white Oxford shoes, riding around Yulee in his Cadillac, or weaving his motorcycle through the annual Peck High School Parade, Bryant was remembered as a man of gigantic personality and spirit. With his infectious smile and kind and compassionate heart, James B. Bryant touched many lives as an educator, leader, and friend.