A Legacy of Educational Excellence Since 1879
Opa-locka North earned its place in history on May 13, 2003, as one of the seven founding neighborhoods that incorporated Miami Gardens—joining Andover, Bunche Park, Carol City, Lake Lucerne, Norland, and Scott Lake to create Florida's largest predominantly African American municipality. But Opa-locka North's historical significance reaches back much further, to an era when education for African Americans required extraordinary courage, determination, and vision.
🎓 Florida Memorial University: South Florida's Only HBCU
Founded in 1879 as the Florida Baptist Institute in Live Oak, Florida, Florida Memorial University stands as one of the oldest academic centers in the state and proudly holds the distinction of being the only Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in all of South Florida. The institution was created by members of the Bethlehem Baptist Association to establish "a College of instruction for our ministers and children"—newly emancipated slaves seeking education in a hostile post-Civil War environment. Reverend J. L. A. Fish served as its first president, beginning a tradition of educational leadership that would span nearly 150 years.
The university's journey reflects the African American struggle for education itself. In April 1892, after unknown persons fired shots into one of the school's buildings in Live Oak, then-President Reverend Matthew Gilbert and staff members fled to Jacksonville, where they founded the Florida Baptist Academy in the basement of Bethel Baptist Church. In 1942, the Baptist General State Convention merged its two schools, combining the Live Oak institute with the Jacksonville academy to create Florida Normal Industrial and Memorial College in St. Augustine.
During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s-1960s, Florida Memorial students in St. Augustine joined the struggle for justice, participating in sit-ins, wade-ins, and swim-ins orchestrated by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Their activism in St. Augustine significantly influenced federal legislation, contributing to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, this activism also provoked white hostility, threatening the college's survival. In 1965, under Dr. Royal W. Puryear's leadership, trustees purchased a 44-acre (now expanded) former airstrip near Opa-locka in what would become Miami Gardens. In 1968, the college relocated to its present site, graduating its first class at the Miami location in 1972. The institution achieved university status in 2004, becoming Florida Memorial University.
Today, Florida Memorial University is a member of the United Negro College Fund and offers 41 undergraduate degree programs and 4 graduate programs through six academic schools including Aviation, Business, Education, Health and Natural Sciences, Arts and Sciences, and Graduate Studies. With approximately 1,137 students benefiting from a supportive campus environment, FMU produces leaders in criminal justice, accounting, psychology, aviation, and education—with the institution ranked second in Florida and ninth in the United States for graduating African American teachers. The FMU Lions compete in NAIA Division II athletics, continuing traditions of excellence on and off the field.
🎵 Birthplace of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing"
Opa-locka North's educational heritage includes a profound cultural legacy. While Florida Memorial University's predecessor institution operated in Jacksonville, President Nathan White Collier recruited renowned composer J. Rosamond Johnson—a Jacksonville native—to teach music at the Florida Baptist Academy. While employed there, Rosamond composed music for "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," a poem written by his brother, James Weldon Johnson, creating the song that has been enshrined as the "Black National Anthem."
The song was first performed on February 12, 1900, by a choir that included students from the Florida Baptist Academy—Florida Memorial's predecessor—at a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. This means that the institution now located in Opa-locka North gave the world one of the most powerful anthems of Black pride, resilience, and hope in American history. Every time "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" is performed—at Super Bowls, political conventions, church services, or community gatherings—it carries forward the educational mission that began in 1879 and continues in Opa-locka North today.
Beyond Florida Memorial University, Opa-locka North hosts an impressive constellation of educational institutions. St. Thomas University (Catholic university), Monsignor Edward Pace High School (private Catholic high school), The SEED School of Miami (college-preparatory boarding school on the FMU campus), Golden Glades Elementary School, and Jann Mann Educational Center (alternative middle and high school) all call Opa-locka North home. This concentration of educational resources creates a neighborhood identity centered on learning, growth, and opportunity—where education is not just available but celebrated as the pathway to individual and community transformation.
The neighborhood's demographics reflect its educational mission and diverse community character. With populations ranging from approximately 6,224 residents (2000 Census-Designated Place figures), Opa-locka North maintains a multicultural atmosphere where 75% speak English as their first language, 21% speak Spanish, and 3% speak French Creole. This linguistic diversity, combined with the neighborhood's commitment to education, creates an environment where different cultures unite around shared values of learning, achievement, and upward mobility.
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January 16, 2026
Miami Gardens
