Blessed Martin de Porres Catholic School for Colored Children opened on North Eighth Street in Fort Pierce in 1940. A photo was taken each year as a record of students and teachers. This photo from the late 1940s shows the students and teachers for grades 1-5 standing in front of the main school building, and the students and teacher of grades 6-8 standing in front of the war-surplus building that served as their classroom. ST. ANASTASIA CATHOLIC PARISH
A bright light was shining on a group of black school children along North Eighth Street in Fort Pierce in the days before school integration in the South. That light emanated from Blessed Martin de Porres Catholic School for Colored Children, a light of learning that led the way to professional and lucrative careers for many of the school’s graduates.