Maxey Elementary: Rooted in Winter Garden's Black History

MAXEY ELEMENTARY:

ROOTED IN WINTER GARDEN’S

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ROOTED IN WINTER GARDEN’S BLACK HISTORY

As Maxey Elementary students and staff walk down the main hall, a colorful wall features painted canvas panels depicting Winter Garden's past. The vibrant mural illustrates a time when education and other aspects of life were separated by the color of a person's skin. The artwork serves as a historic reminder that the school stems from the love of a committed couple, the Maxeys, who refused to let the children and their community languish in ignorance.

During the Jim Crow era, many of Winter Garden's African American children worked in crop fields and did not attend school very often. That changed after college-educated William and Juanita Maxey relocated from Jacksonville to work at the Winter Garden School for the Colored and ensure education was valued in the community.

As the principal, Mr. Maxey visited students who were absent and drove them to school if they were not sick. He wanted his students to achieve their dreams, attend college and obtain a teaching certificate if they decided to become an educator and return to teach in Winter Garden. He also personally moved an abandoned fruit stand with a mule and logs to the school grounds during the winter so his students could have a lunchroom in 1939.

Mrs. Maxey served as one of the teachers at the small, wooden schoolhouse, a Rosenwald School that was built to educate African Americans.

“William Maxey and his wife, Juanita, were passionate about their community and educating Winter Garden residents,” said Carletta Davis-Wilson, principal of Maxey Elementary. “They both made invaluable contributions and created opportunities for students and families to access high-quality education within the east Winter Garden area during a time of disparity.”

Clockwise: William S. Maxey*, the Shiloh-Rosenwald School in Notasulga, Ala., and the Maxeys along with teachers at the former Winter Garden Junior High*.

*Photo courtesy of the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

Did You Know?

Jewish philanthroper Julius Rosenwald (part owner and president of Sears, Roebuck and Co.), in conjunction with educator Booker T. Washington, financed and built more than 5,000 Rosenwald Schools across America’s segregated South in the early 20th century to educate African American children. Visit https://orangepeal.pub/Rosenwald to learn more.

During Maxey’s principalship, the segregated school was renamed Winter Garden Junior High and moved to a larger area on Maple Street. In 1949, the district renamed the school after the African American surgeon and researcher Charles R. Drew. Over the next decade buildings were added, the campus grew to offer a curriculum for grades 1-12, the school attained accreditation and was renamed Charles R. Drew High.

After Maxey retired in 1965, the School Board shortened the name to Drew High, only serving grades 10 through 12. The high school was closed in 1970 and the facility is now the home of Orange Technical College - West Campus.

Principal Maxey's retirement celebration. Courtesy of the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

The district honored the dedicated principal by naming a new elementary school for Black students on Maple Street after him in 1966. William S. Maxey Elementary was integrated four years later and closed at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year. In 2018, OCPS built a new elementary school on Story Road and shortened the name to Maxey Elementary. Today, the K-5 school, which serves nearly 400 students, includes a visual- and performing-arts magnet that provides students with cross-curricular connections and exposes them to art, dance and music influenced by African culture.

Part of this connection is the school's history wall titled “Keeping the Legacy Alive,” which features five framed photos of its namesake, the community center and previous school locations, and the mural with 11 acrylic paintings by artist Lisa Mikler.

“The legend on the legacy-painting wall is used during mediacenter rotations and to teach parents and students about the Maxeys’ contributions to the school and community during tours,” said Christine Andujar, Maxey Elementary media clerk. “Teachers also can check out and use barcoded legends to teach their students about the Maxeys in their classrooms.”

Did You Know?

Dr. Charles R. Drew developed methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large-scale blood bank in the United States, and led the blood plasma programs for the nation and Great Britain during World War II.

Maxey Elementary Black History Month Activities

• African-inspired dance and music performances • Art tribute with Superintendent Jenkins and other influential African Americans • Door decorations

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