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101-456: Jacksonville's first football venue was built in 1927 and 1928 with a seating capacity of 7,600. Known as Fairfield Stadium , its primary purpose was to serve as home field for Jacksonville's three new high schools – Lee , Jackson and Landon. At the opening of the stadium, Florida Governor John W. Martin called the stadium "the best place in Florida to watch a football game!" On January 1, 1946,

202-512: A first lieutenant of engineers in 1837, he supervised the engineering work for St. Louis harbor and for the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Among his projects was the mapping of the Des Moines Rapids on the Mississippi above Keokuk, Iowa , where the Mississippi's mean depth of 2.4 feet (0.7 m) was the upper limit of steamboat traffic on the river. His work there earned him

303-635: A prisoner exchange between the Confederacy and the Union when the Union demanded that black Union soldiers be included. Lee did not accept the swap until a few months before the Confederacy's surrender. He also called the Emancipation Proclamation "a savage and brutal policy...which leaves us no alternative but success or degradation worse than death". As the war dragged on and Lee's losses mounted, he eventually advocated enlisting enslaved people in

404-679: A second invasion of the North in the summer of 1863, where he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg by the Army of the Potomac under George Meade . He led his army in the minor and inconclusive Bristoe Campaign that fall before General Ulysses S. Grant took command of Union armies in the spring of 1864. Grant engaged Lee's army in bloody but inconclusive battles at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania before

505-482: A "primacy of slave law". She wrote that Lee's private views on race and slavery, In 1857, George Custis died, leaving Robert Lee as the executor of his estate, which included nearly 200 slaves. In his will, Custis said the enslaved people were to be freed within five years of his death. On taking on the role of administrator for the Parke Custis will, Lee used a provision to retain them in slavery to produce income for

606-530: A Black Lives Matter sign in her classroom. After complaining that the timing was retaliation for live streaming white members of community meetings making "questionable comments" about the name change, she was administratively reassigned. The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a lawsuit against Duval County Public Schools . The Duval County School Board decided on June 1, 2021, by a 5-2 vote, to rename Robert E. Lee High School "Riverside High School." The school board estimated renaming costs to be $ 366,302, with

707-420: A cafeteria expansion, and the boys' locker room. The basketball gym was built to the right of the school, and the shop and music buildings were located behind the original building to the left at end of Donald Street. Around 1964, the school board converted Landon High School to a junior high school. This made Lee and Jackson the two oldest Jacksonville high schools operating at their original sites. In 1965,

808-411: A calm and rational manner, overtly physical domination of slaves, unchecked by law, was always brutal and potentially savage." Lee biographer Elizabeth Brown Pryor concluded in 2008 that "the facts are verifiable", based on "the consistency of the five extant descriptions of the episode (the only element that is not repeatedly corroborated is the allegation that Lee gave the beatings himself), as well as

909-409: A collection of talented subordinates, most notably James Longstreet , Stonewall Jackson , and J. E. B. Stuart , who along with Lee were critical to the Confederacy's battlefield success. In spite of his successes, his two major strategic offensives into Union territory both ended in failure. Lee's aggressive and risky tactics, especially at Gettysburg, which resulted in high casualties at a time when

1010-641: A difficult time for Lee, with his long absences from home, the increasing disability of his wife, troubles in taking over the management of a large slave plantation, and his often morbid concern with his personal failures. In 1852, Lee was appointed Superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point . He was reluctant to enter what he called a "snake pit", but the War Department insisted and he obeyed. His wife occasionally came to visit. During his three years at West Point, Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee improved

1111-450: A fire that destroyed the library and many classrooms. The fire damage was estimated at $ 4.5 million. After the fire, the Robert E. Lee High School Restoration Committee was formed by Lee alumni to help raise money for restoration. The cafeteria and the library were expanded during the restoration. In 1991, a new two-floor classroom building was built behind the original structure to accommodate

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1212-495: A friend "There is not a word of truth in it ... No servant, soldier, or citizen, that was ever employed by me can with truth charge me with bad treatment." Foner writes that "Lee's code of gentlemanly conduct did not seem to apply to blacks" during the War. He did not stop his soldiers from kidnapping free black farmers and selling them into slavery. Princeton University historian James M. McPherson noted that Lee initially rejected

1313-404: A general way only at some unspecified future date as a part of God's purpose. Slavery for Lee was a moral and religious issue, and not one that would yield to political solutions. Emancipation would sooner come from Christian impulse among slave masters before "storms and tempests of fiery controversy" such as was occurring in " Bleeding Kansas ". Countering Southerners who argued for slavery as

1414-503: A great-great-grandson of Richard Bland . Fitzhugh Lee (1835–1905), a Confederate general and later a United States Army general in the Spanish–American War , was Lee's nephew. Lee was a second cousin of Helen Keller 's grandmother, and was a distant relative of Admiral Willis Augustus Lee . On May 1, 1864, General Lee was present at the baptism of General A. P. Hill 's daughter, Lucy Lee Hill, to serve as her godfather. This

1515-428: A greater calamity to both. I should therefore prefer to rely upon our white population to preserve the ratio between our forces and those of the enemy, which experience has shown to be safe. But in view of the preparations of our enemies, it is our duty to provide for continued war and not for a battle or a campaign, and I fear that we cannot accomplish this without overtaxing the capacity of our white population." After

1616-433: A group of Lee students formed the band My Backyard. The band, led by singer Ronnie Van Zant , was renamed Lynyrd Skynyrd after coach Leonard Skinner sent guitarist Gary Rossington to the principal's office for wearing his hair long. Lee underwent two desegregation cycles, with faculty integrated from 1968–71, then students in the 1971–72 school year. In the early 1980s, the school constructed an outdoor pool between

1717-645: A house on Oronoco Street. In 1812 Lee's father moved permanently to the West Indies . Lee attended Eastern View, a school for young gentlemen, in Fauquier County, Virginia , and then at the Alexandria Academy, free for local boys, where he showed an aptitude for mathematics. Although brought up to be a practicing Christian , he was not confirmed in the Episcopal Church until age 46. Anne Lee's family

1818-581: A low of 44. The Generals have won 15 FHSAA state championships. The following sports are offered at Riverside: Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War , toward the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army . He led the Army of Northern Virginia ,

1919-460: A matter of principle, and Lee adhered to the precedent. He considered it his patriotic duty to be apolitical while in active Army service, and Lee did not speak out publicly on the subject of slavery prior to the Civil War. Before the outbreak of the War, in 1860, Lee voted for Southern Democratic nominee and incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge , who was the pro-slavery candidate in

2020-547: A paternalistic master. There are various historical and newspaper hearsay accounts of Lee's personally whipping a slave, but they are not direct eyewitness accounts. He was definitely involved in administering the day-to-day operations of a plantation and was involved in the recapture of runaway slaves. One historian noted that Lee separated families of enslaved people, something that prominent enslaving families in Virginia such as Washington and Custis did not do. On December 29, 1862,

2121-494: A positive good , Lee in his well-known analysis of slavery from an 1856 letter ( see below ) called it a moral and political evil. While both Lee and his wife were disgusted with slavery, they also defended it against abolitionist demands for immediate emancipation for all enslaved. Lee argued that slavery was bad for white people, claiming that he found slavery bothersome and time-consuming as an everyday institution to run. In an 1856 letter to his wife, he maintained that slavery

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2222-730: A promotion to captain . Around 1842, Captain Robert E. Lee arrived as Fort Hamilton 's post engineer. While Lee was stationed at Fort Monroe, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis (1807–1873), great-granddaughter of Martha Washington by her first husband Daniel Parke Custis , and step-great-granddaughter of George Washington , the first president of the United States. Mary was the only surviving child of George Washington Parke Custis , George Washington's stepgrandson, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis , daughter of William Fitzhugh and Ann Bolling Randolph . Robert and Mary married on June 30, 1831, at Arlington House , her parents' house just across

2323-486: A staff officer; he found routes of attack that the Mexicans had not defended because they thought the terrain was impassable. He was promoted to brevet major after the Battle of Cerro Gordo on April 18, 1847. He also fought at Contreras , Churubusco , and Chapultepec and was wounded at the last. By the end of the war, he had received additional brevet promotions to lieutenant colonel and colonel, but his permanent rank

2424-407: A star on the left, while a tree occupies the right side. Also unique are the two front arch doorways, which sport an impressive amount of "radiating" stonework. The main building has an auditorium and a large courtyard. A field house was added between the stadium and the back of the school in the 1940s. Later, a first floor addition on the original structure's right side accommodated a meeting room,

2525-479: A thing." In 2000, Michael Fellman, in The Making of Robert E. Lee , found the claims that Lee had personally whipped Mary Norris "extremely unlikely", but found it not at all unlikely that Lee had ordered the runaways whipped: "corporal punishment (for which Lee substituted the euphemism "firmness") was [believed to be] an intrinsic and necessary part of slave discipline. Although it was supposed to be applied only in

2626-631: A will providing for the manumission of the slaves he owned, "a woman and her children inherited from his mother and apparently leased to his father-in-law and later sold to him". Lee's father-in-law, G. W. Parke Custis , was a member of the American Colonization Society , which was formed to gradually end slavery by establishing a free republic in Liberia for African-Americans, and Lee assisted several formerly enslaved people to emigrate there. Also, according to historian Richard B. McCaslin, Lee

2727-579: Is a four-year secondary institution in Jacksonville, Florida . It was originally named after Confederate States of America general Robert E. Lee . Located in the Riverside and Avondale neighborhood, it is the second oldest high school in Jacksonville operating at its original location, after its traditional rival, Andrew Jackson High School . The name was changed to Riverside High School in 2021. Riverside

2828-599: Is part of the Duval County magnet school program. Eligible students at the school can earn concurrent credit through the Jacksonville Early College High School program. They receive high school credits from the school and college credit from Florida State College at Jacksonville (F.S.C.J) for the same courses. Riverside students can also specialize in courses through the Engineering Academy or

2929-560: Is referenced in the painting Tender is the Heart by Mort Künstler . He was also the godfather of actress and writer Odette Tyler , the daughter of Brigadier General William Whedbee Kirkland . Lee distinguished himself in the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He was one of Winfield Scott 's chief aides in the march from Veracruz to Mexico City. He was instrumental in several American victories through his personal reconnaissance as

3030-482: The National Anti-Slavery Standard . Norris said that after they had been captured, and forced to return to Arlington, Lee told them that "he would teach us a lesson we would not soon forget". According to Norris, Lee had the overseer tie the three of them firmly to posts, and ordered them whipped: 50 lashes for the men and 20 for Mary Norris. Norris claimed that Lee encouraged the whipping, and that when

3131-674: The 1860 presidential election and had supported the Lecompton Constitution for Kansas , rather than Constitutional Union Party nominee John Bell , the Southern Unionist candidate who won Virginia and voted against the admission of Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution as the United States Senator from Tennessee . Lee himself enslaved a small number of people in his lifetime and considered himself

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3232-504: The Alexandria jail, Lee decided to remove these three men and three female house slaves from Arlington, and sent them under lock and key to the slave-trader William Overton Winston in Richmond , who was instructed to keep them in jail until he could find "good & responsible" enslavers to work them until the end of the five-year period. By 1860, only one family of slaves was left intact on

3333-535: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , was designed to raise Lee's graduation rate and improve college readiness, especially among minority and low income students. In 2010, Lee's engineering magnet program was recognized as a Model Academy by the National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC). Only 16 schools in the United States have earned this title. The engineering program also earned two honors from

3434-562: The Florida–;Georgia game alternated between the two schools' home stadiums, with Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville hosting in 1994 and Georgia's Sanford Stadium hosting in 1995. The 1994 Gator Bowl was also held in Gainesville. Both games returned to Jacksonville the following season. Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville, Florida) Riverside High School

3535-490: The Jacksonville Jaguars and Nike coming forward to pay for the change for the school's uniforms and other related items. The name change became official on August 3, 2021, seven days before the start of the 2021–2022 school year. Total enrollment rose from 954 the first year to about 2000 in the 1950s. It generally declined to about 1,200 in the late 70s. It reached a low of 777 during the 1990–91 school year. After

3636-542: The Mexican–American War , and was Superintendent of the United States Military Academy . He married Mary Anna Custis , great-granddaughter of George Washington 's wife Martha . While he opposed slavery from a philosophical perspective, he supported its legality and held hundreds of slaves. When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his desire for

3737-567: The Arlington plantation as a punishment; however, they disagree over the likelihood that Lee flogged them, and over the charge that he personally whipped Mary Norris. In 1934, Douglas S. Freeman described the incident as "Lee's first experience with the extravagance of irresponsible antislavery agitators" and asserted that "There is no evidence, direct or indirect, that Lee ever had them or any other Negroes flogged. The usage at Arlington and elsewhere in Virginia among people of Lee's station forbade such

3838-564: The Army a year after graduation). Lee did not incur any demerits during his four-year course of study, a distinction shared by only five of his 45 classmates. In June 1829, Lee was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. After graduation, while awaiting assignment, he returned to Virginia to find his mother on her deathbed; she died at Ravensworth on July 26, 1829. On August 11, 1829, Brigadier General Charles Gratiot ordered Lee to Cockspur Island , Georgia . The plan

3939-487: The Civil War. Robert E. Lee was at both events. Lee initially remained loyal to the Union after Texas seceded. John Brown led a band of 21 abolitionists who seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry , Virginia, in October 1859, hoping to incite a slave rebellion. President James Buchanan gave Lee command of detachments of militia, soldiers, and United States Marines , to suppress the uprising and arrest its leaders. By

4040-572: The Confederacy had a shortage of manpower, have come under criticism. His legacy, and his views on race and slavery, have been the subject of continuing debate and historical controversy. Lee was born at Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia , to Henry Lee III and Anne Hill Carter Lee on January 19, 1807. His ancestor, Richard Lee I , emigrated from Shropshire , England , to Virginia in 1639. Lee's father suffered severe financial reverses from failed investments and

4141-562: The Confederacy's most powerful army, from 1862 until its surrender in 1865, earning a reputation as a skilled tactician. A son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III , Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. He served across the United States, distinguished himself extensively during

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4242-559: The Confederate army in exchange for freedom. However, he came to this position with great reluctance. In an 1865 letter to his friend Andrew Hunter , he wrote: "Considering the relation of master and slave, controlled by humane laws and influenced by Christianity and an enlightened public sentiment, as the best that can exist between the white and black races while intermingled as at present in this country, I would deprecate any sudden disturbance of that relation unless it be necessary to avert

4343-717: The Florida Engineering Society (FES). Jeffrey G. Cumber was recognized as the 2010 Teacher of the Year, and Lee won the School of the Year title. Cumber and Lee High School respectively received $ 500 checks from the affiliated Florida Engineering Foundation (FEF). The campus reflects the Open Air architectural values of the Progressive Education Movement (1875–1955). The Progressives felt that schools should resemble

4444-743: The Math and Science Magnet Program. In addition, there is a Liberal Arts curriculum. The Early College, Engineering, Math and Science, plus Liberal Arts courses of study are known as the school's four learning communities. Riverside is one of 20 high schools in the Duval County Public Schools . Riverside, like all other district schools, is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . Architect Victor Earl Mark (1876–1948) designed Lee High School with William B. Ittner of St. Louis in 1926–27. Both architects also designed

4545-489: The Norrises whipped, and that the overseer refused to whip the woman but that Lee took the whip and flogged her personally. Lee privately wrote to his son Custis that "The N. Y. Tribune has attacked me for my treatment of your grandfather's slaves, but I shall not reply. He has left me an unpleasant legacy." Wesley Norris himself spoke out about the incident after the war, in an 1866 interview printed in an abolitionist newspaper,

4646-645: The Potomac under George B. McClellan away from the Confederate capital of Richmond during the Seven Days Battles , but he was unable to destroy McClellan's army. Lee then overcame Union forces under John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run in August. His invasion of Maryland that September ended with the inconclusive Battle of Antietam , after which he retreated to Virginia. Lee won two major victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville before launching

4747-537: The Potomac from Washington. The 3rd U.S. Artillery served as honor guard at the marriage. They eventually had seven children, three boys and four girls: All the children survived him except for Annie, who died in 1862. They are all buried with their parents in the crypt of the University Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Lee was a great-great-great-grandson of William Randolph and

4848-457: The War Department he could not maintain laborers without the facilities of the fort. In 1834, Lee was transferred to Washington as General Gratiot's assistant. Lee had hoped to rent a house in Washington for his family, but was not able to find one; the family lived at Arlington, though Lieutenant Lee rented a room at a Washington boarding house for when the roads were impassable. In mid-1835, Lee

4949-420: The War, Lee told a congressional committee that blacks were "not disposed to work" and did not possess the intellectual capacity to vote and participate in politics. Lee also said to the committee that he hoped that Virginia could "get rid of them", referring to blacks. While not politically active, Lee defended Lincoln's successor Andrew Johnson 's approach to Reconstruction, which according to Foner, "abandoned

5050-465: The addition of Ninth Grade. Lee had been a three-year high school since its opening in 1927. Part of the old shop building was torn down to make way for the new two-floor building. The field house was also expanded in 1991. Lee was one of 11 schools nationwide selected by the College Board for inclusion in the 2006-10 EXCELerator School Improvement Model program. The educational partnership, funded by

5151-444: The assignment and returned to his post in Washington, finding his wife ill at Ravensworth. Mary Lee, who had recently given birth to their second child, remained bedridden for several months. In October 1836, Lee was promoted to first lieutenant. Lee served as an assistant in the chief engineer's office in Washington, D.C. from 1834 to 1837, but spent the summer of 1835 helping to lay out the state line between Ohio and Michigan . As

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5252-459: The audience to be desegregated, as Black folk had the freedom to sit where they liked in Europe. Paul McCartney went on record about their disapproval of the situation, and their lack of understanding of segregation in the first place, while John Lennon said, "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't going to start now. I'd sooner lose our appearance money." After city officials relented,

5353-427: The band played to an integrated audience. The concert was held the day after Hurricane Dora struck St. Augustine and Jacksonville; most of Jacksonville was without electricity and power was not restored for several days. Despite the hurricane, 23,000 fans attended, paying $ 4 and $ 5 for tickets. During the concert, Ringo Starr 's drumkit was nailed to the stage because of the 45 mph winds. The historic structure

5454-517: The buildings and courses and spent much time with the cadets. Lee's oldest son, George Washington Custis Lee, attended West Point during his tenure. Custis Lee graduated in 1854, first in his class. Lee was enormously relieved to receive a long-awaited promotion as second-in-command of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Texas in 1855. It meant leaving the Engineering Corps and its sequence of staff jobs for

5555-537: The combat command he truly wanted. He served under Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston at Camp Cooper , Texas; their mission was to protect settlers from attacks by the Apache and the Comanche . In 1857, his father-in-law George Washington Parke Custis died, creating a serious crisis when Lee took on the burden of executing the will . Custis's estate encompassed vast landholdings and hundreds of slaves but also massive debts;

5656-517: The contradictory nature of Lee's beliefs and actions concerning race and slavery. While Lee protested he had sympathetic feelings for blacks, they were subordinate to his own racial identity. While Lee held slavery to be an evil institution, he also saw some benefit to blacks held in slavery. While Lee helped assist individual slaves reach freedom in Liberia, and provided for their emancipation in his own will, he believed slaves should be eventually freed in

5757-572: The country to remain intact and an offer of a senior Union command. During the first year of the Civil War, he served in minor combat operations and as a senior military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis . Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign following the wounding of Joseph E. Johnston . He succeeded in driving the Union Army of

5858-516: The couple's first son, Custis Lee was born at Fort Monroe. Although the two were by all accounts devoted to each other, they were different in character: Robert Lee was tidy and punctual, qualities his wife lacked. Mary Lee also had trouble switching from being a rich man's daughter to having to manage a household with only one or two enslaved people. Beginning in 1832, Robert Lee had a close but platonic relationship with Harriett Talcott, wife of his fellow officer Andrew Talcott . Life at Fort Monroe

5959-464: The delay. In May 1858, Lee wrote to his son Rooney, "I have had some trouble with some of the people. Reuben, Parks & Edward, in the beginning of the previous week, rebelled against my authority—refused to obey my orders, & said they were as free as I was, etc., etc.—I succeeded in capturing them & lodging them in jail. They resisted till overpowered & called upon the other people to rescue them." Less than two months after they were sent to

6060-544: The estate to retire debt. Lee did not welcome the role of planter while administering the Custis properties at Romancoke, another nearby the Pamunkey River and Arlington; he rented the estate's mill. While all the estates prospered under his administration, Lee was unhappy at direct participation in slavery as a hated institution. Even before what Michael Fellman called a "sorry involvement in actual slave management", Lee judged

6161-528: The estate. Some of the families had been together since their time at Mount Vernon. In 1859, three slaves at Arlington—Wesley Norris, his sister Mary, and a cousin of theirs—fled for the North, but were captured a few miles from the Pennsylvania border and forced to return to the plantation. On June 24, 1859, the anti-slavery newspaper New York Daily Tribune published two anonymous letters (dated June 19 and June 21 ), each claiming to have heard that Lee had

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6262-448: The existence of an account book that indicates the constable received compensation from Lee on the date that this event occurred". In 2014, Michael Korda wrote that "Although these letters are dismissed by most of Lee's biographers as exaggerated, or simply as unfounded abolitionist propaganda, it is hard to ignore them [...] It seems incongruously out of character for Lee to have whipped a slave woman himself, particularly one stripped to

6363-442: The experience of white mastery to be a greater moral evil to the white man than blacks suffering under the "painful discipline" of slavery which introduced Christianity, literacy and a work ethic to the "heathen African". Columbia University historian  Eric Foner notes that: By the time of Lee's career in the U.S. Army, the officers of West Point stood aloof from political-party and sectional strife on such issues as slavery, as

6464-552: The first game in that bowl's history, was also played at the stadium. The Gator Bowl hosted the 1968 and 1969 AFL All-Star Games . The Beatles played a concert at the Gator Bowl on their first American Tour on September 11, 1964. When the Beatles found out that the concert was going to be racially segregated and the Black audience degraded, they refused to play there unless they allowed

6565-433: The former slaves to the mercy of governments controlled by their former owners". According to Foner, "A word from Lee might have encouraged white Southerners to accord blacks equal rights and inhibited the violence against the freed people that swept the region during Reconstruction, but he chose to remain silent." Lee was also urged to condemn the white-supremacy organization Ku Klux Klan , but opted to remain silent. In

6666-470: The generation following the war, Lee, though he died just a few years later, became a central figure in the Lost Cause interpretation of the war. The argument that Lee had always opposed slavery, and freed the people enslaved by his wife, helped maintain his stature as a symbol of Southern honor and national reconciliation. Both Harpers Ferry and the secession of Texas were monumental events leading up to

6767-576: The gym and the original building. Before that time, the swim teams trained at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd Pool, located about a mile north. Lee Pool is used by the athletic teams and physical education classes during the school year. In the summer, it becomes a free public pool operated by the City of Jacksonville Parks & Recreation Department. On November 24, 1986, Lee was ravaged by

6868-410: The incorporation of ninth grade in 1991–92, the total number of students slowly rose to a high of 1900 in the 2005-06 year. As of February 2011, a total of 1,732 students attended Lee. The racial composition of the school has varied since full integration of Duval County began in the 1971–72 school year. Robert E. Lee became a majority Black school in the late 1980s. Then, it was majority White during

6969-625: The last day he was allowed to legally retain them, Lee finally freed all the enslaved people his wife had inherited from George Custis (in accordance with the Custis will). Before this, Lee had petitioned the courts to keep people enslaved by Custis longer than the five years allotted in Custis' will, since the estate was still in debt, but the courts rejected his appeals. In 1866, one of the people formerly enslaved by Lee, Wesley Norris, charged that Lee personally beat him and other slaves harshly after they had tried to run away from Arlington. Lee never publicly responded to this charge, but privately told

7070-552: The latter, my sympathies are more strong for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially & physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing, is necessary for their instruction as a race, & I hope will prepare & lead them to better things. How long their subjugation may be necessary is known & ordered by a wise Merciful Providence. Before leaving to serve in Mexico, Lee had written

7171-520: The lengthy Siege of Petersburg , which was followed in April 1865 by the capture of Richmond and the destruction of most of Lee's army, which he finally surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House . In 1865, Lee became president of Washington College, now Washington and Lee University , in Lexington, Virginia ; as president of the college, he supported reconciliation between the North and South. Lee accepted

7272-451: The negroes, will be firm & make them do their duty." But Lee failed to find a man for the job, and had to take a two-year leave of absence from the army to run the plantation himself. Lee's more strict expectations and harsher punishments of the slaves on Arlington plantation nearly led to a revolt, since many of the enslaved people had been given to understand that they were to be made free as soon as Custis died, and protested angrily at

7373-424: The oldest overall continuing secondary education institution in Jacksonville, starting as a Freedmen's Bureau -run school in 1868 for Black students. That facility moved from its original West Ashley Street Building to a new West 13th Street building in 1953. The school name was the source of considerable controversy as many found the use of the Confederate general's name to be a symbol of white supremacy . By 2021

7474-428: The outdoors as much as possible. The numerous windows bring in a lot of natural light. So, the original building is less dependent on artificial lighting. This is one of the "green" advantages of historic buildings. The original building's courtyard, roomy stairwells, and ample hallways give students a healthy amount of physical space. Before air conditioning was installed in the late 1980s, the natural ventilation helped

7575-458: The overseer refused to do it, called in the county constable to do it instead. Unlike the anonymous letter writers, he does not state that Lee himself whipped any of the enslaved people. According to Norris, Lee "frequently enjoined [Constable] Williams to 'lay it on well', an injunction which he did not fail to heed; not satisfied with simply lacerating our naked flesh, Gen. Lee then ordered the overseer to thoroughly wash our backs with brine , which

7676-581: The people enslaved by Custis, including Wesley Norris, after the end of the five-year period in the winter of 1862, filing the deed of manumission on December 29, 1862. Biographers of Lee have differed over the credibility of the account of the punishment as described in the letters in the Tribune and in Norris's personal account. They broadly agree that Lee sought to recapture a group of slaves who had escaped, and that, after recapturing them, he hired them out off of

7777-485: The school "breathe." Students found the air temperature very comfortable from October to April. Lee was also given radiators for the winter. September and May were the only months when the heat and humidity were a consideration. The Open Air Style was a reaction to the dark, crowded, and poorly ventilated buildings that plagued poor school districts. Riverside, and Andrew Jackson are the two oldest Jacksonville high schools still operating at their original sites, with Stanton

7878-400: The school district's board of education began considering giving the school a different name. As a result, some residents argued against renaming. There was an online petition that, by March 25, 2021, got over 15,000 signatures asking for a name change. In April 2021, Amy Donofrio, a Riverside teacher who co-founded a program promoting juvenile justice, EVAC Movement, was asked to take down

7979-429: The similarly designed Andrew Jackson High School . The school was dedicated to confederate general Robert E. Lee on his birthday , January 19, 1928. Jacksonville's three newly constructed high schools—Lee High, Andrew Jackson High, and Julia E. Landon High (named for a South Jacksonville teacher)—spread out students from the city's original whites-only high school, Duval High School (c. 1873–1927). Black students at

8080-537: The stadium received national attention when it hosted the first Gator Bowl game. The stadium was expanded to 16,000 seats in 1948, and the structure was renamed the Gator Bowl. Prior to the 1949 game, the seating capacity was expanded to 36,058, at which it remained until 1957. The stadium was home to the World Football League 's Jacksonville Sharks in 1974 and the Jacksonville Express in 1975. It

8181-469: The summer of 1825. At the time, the focus of the curriculum was engineering; the head of the United States Army Corps of Engineers supervised the school and the superintendent was an engineering officer. Cadets were not permitted leave until they finished two years of study and were rarely allowed off the academy grounds. Lee graduated second in his class behind Charles Mason (who resigned from

8282-406: The summer of 1829, Lee had apparently courted Mary Custis whom he had known as a child. Lee obtained permission to write to her before leaving for Georgia, though Mary Custis warned Lee to be "discreet" in his writing, as her mother read her letters, especially from men. Custis refused Lee the first time he asked to marry her; her father did not believe the son of the disgraced Light-Horse Harry Lee

8383-536: The termination of slavery provided for by the Thirteenth Amendment , but opposed racial equality for African Americans . After his death in 1870, Lee became a cultural icon in the South and is largely hailed as one of the Civil War's greatest generals. As commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, he fought most of his battles against armies of significantly larger size, and managed to win many of them. Lee built up

8484-429: The time Lee arrived that night, the militia on the site had surrounded Brown and his hostages. At dawn, Brown refused the demand for surrender. Lee attacked, and Brown and his followers were captured after three minutes of fighting. Lee's summary report of the episode shows Lee believed it "was the attempt of a fanatic or madman". Lee said Brown achieved "temporary success" by creating panic and confusion and by "magnifying"

8585-407: The time attended Stanton High School , which moved to a new facility in 1953. The main structure is notable for its beige bricks and top floor off-white stucco. It is framed by four gabled transepts, which in turn are framed by ground-to-roof stacks of alternating small and large cornerstones. The top floor stucco of the four transepts feature a coat of arms, in which a central figure reaches for

8686-410: The waist, and that charge may have been a flourish added by the two correspondents; it was not repeated by Wesley Norris when his account of the incident was published in 1866 [...] [A]lthough it seems unlikely that he would have done any of the whipping himself, he may not have flinched from observing it to make sure his orders were carried out exactly." Several historians have noted what they consider

8787-537: The will required people formerly enslaved by Custis "to be emancipated by my executors in such manner as to my executors may seem most expedient and proper, the said emancipation to be accomplished in not exceeding five years from the time of my decease". The estate was in disarray, and the plantations had been poorly managed and were losing money. Lee tried to hire an overseer to handle the plantation in his absence, writing to his cousin, "I wish to get an energetic honest farmer, who while he will be considerate & kind to

8888-409: The years 1991–96. It has been majority Black since 1996–97. A total of 1829 students attended during the 2008–09 school year. Of that total, 63.6% were black, 23.3% were white, 6.5% were Hispanic, and 4.5% were Asian. One student was Native American and 36 were of unspecified ethnicity. The number of Asian students surpassed 50 in the 1992-93 year, but the group has fluctuated between a high of 82 and

8989-439: Was a gradual emancipationist, denouncing extremist proposals for the immediate abolition of slavery. Lee rejected what he called evilly motivated political passion, fearing a civil and servile war from precipitous emancipation. Historian Elizabeth Brown Pryor offered an alternative interpretation of Lee's voluntary manumission of slaves in his will, and assisting slaves to a life of freedom in Liberia, seeing Lee as conforming to

9090-425: Was a great evil, but primarily due to adverse impact that it had on white people: In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution, is a moral & political evil in any Country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it however a greater evil to the white man than to the black race, & while my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of

9191-465: Was a suitable man for his daughter. She accepted him with her father's consent in September 1830, while he was on summer leave, and the two were wed on June 30, 1831. Lee's duties at Fort Monroe were varied, typical for a junior officer, and ranged from budgeting to designing buildings. Although Mary Lee accompanied her husband to Hampton Roads , she spent about a third of her time at Arlington, though

9292-407: Was almost entirely razed in 1994, as part of a massive remodeling effort which essentially built a new stadium. The new stadium was renamed Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (currently named EverBank Stadium ). Almost none of the original infrastructure remains, except for the west upper deck (which had been added in 1982) and the ramping system. While Jacksonville Municipal Stadium was being constructed,

9393-421: Was assigned to assist Andrew Talcott in surveying the southern border of Michigan. While on that expedition, he responded to a letter from an ill Mary Lee, which had requested he come to Arlington, "But why do you urge my immediate return, & tempt one in the strongest manner[?]... I rather require to be strengthened & encouraged to the full performance of what I am called on to execute." Lee completed

9494-488: Was done." The Norris men were then sent by Lee's agent to work on the railroads in Virginia and Alabama . According to the interview, Norris was sent to Richmond in January 1863 "from which place I finally made my escape through the rebel lines to freedom". But Federal authorities reported that Norris came within their lines on September 5, 1863, and that he "left Richmond ..with a pass from General Custis Lee." Lee freed

9595-423: Was interrupted by other duties, among them surveying and updating maps in Florida. Cuban revolutionary Narciso López intended to forcibly liberate Cuba from Spanish rule. In 1849, searching for a leader for his filibuster expedition, he approached Jefferson Davis, then a United States senator. Davis declined and suggested Lee, who also declined. Both decided it was inconsistent with their duties. The 1850s were

9696-426: Was marked by conflicts between artillery and engineering officers. Eventually, the War Department transferred all engineering officers away from Fort Monroe, except Lee, who was ordered to take up residence on the artificial island of Rip Raps across the river from Fort Monroe, where Fort Wool would eventually rise, and continue work to improve the island. Lee duly moved there, then discharged all workers and informed

9797-505: Was often supported by a relative, William Henry Fitzhugh , who owned the Oronoco Street house and allowed the Lees to stay at his country home Ravensworth . Fitzhugh wrote to United States Secretary of War , John C. Calhoun , urging that Robert be given an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Fitzhugh had young Robert deliver the letter. Lee entered West Point in

9898-484: Was put in debtors' prison . Soon after his release the following year, the family moved to the city of Alexandria which at the time was still part of the District of Columbia , which retroceded back to Virginia in 1847, both because there were then high quality local schools there, and because several members of Anne's extended family lived nearby. In 1811, the family, including the newly born sixth child, Mildred, moved to

9999-666: Was still captain of engineers, and he would remain a captain until his transfer to the cavalry in 1855. For the first time, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met and worked with each other during the Mexican–American War. Close observations of their commanders constituted a learning process for both Lee and Grant. The Mexican–American War concluded on February 2, 1848. After the Mexican War, Lee spent three years at Fort Carroll in Baltimore harbor. During this time, his service

10100-675: Was the home of a North American Soccer League team, the Jacksonville Tea Men from 1981 to 1984 and then a United States Football League team, the Jacksonville Bulls from 1984 to 1985. The stadium was the site of the Gator Bowl from 1949 to 1993. It also hosted the annual Florida–Georgia game between the University of Georgia and the University of Florida college football teams from 1933 to 1993. The 1950 Senior Bowl ,

10201-613: Was to build a fort on the marshy island which would command the outlet of the Savannah River . Lee was involved in the early stages of construction as the island was being drained and built up. In 1831, it became apparent that the existing plan to build what became known as Fort Pulaski would have to be revamped, and Lee was transferred to Fort Monroe at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula (today in Hampton, Virginia ). While home in

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