A founder of the University of Tampa, Anderson also oversaw growth in county schools.
By MICHAEL CANNING
Published May 7, 2004
An elementary school and a playground in South Tampa commemorate a onetime coal executive and School Board leader.
John G. Anderson Jr. was born in 1884 in Williamsburg, Va. He moved with his father, a Presbyterian minister, to Tampa in 1897. The elder Anderson would go on to serve as pastor at the downtown First Presbyterian Church.
After completing his primary education here, Anderson studied at Emory and Davidson colleges. He returned to Tampa, where he worked for the U.S. Engineers Department for a year and Bentley-Gray Dry Goods Co. for two years. In 1908 he organized Tampa Coal Co. with his father and brother F.M. Anderson.
Anderson's chief civic endeavors were improving the public school system and local elections. He served as chairman of the Tampa Election Board from 1936 to 1939 and was credited with bringing fairness to the election process. As president of the Hillsborough County School Board from 1922 to 1930, he oversaw considerable growth in the school system.
Anderson was a founder of the University of Tampa, a charter member of the Tampa Rotary Club and a president of the YMCA. He was also a member of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.
He died in 1954 at age 69.
Shortly after his death, a school at 3910 Fair Oaks Ave. in Fair Oaks/Manhattan Manor was named in his honor. His namesake playground was dedicated at the Kate Jackson Center, 821 S Rome Ave.
- Sources: Anderson Elementary, University of Tampa.
