Nat Glover - Life and Education

Life and Education

Glover was born and attended public schools in Jacksonville. As a young man he experienced the racism of the early 1960s when he stumbled into Ax Handle Saturday. On that day, a group of 200 middle-aged and elderly white men, including some members of the Ku Klux Klan, gathered in Hemming Park, armed with axe handles and baseball bats, and attacked Civil rights protesters. A group of black youth who were called the "Boomerangs" attempted to protect the demonstrators. Police, who had not intervened when the protesters were attacked, now became involved, arresting members of the Boomerangs and other black residents who had attempted to stop the beatings. Glover said he ran to the police, expecting them to arrest the thugs, but was told to leave town or risk being killed.

He graduated from Edward Waters College in 1966 and received a master's degree from the University of North Florida; he also graduated from the 130th Session of the FBI National Academy. Sheriff Glover was a starting linebacker and team captain for the Edward Waters College football team, where he was a teammate of Jim "Cannonball" Butler.