 Like 10 of Florida's other 11 black junior colleges, it was founded as a result of a 1957 decision by the Florida Legislature to preserve racial segregation in education, mandated under the 1885 Constitution that was in effect until 1968.More specifically, the Legislature wanted to show, in response to the unanimous Supreme Court decision mandating school integration ("Brown vs. Board of Education"), that the older standard of "separate but equal" educational facilities was still viable in Florida.Prior to this legislative initiative, the only publicly funded colleges for negro or colored students (as they were called at the time) were Florida A&M University, in Tallahassee, and Booker T. Washington Junior College, in Pensacola.