Florida Black Public Officials 1867-1924 - A Book Review
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Florida's Black Public Officials 1867-1924 - A Book Review
By Spessard Stone
Formerly it has been maintained that following Reconstruction blacks in the South, except in selected federal appointments and all-black towns, were virtually excluded from serving in public offices.
Dr. Canter Brown, Jr. in his latest book, Florida's Black Public Officials 1867-1924, refutes that concept with a history of black office holders in Florida from Reconstruction to 1924, with the conclusion that nearly 1,000 served.
The post Civil War policies of President Andrew Johnson virtually rescinded blacks' voting rights with the effect former secessionists and their allies soon controlled most of the South.
The Radical Republicans countered in 1867 with Reconstruction, which empowered blacks, Southern loyalists and carpetbaggers.
In Florida, carpetbaggers, such as Thomas W. Osborn and Marcellus L. Stearns, early organized Middle Florida freedmen into the Lincoln Brotherhood, while at Fernandina a more radical Union League was founded.
The blacks found leaders in their ministers in Baptist and AME churches, with the latter being most effective with such men as presiding elder Charles H. Pearce and Robert Meacham.
Another mainstay was the former noncommissioned officers in the USCT, e.g., John Wallace, Josiah T. Walls and Henry S. Harmon.
Brown provides insightful analysis of the various factions within the Republican Party, from the scandal-plagued administration of carpetbagger Harrison Reed to the harmonious one of loyallist Ossian B. Hart to the troubled Stearns tenure.
But these were contentious times and strife developed between the black leadership and the carpetbaggers, while federal civil service reforms forced many to vacate state positions. Then in 1877 Redemption steadily reduced black power.
Brown demonstrates blacks did not quietly fold their tents. While the churches turned inward spiritually, a second generation of more educated professionals took the helm.
Although as late as 1885 four black senators and fifteen representatives served, the coalition with loyalists and carpetbaggers had almost dissipated and black solons had come to expect little and had turned more conservative with their energies largey focused on temperance.
There was, however, a refuge in the towns, especially the older locales of Pensacola, Cedar Keys, Key West, Lake City, and in the east, Gainesville, Palatka, Jacksonville, LaVilla, St. Augustine, Fernandina, where blacks held various elected offices.
Wide-scale disenfranchisement began in 1885 with the policies of Governor Edward A. Perry, and blacks, already split over deferring to carpetbaggers, found a shortlived success with the Knights of Labor, but Democrats countered in 1889 with new laws which effectively restricted blacks from voting.
Resistance continued with some blacks still perserving in various municipalities, but by 1924 the locals had been silenced except in all-black towns.
All interested in this legacy of service will find Black Officials an invaluable source book of achievement when blacks were on trial under most discriminating times.
Black Officials contains 270 pages, with a Biographical Directory of 601 officials and an appendix of office holders, notes and numerous photographs.
It can be obtained for $22.50 for soft cover or $44.95 for hardcover from Tampa Bay History Center, 225 S. Franklin St., Tampa, FL 33602 or call 1-813-228-0097.
This review was originally published in The Herald-Advocate (Wauchula, Fla.) of September 24, 1998.
March 23, 2001 & October 17, 2001