College Fund.
== History ==
Florida Memorial University was founded in 1879 as the "Florida Baptist Institute" in Live Oak, Florida. It is one of the oldest academic centers in the state. Soon after, the American Baptist Home Mission Society gave the school its full support, and the first regular school year began in 1880.
J. L. A. Fish (1828–1890) was its first president. Despite a promising start, racial tensions soon cast a shadow over the institute. In April 1892, after unknown persons fired shots into one of the school's buildings, then-President Matthew Gilbert and other staff members fled Live Oak for Jacksonville, where they founded the "Florida Baptist Academy" in the basement of Bethel Baptist Church. They began holding classes in May 1892, with Sarah Ann Blocker as the main instructor. The school in Live Oak, however, continued to operate even after this splintering.
Nathan W. Collier, President of Florida Baptist Institute, and Sarah Ann Blocker, of Florida Baptist Academy, combined the two institutions …
