Crooms Collection

Item set

Title

Crooms Collection

Description

The Joseph Nathaniel Crooms Papers consist of documents related to Crooms Academy named for J.N. Crooms, whose parents were slaves on a Tallahassee area plantation, and who, along with his wife, Wealthy Mabel Crooms, started the school Crooms Academy and were its first principal and assistant principal respectively. The Crooms Academy began operation in 1920 and until 1970, the Crooms Academy during the same time Bethune Academy was established. Mr. Crooms worked with Mary McLeod Bethune as members of the Welricha Corp., which owned a beach front motel and restaurant on Bethune-Volusia Beach, as well as the Florida Negro Teachers Association. By the advent of his death, Mr. Crooms was considered a pioneer for black education in the state of Florida.

Physical Location

Crooms Collection, John G. Riley House Archives, Tallahassee State Collegee Library, Tallahassee, Florida.

Items

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Letter from Mary McLeod Bethune to J. N. Crooms, November 15, 1923

A typed letter from Mary McLeod Bethune, on Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute letterhead, to J. N. Crooms. The letter concerns a possible meeting of teachers in Daytona Beach.
Letter from Richard V. Moore to Wealthy Crooms, December 6, 1966

A typed letter and accompanying envelope from Richard Moore, president of Bethune Cookman College, to Wealthy Crooms. In it, Moore thanks Crooms for her letter enclosing $100 for the J. N. Crooms Memorial Scholarship, to be given to a "worthy, promising young woman."
Letter from J. N. Crooms to Various Representatives, April 20, 1953

Three typed letters from J. N. Crooms to various politicians representing Seminole County in the Florida Legislator, including Mack Cleveland Jr., Volie Williams Jr., and Lloyd Boyle, two representatives and a senator respectively. In the letters, Crooms asks each one to support legislation that would raise teachers' salaries.
Letter to T. W. Lawton, August 11, 1952

A letter to T. W. Lawton and the Seminole County School Board. Though it is not explicitly confirmed, the letter is almost certainly written by J. N. Crooms. In it, Crooms discusses the roles he fills as principal, and argues that his salary does not match the amount of work he does for the school.
Letter from J. N. Crooms to Registrar Therpe, July 17, 1950

A typed letter from J. N. Crooms to "Registrar Thorpe" of FAMC, regarding the credits for a student named Dave Wright, and Crooms' ultimate recommendation that Wright be accepted.
Letter from J. N. Crooms to Seminole County School Board, June 26, 1950

A typed letter from J. N. Crooms to the Seminole County School Board regarding a proposition from Crooms to sell lands adjoining the current site of Crooms Academy, and the finances related to that purchase.
Letter from J. N. Crooms to State Department of Education, September 3, 1949

A typed letter from J. N. Crooms to the State Department of Education regarding his Graduate State Certificate.
Letter from J. N. Crooms to G. L. Porter, April 26, 1949

A typed letter from J. N. Crooms to G. L. Porter, principal of Lincoln High School, expressing his well wishes for Mrs. Porter, who appears to be ill. Crooms also discusses the upcoming groundbreaking for the new Crooms Memorial Library.
Letter from J. N. Crooms to R. V. Moore, March 9, 1948

A typed letter from J. N. Crooms to R. V. Moore, president of Bethune Cookman College, congratulating Moore on his inauguration and plans to visit with his family.
Letter from J. N. Crooms to Joe Hall

A typed letter from J. N. Crooms to Joe Hall, of the State Department of Instruction, regarding a disagreement about Crooms' certification of college credits.