The Faith of the Blind Coach. Nathaniel Farley Jr.
All Odds
Coach Small was not born “blind,” but lost his sight in the mid-50s and continued teaching and coaching until he retired in 1975. He overcame a medical condition that caused him to begin losing his eyesight, but not lose his sight of teaching and coaching.
He refused to give into this illness and misfortune. After I saw what he had accomplished before I arrived at New Stanton Senior High School and what he accomplished the three years I was there, the only title this book could have been called is, “The Faith of The Blind Coach.” During my three years, I was taught and learned so much under him, so much that he trusted me to be his eyes on the football field my last two years, because his eyesight had begun to get worse. As the word of God says, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, King James Bible).
He was a motivator to me and others. The scripture stated in Philippians 4 verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (The Amplified Bible).
Because of the determination and motivation to continue teaching and coaching, I knew he was the coach and mentor for me. I wanted to emulate him if I became a teacher and coach. He believed education was first, then athletics was second (student athletes), then, and only then, he believed you can become a provider for your family and become a positive adult seeking a career in either sports, a professional job, or as an entrepreneur in life.
A Brief History of Stanton High School
In order for readers to understand the phenomenal significance of Coach James P. Small, they should know a brief history of Stanton High School, including its first established Board of Trustees, the significance of its name, its colors, its mascot, and its relocation. I hope this exciting book will also show the determination to provide a need for education for “Free Slaves” in the city of Jacksonville, Florida.
In 1865, there were 62,000 newly emancipated “Free Slaves” who lived in the state of Florida. Some migrated to Jacksonville, Florida, for job opportunities and cheap land in the port city (Jacksonville is still considered a port city.) “The Colored Education Society” of Jacksonville and the local “Black Freeholders” raised $800 to purchase a large plot of land on Beaver Street from a white unionist and future governor, Ossian B. Hart, and his wife, Catherine. The Harts endowed the black community with a ninety-nine-year lease, specifying that the plot was to be used for the express purpose of educating blacks and training them to become teachers.
In 1867, the school for freed slaves was named after General Edwin McMaster Stanton, an American lawyer and politician who served as the Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln during most of the Civil War.
A fire destroyed the first school building in 1882, and another one was erected the same year. However, this building was also destroyed by fire in 1901, and another one was erected the same year. The first Board of Trustees of Stanton was established on May 23, 1914. There were nine trustees elected to manage the school and its property. They were Robert B. Archibald, S. H. Hart, A. L. Lewis, J. W. Floyd, W. L. Girardeau, I. L. Purcell, B. C. Vanderhort, J. E. Spearing, and W. H. H. Styles. Archibald and Hart resigned and were replaced by J. M. Baker and L. H. Myers.
Stanton relocated three times from Beaver Street to Ashley and Broad and finally to 1149 West Thirteenth Street. Its name changed each time it relocated; it was first called Stanton Grammar School, then Stanton High, and its last location was 1149 West Thirteenth Street where the name changed to New Stanton Senior High School, and now, the name has changed to Stanton College Preparatory High School.
During the summer of 1917, the old building was removed from its first location on Beaver Street to another site to make room for the present old Stanton High School building located on a square surrounded by Ashley, Beaver, Broad, and Clay Streets.
This building was completed at the latter part of the year and dedicated on November 23, 1917. The school remained Stanton High School until 1953. During 1953–1954, it was used briefly as a junior high school, and in 1954, it was converted into a vocational high school called Stanton Vocational High School, and it also housed a program for veterans that provided a program where they could get their high school diploma called the GED Program. It remained a vocational high until closing in 1970. This building is still standing as one of the monuments and oldest black school in the Jacksonville, Florida, community.
Some of our black leaders are graduates of Stanton High. To name a few, they were the following: US State Rep. George Crocket from the state of Michigan; the late Dr. Andrew Robinson, principal of William M. Raines High School; William D. Sweet; Frank Hampton; Senator Arnett Girardeau; Dr. Robert Mitchell, president of Edward Waters College; Nathaniel Glover, first Black sheriff of Jacksonville, Florida, and also president of Edward Waters College; Willye F. Dennis, leader of the Jacksonville, Florida, NAACP and former state legislator; and the well-known James Weldon Johnson, who was principal of Stanton after his graduation from Atlanta University of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1894. James Weldon Johnson converted the school from a grammar school to a high school.
Over the years, the school went through many changes. Its colors changed, its mascots changed, and its location changed. Stanton efficiently opened its doors on April 10, 1869. (The mandate for Stanton High School at 521 West Ashley Street is still in effect.)
The colors changed from pink and green to green and white, but the mascot remained as the Toronators before moving to 1149 West Thirteenth Street on November 24, 1953, when the colors and the mascot changed. Local educators wanted this new school to represent academics and athletics both with excellence. Subsequently, a committee was formed to find a school, college, or university with the best academic and athletic program in the nation that the new school could emulate. The committee determined that Duke University was that school.
At that time, Duke University boasted that it was the best academic university and had the best boys basketball program in the nation. Since Duke’s mascot was the Blue Devils and its colors were blue and white, so the committee decided that New Stanton Senior High School would replicate Duke’s mascot and colors.
The Legacy and Accomplishments of Coach James P. “Bubbling” Small
The legacy of Coach James P. Small—a teacher, a mentor, a coach, a husband, a father, a father figure, but most of all a man of character, respect, an innovator, and a helper. He was born on November 17, 1910, in Jacksonville, Florida. As a student athlete, Small played football, basketball, and baseball and ran track at Stanton from 1926 to 1929. After graduating, he attended FAMC (now known as Florida A&M University). After graduating from Florida A&M University, he attended and received his master’s degree from Ohio State University.
In 1933, Coach Small was hired at Franklin Elementary School. This school would later become a junior/senior high school and would change its name to Matthew W. Gilbert Junior/Senior High School. Currently, the school is a middle school.
The Athletic Department at Stanton was established in 1909, and in 1934, Coach James P. Small was hired at Stanton as the athletic director and head football coach where he would serve in many capacities, including the head basketball boys and girls coach, head track (boys and girls) coach, head baseball coach, the band director, head cheerleaders’ coach, and head drill team coach for girls. He also worked with the cheerleader squad. He voluntarily organized the first band at Stanton and served as bandmaster for nine years without remuneration. Coach Small’s excellent teacher and community relationship was a key asset