Collier-Blocker Junior College

Collier-Blocker Junior College, located at 1100 N. 19th Street in Palatka, Florida, opened its doors in 1960. It was one of eleven black junior colleges founded in the late 1950's at the initiative of the Florida Legislature. Since racial integration in schools was prohibited in the Florida Constitution of 1885 then in effect, the Legislature wished to avoid the integration mandated in the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954 by demonstrating that a "separate but equal" higher education system existed in Florida for African Americans.

The college, which opened without a name other than "The Negro Junior College", was soon named for Nathan W. Collier and Sara Blocker, two educators whose efforts led to the establishment of the black Florida Normal and Industrial College (today Florida Memorial University) in St. Augustine in 1918. It opened its doors in 1960, simultaneously with St. Johns River Junior College (today St. Johns River State College), for white students. The college was jointly supported by Clay, St. Johns, and Putnam Counties; bus transportation was provided by Clay and St. Johns Counties.

The college's initial home was an abandoned church building belonging to Shiloh Baptist Church (today the Greater Shilow Missionary Baptist Church) which was across the street from the black Central Academy High School. It moved into its own new building in 1961, located at the west end of Central Academy. The college's only curriculum was college-parallel (preparing for transfer).

Collier-Blocker was (with Carver Junior College) the least successful of Florida's twelve black junior colleges, the lowest enrolled and shortest lived. Initial enrollment was 59; peak enrollment was 105. It had governance problems from the outset, and never achieved even limited autonomy. The disappointing enrollment meant that almost all the faculty were moonlighting high school teachers. Both faculty and students felt the line between the high school and the college was not clear, or that the college resembled the high school too much. There was no money for a guidance center.

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