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Art Gallery Spotlights FAMU History

By Will Ayers Jr.
Black College Wire

Photo credit: Tara-Lynne S. Pixley/The Famuan Newly opened collection of photos is dedicated to Leedell W. Neyland.

The third floor of Florida A&M University's Foote-Hilyer Administrative Center now includes a historical gallery that takes students and visitors through FAMU's history.

The newly opened Leedell W. Neyland FAMU Gallery consists of 28 photos showing FAMU students and various events.

Originally named the State Normal College for Colored Students, FAMU has had its share of triumphs and hardships.

During the 1960s, FAMU students, faculty and staff played an integral part in the civil rights movement.

During the integration period of the 1970s, FAMU faced the threat of being merged with Florida State University; however, students marched and protested in order to keep FAMU an educational haven for black students.

In 1989, the world-renowned "Marching 100" band performed in Paris during a European tour.

Those are only some of the events captured on the walls of Foote-Hilyer.

The rich collection is dedicated to Leedell W. Neyland, who served FAMU for more than 45 years. Neyland earned his undergraduate degree from Virginia State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University.

Neyland served as a professor of history, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and as vice president for academic affairs, but he said his greatest satisfaction has come from preserving FAMU's history.

The idea to open the gallery and dedicate it to Neyland was suggested by Larry Reese, vice president for administrative and fiscal services, and by Provost Larry Robinson, vice president for academic affairs.

E. Murell Dawson, director of the Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum at FAMU, made the idea a reality.

Jerica Dowling, a freshman political science student, said she loves the new gallery.

"The Leeland W. Neyland Gallery is a beautiful collection. I advise all the students to go see it," Dowling said. "It is important that students learn about the history of our great school."

"I never would have known that Foote-Hilyer used to be a hospital if it were not for the new art gallery."

"I was captured by the pictures of Althea Gibson and the other great athletes of the past," said Eunika Russell, a sophomore education student. "I was intrigued when I learned that Tucker Hall used to be a boys dormitory and Gibbs Hall a female dormitory," she added.

Neyland said he was honored by the dedication.

"If we could learn and sincerely appreciate the historical lessons of the past, they will make firm foundation stones upon which to build as we look to the future with hope and great expectations," he said.

Will Ayers Jr. is a student at Florida A&M University who writes for The Famuan. He may be reached at at [email protected]

Posted Feb. 14, 2005