Every day, the Bellamy Building at Florida State University welcomes thousands of students, faculty, staff, and visitors. Constructed in 1967, this building is home to 16 departments and interdisciplinary programs from the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP).
The Bellamy Building takes the name of a figure critical to the development of the social sciences at FSU: Raymond Flavious Bellamy, Ph.D., (1885-1970).
Dr. Bellamy obtained his master’s and doctoral degrees from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, before arriving to the then Florida State College of Women (FSCW) in 1918. FSCW President Edward Conradi, Ph.D., hired Dr. Bellamy as head of the newly created Department of Sociology, a choice that — according to Bellamy himself — “determined the character of the department for the next third of a century” (Bellamy 1984).
For almost 20 years, Raymond Bellamy was the sole member of the Department of Sociology. He persevered in this role because of his versatile academic skills. It comes as no surprise that an In Memoriam published in The American Sociologist characterized Dr. Bellamy as “Mr. Social Science” (Francis 1970). Indeed, during his 38-year tenure, Dr. Bellamy taught courses in an array of disciplines including sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, social welfare, history, and statistics. Bellamy’s teaching was not only versatile, but also innovative; in 1924, he taught the first course on anthropology ever given in a southern college and in 1926, he was the first to teach a social welfare work course at FSCW. Dr. Bellamy’s passion for teaching appears to have been only matched by how much students enjoyed his classes.
Bellamy headed the Department of Sociology until 1950, when he was succeeded by Meyer F. Nimkoff, Ph.D. In addition to Dr. Bellmay’s role as Chairman of the Department of Sociology, he served as elected Vice-President of the Southern Sociological Society, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Florida Academy of Sciences, and a member of the International Sociology Honors Society (FSU Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Delta Honors Society). As for his academic publications, he co-authored A Preface to the Social Sciences (McGraw-Hill, 1956) with FSU professors Harrison Chase (Geography), Vincent Thursby, Ph.D. (Political Science), and Sadie Young (Economics). Moreover, during the mid-1950s he wrote “History of the Department of Sociology at Florida State University,” which was published post-mortem in 1984.
In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Bellamy was an active member of the local community. In fact, he participated of the Centennial Celebration of the founding of Tallahassee in 1924 by being in charge of a survey for the Leon County record and even putting together a “bird parade” as part of the celebrations. For this latter task, Dr. Bellamy secured his own funds through local donors and had FSCW students to help with the parade’s organization. Moreover, Dr. Bellamy worked with the Boy Scouts, being recognized with the “Silver Beaver” award in 1943 — one of his “most prized possessions.”
Dr. Bellamy was also involved in extracurricular recreational activities within the University. He participated in several plays given by the Speech Department, as well as in other faculty plays. His virtuous athletic skills made him suitable to serve as judge and coach during FSCW’s “Field Day,” a two-day holiday devoted to intramural student athletics.
Dr. Bellamy taught until his retirement from FSU in 1956 and was designated as Professor Emeritus of Sociology. More importantly, when the new social sciences building was constructed in 1967, the University decided to name it after Dr. Bellamy.
The Raymond F. Bellamy Building was dedicated in a ceremony held on October 30, 1967. The remarks made by W. Hudson Rogers, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of English, noted that Dr. Bellamy’s versatility “knows no bounds,” and that thousands of young men and women throughout Florida and the nation had the privilege of sitting in a class before him. Dr. Rogers remarked that these students “remember Dr. Bellamy’s devoted service to the field of social science, and their vote would be unanimous that this beautiful building should bear his name.”
Through his early effort teaching sociology, political science, and economics, Dr. Bellamy played a fundamental role in establishing what is now Florida State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP). In honor of his contributions, the “Bellamy Society” at COSSPP encourages alumni and friends to provide financial support for a range of opportunities, positively impacting the lives of our students, faculty, staff, and the communities they reach.