Locating Slavery's Legacies @ University of Virginia

Advocate of the Civil Rights Movement

France, Royal Wilbur

Royal Wilbur France (1883-1962) was a lawyer, author, veteran, and economics professor at Rollins who was also an advocate for civil rights and minority groups.

Royal Wilbur France was an educator, a writer, and a lawyer. He was born in Lowville, New York in 1883 and attended college at George Washington University and Hamilton College, where he earned his bachelor's degree. He then attended law school at the Albany Law School and studied under Hon. Walter H. Knapp of Canandaigua. After graduating he joined a law firm, served in World War I, and eventually was hired as an economics professor at Rollins College.

France was an activist. He was a socialist and agitated for free speech and civil rights. He was arrested on numerous occasions. In 1934, he wrote a letter condemning Florida Governor David Scholtz for failing to act in the lynching of Claude Neal. The letter made Scholtz demand Rollins fire France (it didn't).

France was also one of the biggest supporters of Zora Neale Hurston. He helped to stage her plays at Rollins. He also had Zora Neale Hurston stay at his house -- hospitality that shocked the Winter Park area and caused several local businesses to refuse service.

In 1945, France delivered the graduation address at Rollins College. In it, he urged the United States to support lenient terms for the surrender of Germany. He argued that to be punitive would encourage the same economic situation in the country that had led to Hitler's rise. A firestorm followed, with many demanding a public retraction of the speech by the college. President Holt again refused to act and in 1949 awarded France an honorary degree

France retired from Rollins in 1952 after working at Rollins for 23 years. He returned to the law and spent the rest of his career defending people attacked during the Red Scare of the 1950s. His obituary heralded him as a crusader for civil liberties.

July 23, 1883

July 10, 1962

1890-1945: Era of the Lost Cause, Jim Crow legal segregation and discrimination, and organized anti-Black racism

1945-1976: Era of Civil Rights Movement and resistance to Civil Rights Movement

Florida Socialist Party, National War Labor Board, Lawyers Guild, Emergency Civil Liberties Committee

Holt Hamilton, Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston, Zora Neale

Holt, Hamilton

Rollins College

Pathway to Diversity – The History of Race Relations at Rollins: A Brief Overview from the Archives, Part Two (1951-Present)

Rabble Rouser

Royal Wilbur France