Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College in World War II

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Historic postcard rendering of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College, now Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

Photo Credit: Florida State Archives

How the former Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College, now Florida A&M University, developed and changed during the war.

The Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (NR listed 1996) began in 1887 as the State Normal College for Colored Students, and in 1909 became the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes. Between 1924 and 1944 the college grew to 48 buildings and 396 acres of land with 812 students and a staff of 122.

The war disrupted life at Florida A&M as many faculty members and students left for military service or higher-paying wartime jobs. James R. Polkinghorne, Jr., was the first Florida A&M student accepted in the Army Air Forces, and the first FAMU student to graduate from the Tuskegee Army Flying School on February 16, 1943. Tragically, his plane was lost during a strafing mission to Sezze and Terracina, Italy in May 1944. 

In 1942, the college constructed a new facility to train war workers. Training at the college’s Division of Mechanical Arts qualified graduates for high paying defense-related jobs, while the Agricultural Division increased production of milk, butter, cream and other foods. The college received university status in 1953.