ABOUT The Loyal order
Started in 1989 by Dr. Nikitah Okembe-Ra Imani and Dr. David Padgett, the Loyal Order of the '99 (commonly referred to as the Fraternal Order of the '99, the Loyal Order, or simply the '99, was a black student activist group at the University of Florida. Started as a response to the predominant white power structure at UF, as well as to the rise in local KKK and Neo-Nazi movements at the time, the two graduate students decided to form a student coalition.
​
They began addressing on campus issues, such as the power the majority white Student Government had over the funds of minority student groups, such as the Institute of Black Culture and the Black Student Union. The '99 would grow to address not only issues at UF, but also problems of the greater Gainesville community, modeling much of their activism after the Black Panther party, by creating a student-led security team and youth programs.
About the Collection
The Database is a collection of articles and interviews about the Loyal Order of the '99, a black student group formed from approximately 1989 to 1995. This collection was formed as a research project headed by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP),as part of their Black and Latinx History of UF course. SPOHP is a University and donor funded program founded in 1967 at the University of Florida, currently located within Pugh Hall. The program specializes in oral histories collected by students, volunteers, and staff, on topics ranging from Veteran Histories to the Mississippi Freedom Summer. The interviews provided within this database, are provided as part of their collections.
The articles currently used for the project were given by the Gainesville Iguana and the Independent Florida Alligator.
​
As research on the '99 grows, the database will continually grow with it, with more resources made available over the coming years.