page_title: Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs
section_title: Superintendent of Public Instruction
hierarchical_section_title: Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs / Reconstruction politician / Superintendent of Public Instruction
caption_attribution_description: English: Description: Florida Governor Marcellus Stearns, his cabinet, and staff greet Harriet Beecher Stowe on the steps of the Capitol Building. Stowe is on the sixth step on the right, dressed in black Source: The Florida Memory Project Call No. Gv000511 Date: 1874 Author: Unknown
context_page_description: Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, II was a Presbyterian minister and a prominent African-American officeholder during Reconstruction. He served as the first and only black Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction of Florida, and along with Josiah Thomas Walls, U.S. Congressman from Florida, was among the most powerful black officeholders in the state during Reconstruction.
context_section_description: He served as Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1872 to 1874. Gibbs was also commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Florida State Militia. Gibbs was also elected as a Tallahassee City Councilman in 1872. Gibbs was responsible for introducing legislation creating the State Normal College for Colored Students, forerunner of Florida A&M University.
caption: Republican governor Marcellus Stearns greeting Harriet Beecher Stowe. Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs is visible toward one of the columns.
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