Silas Xavier Floyd

Born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1869, Silas Xavier Floyd became one of the city’s best-known African American educators and ministers. Sources describe him as a valedictorian of both Ware High School and Atlanta University, and after returning home he worked in public education while also taking on a growing role in church and civic life.

Floyd wrote and edited for the Augusta Sentinel and later contributed to the Augusta Chronicle, where his writing offered commentary on local African American life. He also co-founded the Negro Press Association of Georgia in 1892, served as pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, and held leadership roles in education, including work as a school principal.

Remembered as a public-minded leader, Floyd was active in relief work after the Great Augusta Fire of 1916 and used both his pulpit and his writing to argue for dignity, education, and racial justice. He died in Augusta on September 19, 1923, but his name has remained part of the city’s history through historical markers, schools, and continued interest in his writing.