City: Oviedo   County: Seminole   Year: 2023
Location: 41 Academy Avenue

Side One: Henry Jackson was one of the first Black homesteaders to settle in the Oviedo area. Jackson was born in 1883 in Mitchell County, Georgia, one of fourteen children. He moved to Florida in 1910. Using the Homestead Act of 1862, which allowed citizens who met all the requirements to claim up to 160 acres, Jackson secured 40 acres on both sides of Long Lake. There, Henry, his wife, Arthier Cummings, and their son, Moses Jackson, grew multiple crops, including potatoes, peas, corn, grapes, and a variety of fruit trees. For 25 years, Jackson led a grubbing crew of up to sixteen men. They used mule-drawn plows to clear trees and stumps from the Black Hammock and Iowa City areas. This led to the rise of celery as a major crop and meant that farmers in the area were no longer reliant on growing citrus as their sole cash crop. Jackson’s property and surrounding area became a predominantly Black settlement. The area was later renamed Jackson Heights to honor Jackson’s legacy as one of the area’s original Black homesteaders. Side Two: In 1949, Stanley T. Muller came to Oviedo and took the position of principal at the Oviedo Negro Elementary School. An army veteran and college graduate, Muller’s prayer was to “work together and move forward.” He would shepherd the school through a tumultuous era. In 1961, students and PTA members recommended renaming the school Jackson Heights Elementary School, after Henry Jackson. On December 8th, the Seminole County School Board agreed. The school had grown from a single classroom to five classrooms with 13 teachers, 416 students, plus a library and cafeteria. Mr. Muller would remain in the position of principal during the 1967-68 integration of all Seminole County schools. In 1971, the school’s name changed once again to become Jackson Heights Middle School for students in grades 6-8. Students in grades 1-5 were reassigned to Lawton Elementary School. Ophelia Jones Moore was one of the first Black teachers in the newly integrated school, and she lived next to it for more than 50 years. She was a native of Oviedo, daughter of George and Rena Belle Jones, and a product of the segregated Oviedo schools.