The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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E. O. Douglas High School

Located at 835 School Street (now E. O. Douglas Avenue) in Sebring, E. O. Douglas High School was the only public secondary institution open to African American students in Highlands County between the late 1920s and the end of de jure segregation.[mccarthy-african-american-sites]

Because Avon Park’s Hopewell School terminated after eighth grade, every Black student from Avon Park who pursued a secondary education was bused ten miles south along US Highway 27 to attend E. O. Douglas.[mccarthy-african-american-sites][census-1950-ed-28-8]

The Avon Park Connection

Under Article XII, Section 12 of the 1885 Florida Constitution and Florida school statutes, racial segregation was mandatory in all public educational institutions. Rather than construct separate high schools for Black students in each municipality, the Highlands County School Board concentrated secondary resources at a single county-wide facility in Sebring.[mccarthy-african-american-sites][dpi-1930-1932]

For Avon Park’s Black youth, this statutory policy dictated their educational path:

  1. Elementary Schooling at Hopewell: Black children in Avon Park attended the Hopewell School on what is now Ernest E. Sims Street for grades 1 through 8.[maxwell-1976]
  2. County Transportation to Sebring: Upon completing eighth grade, students commuted daily to Sebring on county school buses. In the 1950 federal census for Avon Park (Enumeration District 28-8, sheet 75, lines 7–8), Henry Austin, age 56, was enumerated with his wife Lourenia Austin, age 53, as the public school system’s Black school bus driver (“School bus Driver, City School,” working 40 hours per week).[census-1950-ed-28-8]
  3. Secondary Graduation: Secondary diplomas, vocational certifications, and varsity athletics for all Black students in the county were held exclusively under the auspices of E. O. Douglas High School until desegregation.[mccarthy-african-american-sites]

This administrative structure explains why major league baseball standout and manager Hal McRae—born and raised on Castle Street in Avon Park—is not an alumnus of Avon Park High School.[sabr-mcrae] Avon Park High School strictly barred Black students throughout McRae’s youth; McRae attended Hopewell and graduated from E. O. Douglas High School in the Class of 1963 before enrolling at Florida A&M University.[sabr-mcrae][newssun-arnold-jackson-mccrae-markell][tampa-trib-1991-05-25] Local retrospective claims attributing McRae’s athletic training to Avon Park High School or counting him among APHS alumni are historical errors caused by overlooking the county’s segregated school structure (see Baseball claims to avoid).

Origins and Namesake

The institution evolved from the earlier Sebring Colored School and Highlands County Training School. During the 1931–1932 academic year, the John F. Slater Fund recognized this shared county facility under the hybrid disbursement label “Highlands — Sebring-Avon Park”, reflecting the regional student body transported from both north and south county communities.[dpi-1930-1932]

State educational directories during the 1930s recorded that Highlands County operated only a single consolidated vocational and training program for Black secondary pupils at Sebring, while no secondary school for Black students was established in Avon Park.[dpi-1934-1936]

The school was formally named for Eugene Oren Douglas (1883–1927), a prominent Sebring civic leader, vice president of the Highlands County Bank, and local school board trustee who had supported the establishment of permanent school facilities. The campus occupied parcel lands facing School Street in Sebring’s historic Black neighborhood.

Campus, Principals, and Student Life

Between 1928 and the mid-1940s, the school operated under pioneering Black educators including Claud C. Marion and James Ellerbe. In 1946, Samuel C. Nixon Jr. assumed the principalship, leading the institution for twenty-four years until desegregation in 1970.[mccarthy-african-american-sites] Under Nixon’s administration, substantial masonry additions designed by Lakeland architect William J. Heim were erected to house science laboratories, home economics suites, and a modern gymnasium-auditorium.

The athletic teams competed as the Mighty Tigers in orange and blue within the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association (FIAA), the governing body for segregated Black high school sports. The Tigers established robust traditions in football, track, and baseball. Hal McRae starred for the Tigers’ athletic teams during the early 1960s, while playing during summer months for the semi-pro Avon Park Black Tigers managed by his father Willie James McRae.[sabr-mcrae] The high school’s mascot directly inspired the team name adopted by Avon Park’s community club.

Desegregation and Modern Use

Following the enactment of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and federal desegregation mandates, Highlands County introduced “freedom of choice” transfers in 1966 and completed full integration by 1970.[maxwell-1976]

E. O. Douglas High School ceased operations as an all-Black secondary school at the close of the 1969–1970 academic year. Secondary students from Avon Park were integrated into Avon Park High School, while Sebring students transferred to Sebring High School.

The physical campus was retained by the school district and adapted as the administrative headquarters for the School Board of Highlands County at 426 School Street (later designated E. O. Douglas Avenue). An alumni association and community preservation efforts have maintained historic markers, memorabilia rooms, and campus commemorations honoring the faculty and generations of students from Avon Park, Sebring, and surrounding settlements who passed through its halls.[mccarthy-african-american-sites]

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Kevin M. McCarthy, African American Sites in Florida (2019)
  2. Florida Superintendent of Public Instruction, Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Florida, 1930-1932: Table XV, Disbursed from Slater Fund (1932)
  3. Florida Superintendent of Public Instruction, Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Florida, 1934-1936: high-school directories and vocational funds (1936)
  4. United States Bureau of the Census, 1950 Census population schedules, Florida, Highlands County, enumeration district 28-8 (Avon Park city), sheets 15 and 75 (1950)
  5. Thomas J. Brown Jr., Hal McRae — SABR BioProject (2018)
  6. Highlands News-Sun, Arnold, Jackson, McCrae, Markell and Mundt inducted into Avon Park Champions Club Hall of Fame — Highlands News-Sun (2024)
  7. Tampa Tribune, Royals Name McRae Manager: Avon Park Native Rose Through Segregated Florida Ranks, Tampa Tribune, 25 May 1991, Sports p. 1 (1991)
  8. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976)

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