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SEMINOLE’S INTEGRATION: INTERVIEW WITH MS. INGRID NATHAN

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The Seminole: After you first integrated the school, were there many others who followed soon after? Ms. Ingrid Nathan: In 1964 I was the first to integrate Sanford Jr. High (now, Sanford Middle). In 1965 eight of us entered Seminole High School. I don’t remember all the names, but several were from my neighborhood: Delores Hodge,…

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January 28 (Wednesday): Goldsboro History Panel Discussion - Allen Chapel AME Church, 6:30 PM

January 29 (Thursday): Literacy Night - Altermese Bentley Elementary, 6:30 PM

February 4 (Tuesday): Bentley Elementary 4th Grade

February 12 (Thursday): Speaking at Westside Community Center, 919 S. Persimmon Avenue, Sanford, FL 32771, 9 AM

February 25 (Wednesday): Winter Springs High School, TIME TBA

February 28 (Friday): History Harvest at Hopper Academy, 101 Pine Ave, Sanford, FL 32771, 11:00 AM.

February 28 (Friday): War Cry - Crooms Academy of Information and Technology, 2200 Historic Goldsboro Blvd, Sanford, FL, 5:30 PM.

March 21 (Saturday): Women's Empowerment Brunch - Westside Community Center, 11:00 AM.

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School Board Announces Building Dedication to Ingrid Burton Nathan.

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School Board Announces Building Dedication to Ingrid Burton Nathan.

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SCPS Announces Naming of Ingrid Burton Nathan Hall

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Channel 2 Interview "I did it without question."

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Channel 2 Interview "I did it without question."

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‘My purpose:’ Seminole schools honor 1st African American student to integrate schools

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Ingrid Burton Nathan is the first African American student to integrate schools in Seminole County.

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Black pioneers reflect on navigating racism, segregation while integrating Florida schools

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Channel 6 Interview with Ginger Gaddison & LaVon Bracey

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Channel 6 Interview with Ginger Gaddison & LaVon Bracey

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ORLANDO, Fla. - Decades ago, miles apart, in the same state, LaVon Bracy and Ingrid Burton Nathan were going through the same struggle.

They are both Black women who endured all of the obstacles of education while withstanding the horrors of racism. Horrors that caused immeasurable anguish but also taught invaluable lessons.
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Ingrid Burton Nathan was born in New York. After being put up for adoption, her new parents brought her to Seminole County, where she was raised.

In 1964, she attended Sanford Middle School and was the first Black student to integrate Seminole County Schools.

At just 14 years old, the then ninth-grader got a call from a white parent before her first day of school.

"She didn't know me. She just said tell your parents you don't want to go. Don't go to that school tomorrow," Nathan said.

That call would not stop her. She persevered.

She said on the first day of school, everyone was nice to her. Students walked her to class and sat with her at lunch, but as time went on, things changed.

She went on to attend Seminole High School, where Nathan said she was bullied and wasn't allowed to join clubs.

She said she was isolated.

"When I walked through the halls, the hall parted like the red sea. Nobody wanted to touch me," she said.

Just 140 miles northwest of Seminole High School, another young woman was living a similar existence.

LaVon Bracy is credited with being the first to integrate Gainesville High School in Alachua County.

Bracy was a senior in high school when she said she endured isolation, just like Nathan, but her experience was much worse.

Bracy said she was spit on, called the N-word and beaten by white students who did not want the class of '65 to be the first to graduate with a Black student.

Bracy had a daily police escort from her house to the school, but that security ended once on campus. She recalls one beating that resulted in her getting stitches from the front to the back of her head.

"They said if you stay here this will be the worst year of your life... and they were true to their word. It was the worst year of my life," Bracy said.

But like Nathan, Bracy endured.

"My dad told me I didn't have to go back and I stayed home about four or five days and I said, 'Dad, take me back,'" Bracy said.

The reason, she said, is simple.

"I said if don't go back, they win and I just can't afford to let them win," Bracy said.

And she did not.

Through it all, both women persevered, setting an example for what strength and long-suffering can accomplish.

LaVon Bracy would go on to graduate from the University of Florida with a doctorate degree. She is the publicist for a children's book on integration called A Brave Little Cookie.

Nathan graduated in the top 10% of her class and was selected to be a member of the National Honor Society. She went on to become a teacher, spending nearly 40 years teaching Spanish at Lake Brantley and Lake Mary high schools.

On Wednesday, she will be honored for her perseverance in the face of adversity by Seminole County Public Schools. The district will host a building naming ceremony in honor of Nathan at Sanford Middle School.

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Black pioneers reflect on navigating racism, segregation while integrating Florida schools

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ORLANDO, Fla. - Decades ago, miles apart, in the same state, LaVon Bracy and Ingrid Burton Nathan were going through the same struggle. They are both Black women who endured all of the obstacles of education while withstanding the horrors of racism. Horrors that caused immeasurable anguish but also taught invaluable lessons.

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Oct. 4 I am invited to speak in Apopka at a school for their Teach-In Wednesday. Contact is Patricia Tillman 407-474-2014

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Me with the Lake Mary Gospel Choir for two years.

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'I did it without question,' says first Black student to integrate Seminole County Public Schools

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SANFORD, Fla. - Ingrid Burton Nathan was the first Black student to integrate Seminole County Schools.

In 1964, she entered Sanford Junior High School, and she was among the first Black students to attend Seminole High School. She says making her parents proud was her main motivation through some challenging years.

"What I reflect on today, I reflect on the fact I did it without question," Nathan said.

Growing up during segregation, Nathan remembers being excited to make history as the first Black student to integrate Seminole County Schools.

"My attitude back then was wonderment," Nathan said.

At age 14, she says she knew about the Civil Rights movement, but really had no idea what she was in for as she prepared to attend Sanford Junior High.

"I was never afraid. I never was aware of any danger. I saw the news, but I didn't equate it with what I was doing." Nathan said.

Her first day, her father dropped her off and a police officer escorted her to the front door as everyone inside the all-white school watched from the windows.

"But I walked up the sidewalk, and I was greeted very politely. And the Student Council greeted me and they walked me to all my classes. They sat and ate lunch with me the first day. After that, I was on my own."

She said her days at school were lonely, and along the way, she'd bear the brunt of some harsh lessons about the nature of hatred.

"When I would walk down the hall, it would part like the Red Sea. Nobody wanted to touch me."

The hostility toward her would escalate over the years, until her graduation in 1968.

"Yes, this boy that was bothering me all the time, (and he) threw a spit ball at me, on me, getting on the bus. And I went for him and my friends wouldn't let me get to him," she said.

Her family and friends, who had no idea what she was going through, kept her grounded.

"I was walking to my music lesson or piano lesson, but this car drove by and a drink flew out the window on me. And I noticed the color of the car and didn't know the tag I saw. I saw white guys in it and I reported it," Nathan said. "I didn't tell my parents, 'See all the things that happened to me in school.' I never told my parents how the kids were treating me. I just never did because I left it there."

Later, she would learn members of the basketball team were behind the bullying when school leaders pulled her aside to give her a choice on how they could be punished.

"'Miss Burton, they have districts next next week or next month, if you say so, they don't go.' They were asking me to punish the basketball team," Nathan said. "And of course, you know, I didn't say no. I said, 'Just leave me alone. I'm peaceful. I don't bother anyone. Just let me be, don't bother me.' And I walked out of there. And I still never told my parents about that, to this day. And they weren't punished. No one was punished for what they did to me."

There were bright spots, too, in her trailblazing story of integration in Seminole County Schools. She joined the National Honor Society and she took comfort in the classmates, teachers and school workers who welcomed her.

"I had a few friends that would talk to me in some classes. One teacher, Miss Westgate told me, 'Anytime you don't feel safe, you come to my class.' So her classroom was a safe place for me," Nathan said. "I remember sitting in Mr. Colbert's class. Oh, yes, he was a great teacher there. He was like my white godfather. He was in my life forever, and after I graduated from school, he hired me to work at the school board office. He gave me my first job in Seminole County, helping me get into the system."

These days, she said she has a sense of peace about the experience.

"I have peace about everything I went through because you have to live life without an apology. If you're waiting for an apology, it's just like you're drinking poison, wanting somebody else to die. That makes no sense at all," Nathan said. "Forgiveness is No. 1. I can remember and I can relate, but I have to forgive."

After graduation from Florida Southern College, she returned to Seminole County to teach Spanish at Lake Brantley and Lake Mary High schools for more than 35 years. She says her greatest accomplishment, the thing she is most proud of, is sponsoring the gospel choir at Lake Mary High School.

Today, she remains hopeful about the current climate of education reform as well as evolving issues of equity for all students.

"I think the atmosphere now is more accepting of the fact that there needs to be equity and there needs to be, for all you know, concern shown for everyone in education," she said.

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'I did it without question,' says first Black student to integrate Seminole County Public Schools

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SANFORD, Fla. - Ingrid Burton Nathan was the first Black student to integrate Seminole County Schools. In 1964, she entered Sanford Junior High School, and she was among the first Black students to attend Seminole High School. She says making her parents proud was her main motivation through some challenging years.

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Feb. 23, 2023  Altamonte Christian School Black History Program

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Feb. 23, 2023  Altamonte Christian School Black History Program

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https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2022/02/16/educator-who-integrated-seminole-schools-as-child-honored/

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2/16/22 - INGRID BURTON NATHAN HALL DEDICATION

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2/16/22 - INGRID BURTON NATHAN HALL DEDICATION

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2/17/22 - Pioneer Award at the Boys and girls club

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2/17/22 - Pioneer Award at the Boys and girls club

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FEb. 17, 2022 - Unity!  A Black History Celebration

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FEb. 17, 2022 - Unity!  A Black History Celebration

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It was an honor to be invited to be on barbershop live, a Facebook live production hosted by KENNETH BENTLEY, Cubit Malone, and 2 other gentlemen

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Interviewed by Sheldon dudes on the campus of Sanford middle school we’re building number two will be named after me on February 16 this year

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2013  Speaking to Girl Scouts after retiring

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2013  Speaking to Girl Scouts after retiring

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I don't remember the year, but I think it was 2013 when I accepted a part time position as front desk clerk at Highlands Elementary. I was asked to speak to a little Girl Scout troupe when a parent found out that I had made history integrating schools. They were so delightful.