David Ham, speaking on behalf of researcher Maureen Young and former student Maud Burrows Jackson, told the Clay County historical markers committee that the Middleburg Colored School is historically significant and urged the committee to approve a state historical marker for the site now located in Hunter Douglas Park.

The school, Ham said, dates to 1897 and served Black students who often were taught in a single-room setting with multiple grades; he and several other speakers described the building’s later life, efforts to save it from demolition in 1994, and its relocation and use as a museum. "My mother . . . was one of the students," Ham said, describing Maud Burrows Jackson’s role in preserving the building.

Several community members spoke in support. Ronald White, who said he grew up in Orange Park, described the school as foundational to many local Black families’ educational advancement. "It gives us something of a platform to introduce the younger people," White said, urging the committee to approve the marker. Samuel H. Lee, pastor of St. Mark’s Missionary Baptist Church, and Pamela Monk of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. also urged approval, emphasizing the school’s value as a local educational and cultural landmark. Felicia Wyder Lewis, a public school educator, told the committee the marker would preserve local history not widely recorded in standard textbooks.

Ruth Payne of the Middleburg Museum and Civic Association said local volunteers began work on the marker in 2023 and that documenting the site’s connection to the Works Progress Administration is still uncertain; she described the language distributed for the proposed marker and asked the committee for guidance on documentation. Committee discussion and remarks by a committee member indicated that the marker has "basically been approved" by the committee in principle but that the committee still must finalize marker text and send it to the state for formal approval.

Committee members and staff described paperwork and process steps ahead: finalizing the marker wording, circulating it to committee members for review, and then submitting the text to the state historical marker office for the council’s approval. A staff member told the committee the state office is currently delaying approvals pending appointment of two members to the state historical marker council, which will affect timing.

The public record submitted at the meeting included proposed marker language that traces the Middleburg Colored School’s founding in 1897, construction of a new building around 1908, later replacement by AE Hall Elementary, and the building’s rescue from demolition in 1994 by former students led by Maud Burrows Jackson; the proposed text also notes the school’s donation to Hilltop Community Development Inc. for use as a museum. Committee members agreed to circulate the proposed text and take further action at a subsequent meeting.

The committee did not take a final, formal vote on the marker’s text or placement at this meeting; members described the item as moved forward but still subject to text approval and state review.