Building Bridges Oral History Project

Collection Items

• Herbert L. Mackey Sr. 2021 Oral History

  Biographical Note
  Herbert Mackey, the son of Bahamian parents, was raised in New Monrovia, Florida, during the 1940s and 1950s. One of ten children, he recalls his childhood and the practical skills of subsistence fishing and hunting, including catching rabbits, sea turtles, and gophers. His first job, taken on as a young boy, was picking beans. Mr. Mackey’s father worked as a gardener and landscaper on Jupiter Island, and his mother was a housekeeper; both also labored in the agricultural fields whenever seasonal work was available.

  Scope Note
  In this interview, Mr. Mackey offers a vivid portrait of his family and the everyday experiences of the Black community in Martin County during the Jim Crow era. He reflects on the gradual and uneven process of desegregation following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, sharing a heartfelt narrative of resilience, dignity, and community cohesion. He describes learning his alphabet in Sunday school and beginning first grade at age five in the one-room schoolhouse for Black children in Salerno, Florida, where he studied through sixth grade. In 1949, he transitioned to Stuart Training School for his middle and high school education. Toward the end of the interview, Mr. Mackey warmly sings two songs from his cherished high school days, expressing deep admiration for his teachers and principals, and recalling the pride and excellence embodied by the Stuart Training School marching band.

  Transcription and consent form available

  Click here to listen to interview and access transcription on archive.org

  Click here to listen to interview on the University of Florida’s Digital Collection

  Tags Oral history

• Loretta Bradley 2021 Oral History

  Biographical Note
  Loretta Mackey Bradley grew up in Port Salerno, Martin County, Florida, where she attended the Salerno Colored Schoolhouse and later Stuart Training School in Stuart, Florida.

  Scope Note
  Loretta Mackey Bradley recalls her childhood growing up in Port Salerno, Martin County, and her early education at the Salerno Colored Schoolhouse. She reflects on her family’s Bahamian heritage and describes life in her household, including her parents’ occupations and her own first job. Mrs. Bradley offers a vivid account of the Salerno schoolhouse—its layout, daily routines, and the guidance of her teacher, Costella Williams. She remembers using hand-me-down textbooks from nearby White schools and being required to sing racist “Dixie songs,” experiences that reveal both the inequalities and resilience of Black education during segregation. She goes on to discuss her later schooling at Stuart Training School, her career path, and other aspects of community life in Martin County. Through her stories, Mrs. Bradley provides an important personal perspective on education, labor, and everyday life for African Americans in mid-twentieth-century Florida.

  Transcription and consent form available

  Click here to listen to interview and access transcription on archive.org

  Click here to listen to interview on the University of Florida’s Digital Collection

  Tags Oral history

• Agnes Anderson Duncombe 2021 Oral History

  Biographical Note

  Agnes Anderson Duncombe (born 1934) is a lifelong resident of Port Salerno, Florida, and a former student of the Salerno Colored Schoolhouse. Born into a working-class African American family with Bahamian and North Florida roots, Duncombe grew up in New Monrovia during segregation. She attended the one-room Salerno Colored Schoolhouse and later Stuart Training School, where she completed her secondary education. As a young person, she participated in migrant agricultural labor alongside her family, traveling seasonally to the Everglades and to Fishkill, New York. Duncombe later trained as a cosmetologist in Miami and remained deeply connected to her community, church, and family history. Her father was an active advocate for education and school integration in Martin County.

  Content Description

  In this oral history interview, Agnes Anderson Duncombe reflects on her childhood, education, and work experiences as an African American woman growing up in Port Salerno, Florida, during segregation. She provides a detailed account of attending the Salerno Colored Schoolhouse, describing the physical layout of the one-room school, daily routines, curriculum, discipline, and the central role of Black teachers in nurturing students academically and morally. Duncombe emphasizes the importance of community support, church-based early education, and the values instilled by educators who prepared students to navigate a racially segregated society.

  The interview also explores Duncombe’s family history, including her father’s migration from the Bahamas, her parents’ involvement in community life, and her father’s advocacy for school integration. She recounts experiences of seasonal and migrant labor, including agricultural work in the Everglades and extended summer work trips to Fishkill, New York, undertaken to support her family financially. Beginning later in the interview, Duncombe offers a powerful firsthand account of local resistance to school integration and the broader impacts of Jim Crow policies on Black education and opportunity in Martin County.

  Interview conducted 2021-09-22 by Lloyd Jones with Philip Harvey. Transcription and consent form available. Format: mp3; length: 1:30:54

  • Click here to listen to interview and access transcription on archive.org
  • Click here to listen to interview on the University of Florida’s Digital Collection

  Tags Oral history

• William Butch Blatch 2021 Oral History

  Biographical note:

  William S. “Butch” Blatch was born in 1949 in Trenton, New Jersey, to Emma Mackey Blatch and a family descended from Bahamian settlers who migrated north from Jupiter Island for work. Raised in Port Salerno, Florida, His grandfather, William E. Blatch, was among the earliest Black settlers in Martin County, purchasing land in 1914 and establishing a farm along the St. Lucie River. The Blatch family became foundational members of the Port Salerno and New Monrovia communities. He attended the local Salerno Colored School from first through third grade beginning in 1955 before going on to Stuart Training School. 

  Abstract:

  Blatch vividly recalls his teacher, Costella Williams, and the inequality of receiving hand-me-down textbooks discarded by White schools. Mr. Blatch also discusses his grandfather’s farm, the origins of the Black cemetery in Port Salerno, and his experience of segregation and integration. He remembers how, under Jim Crow laws, Black residents in his community avoided walking along Highway A1A due to threats of racial violence, instead following the train tracks to reach grocery stores—yet still enduring slurs from passing drivers. He also recalls that during World War II, Black soldiers received basic training at Camp Murphy in Jupiter, Florida. Mr. Blatch describes the 1950s community in Salerno as close-knit and unpaved. He shares family histories, including colorful stories of buried loot on his grandfather’s property, and reflections on local places such as Fruita, Florida. The conversation concludes with his memories of enduring racial segregation in Florida through the 1970s.

  Interview conducted 2021-09-09 by Lloyd Jones and Philip Harvey. Transcription and consent form available on menu. Format: mp3, 1:31:07 in length

  • Click here to listen to interview and access transcription on archive.org
  • Click here to listen to interview on the University of Florida’s Digital Collection

  Tags Oral history
• 

  Marian McKinney Carpenter 2021 Oral History

  Biographical Note:

  Marian McKinney Carpenter, born in 1933 in Port Salerno, Florida, is a former principal of Port Salerno Elementary School and a longtime member of the Martin County School Board. She grew up in the New Monrovia community as the twelfth of twelve children in a family deeply rooted in local education, ministry, and healthcare—her mother, Margaret Josephine Pottier McKinney, was a midwife, and her father, Melvin McKinney, was a minister and farmer. From an early age, Carpenter aspired to be a teacher, inspired by the educators in her community. She pursued this vocation throughout her life, shaping generations of students, supporting adult education programs, and maintaining strong ties to her family and community.

  Scope note:

  In this oral history, Carpenter recounts her experiences attending a one-room schoolhouse in Port Salerno, reflecting on the close relationships between students, families, and teachers. She shares vivid memories of influential educators, including Costella Williams and Margaret Richardson Singleton, and describes the multi-grade teaching format, which allowed students to observe and learn from different grades. Carpenter recalls classroom routines, discipline, and the arrival of new books, illustrating a nurturing educational environment grounded in community and church values. She emphasizes how these experiences fostered responsibility, respect, and a love of learning among students.
  
  Carpenter also reflects on her early life, family, and formative influences. She describes growing up in a large household, playing teacher as a child, and receiving books as gifts, which fostered her literacy and teaching aspirations. She shares experiences in Sunday school, where she learned reading, moral lessons, and community values, as well as her later involvement in adult education programs, helping local adults earn high school diplomas. Throughout the interview, Carpenter highlights the importance of education, mentorship, and community support, providing insight into the history of schooling in Port Salerno and her lifelong commitment to teaching and public service.

  Transcription and consent form available.

  • Click here to listen to interview and access transcription on archive.org
  • Click here to listen to interview on the University of Florida’s Digital Collection

  Tags Oral history