[2] Moses had worked with a railroad company, and saved up enough money to buy several plots of land of the west side of Orlando in the black community of Jonestown.

Joseph had taken a job as the principal of Hopper Academy, and under his guidance he helped build the school house that still stands today.

[4] Structured after Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute, the curriculum was trade and agriculturally based, and classes only went up to the 10th grade.

[5] Joseph Crooms saw the opportunity to expand the curriculum of Hopper Academy and include a wider range of academic subjects, such as arts and sciences.

Joseph and Wealthy Crooms donated 17.5 acres (7.1 ha) of land in Goldsboro and began building their new school.

It would become Crooms Academy, a four-year high school dedicated to the enrichment and empowerment of young black lives.

[8] It became a tradition for alumni of Hopper and Crooms Academy to take their graduation class portraits with Joseph on the brick steps of his house.

Crooms Academy would also perform yearly parades down South Sanford Avenue, with baton twirlers and marching bands.