Judge L. E. Thomas, the first Black Municipal Judge in the south since reconstruction. Lawson Edward (LE) Thomas (1898-1989) was born in Ocala. He attended Howard Academy. He then attended Florida A&M College, and later the University of Michigan Law School. The Honorable Lawson E. Thomas 1898-1989 Memorable Corporate Painting https://laclinefineart.com/artwork/the-honorable-lawson-e-thomas-1898-1989/ King of Clubs of Read More…
Black History heroes Fred Pinkston. Born and reared in Silver Springs, FL, was a Howard Academy grad & brother of Frank George Pinkston, local Civil Rights leader & a member of the “Richmond 34.” … Fred was recently inducted into the Virginia Union University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 … his brother Frank was Read More…
A wall in Juanita Cunningham’s northwest Ocala home recognizes her devotion and service to a community in which, six decades earlier, she was not allowed to use the same public restrooms as white women. At the time, Jim Crow laws required African-Americans in many cases to use separate restrooms, water fountains and entrances to buildings, Read More…
The first Negro School in Marion County was set up by the Freedmen’s Bureau at the end of the Civil War and opened in March 1866 with 60 pupils. The school was staffed by a teacher from the Missionary Aid Association. Its original location is unknown. The following year, the school moved to a log Read More…
Chestnut Cemetery is a historically Black cemetery established in 1896 by Frank P. Gadson, James W. Alexander, Henry W. Chandler, Alex Holly, F.C.W. Williams, and William Giles. This cemetery used to be known as Oak Ridge Cemetery, later known as Hughes and Chestnut Cemetery, but since changed to Chestnut Cemetery. A New Cemetery Ocala Evening Read More…
by Alonzo Hardy Ocala Commercial and Bazar Company – Dr. Thos. P. Lloyd, Frank P. Gadson and James W. Alexander became the first known to start an investment company in April 1891. Notice and articles of incorporation of the Ocala and Marion County Commercial Bazaar and Investment Association, filed August 21, 1891 The Ocala Commercial and Read More…
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