Tillman Elementary

James Tillman Elementary School, 1415 29th St. E., Palmetto, is named after the educator and principal. The school opened its doors on Jan. 31, 1966. Tillman graduated from Florida A&M University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education before teaching in Manatee and Volusia counties for 28 years. Twenty of those were spent at Lincoln Academy and High School. Later, Tillman briefly served as Lincoln High School’s principal for two years, starting in 1964. “Tillman was a man who stressed the need of basic education and the not-always-popular philosophy that if you want to advance in the world, you have to depend on yourself,” according to a report in Manatee County’s Historic Records Archive. He died unexpectedly in 1965. His death was “quite tragic,” the report said. During his tenure as principal, Tillman is credited with increasing the quality of instruction and the emphasis on students’ respect for themselves and the school.