Claude Albert Barnett, entrepreneur and founder of the Associated Negro Press, was born in Sanford, Florida on September 6, 1889. Barnett was parents were named William Barnett and Celena Anderson. At nine months, he was brought to Mattoon, Illinois to live with his maternal grandmother. Barnett … Read MoreClaude Albert Barnett (1889-1967)
William Herbert Gray III was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 20, 1941. His mother, Hazel Yates Gray, was a high school teacher. His father, William Herbert Gray Jr. was a Baptist Minister and over his career, the president of two Florida colleges. Upon … Read MoreWilliam Herbert Gray III (1941-2013)
Corrine Brown is a former politician and now convicted felon who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1993 to 2017. Brown was born on November 11, 1946 in Jacksonville, Florida. She attended the local schools and then enrolled … Read MoreCorrine Brown (1946- )
On January 1, 1923, a massacre was carried out in the small, predominantly black town of Rosewood in central Florida. The massacre was instigated by the rumor that a white woman, Fanny Taylor, had been sexually assaulted by a black man in her home in … Read MoreRosewood Massacre (1923)
Robert L. Carter, the youngest child in a family of eight children, was born in Careyville, Florida in 1917. His family moved north to Newark, New Jersey shortly after his birth. Carter’s father died soon after arriving in Newark and his mother supported eight children … Read MoreRobert L. Carter (1917-2012)
George William Crockett Jr. was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 10, 1909 to George William Crockett Sr., and Minnie Amelia Jenkins. His father was a Baptist minister and railroad carpenter and his mother was a Sunday School teacher and poet. Crockett grew up in … Read MoreGeorge William Crockett Jr. (1909-1997)
A jazz pianist and bandleader, Count Basie was one of the leading musicians of the Big Band “Swing” era. His Count Basie Orchestra was formed in 1936, and featured singers such as Billie Holliday, and notable musicians including Lester Young, Jo Jones, and Walter Page. … Read MoreWilliam Allen (Count) Basie (1904-1984)
Winston Elliott Scott, a former Navy Captain and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut, was born on August 6, 1950 in Miami, Florida to Alston Scott and Rubye Scott. Winston Scott graduated from Coral Gables High School in 1968 and received a B.A. degree … Read MoreWinston E. Scott (1950- )
Holata Micco is widely considered a descendant of the “Seminole” founding Hitchiti-speaking Oconee family of “Cowkeeper” of Cuscowilla Town on the Alachua Pains of Spanish Florida. The name that Holata was best known by, “Billy Bowlegs,” uniquely united the whole experience of the three “Seminole … Read MoreBilly Bowlegs/Holata Micco (1810-1864)
Established in 1738, Fort Mose was the first free black settlement in what is now the United States. Located just north of St. Augustine, Florida, Fort Mose played an important role in the development of colonial North America. As Great Britain, France, Spain and other … Read MoreFort Mose, Florida (1738-1820)
