This document, titled, Municipal and County Engineering Design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of all Public Works is a collection of articles, presumably collected and written by government officials. One of the articles in the collection, “How Good Roads Developed: Polk County, Florida”, references not only the development of roads in Polk County but also outlines the economy of Polk...
On February 11, 1890, The Town of Winter Park opened not one, but two schoolhouses: Knowles Public school, for whites, and Public School No.31, for blacks. Public School No. 31 had an especially good turnout, with both white and black in attendance. Mayor Robert White Jr. and Founder of Winter Park, Loring Chase, came out to celebrate this moment promoting education. Chase boasted that “with this,...
Through looking at the June 1921 Greenville County Economic and Social Directory it becomes clear that there has always been inequality even in small areas within Greenville. The Economic and Social directory, compiled by Guy A. Gullick we see that Greenville County represented many different socio-economic areas. In one section entitled “Facts About the Folks” there is a clear picture painting...
During the era of segregation, hospitals, hotels, casinos, schools, restaurants and other venues were not receptive to hosting African Americans. Â Â When it was possible for those whom had access to these places, often the quality of the facilities were deplorable compared their white counterparts. Â In addition to the poor quality, there were fewer medical facilities and physicians for people of...
The Voice of Orlando Negro Chamber of Commerce: Business Directory 1957 includes a long list of African-American establishments, from Beauty Salons to Churches, in the Orlando area. One entry, “The New Jones High School”, contains information on Jones High School after its recent renovation in May 1952[1]. The entry on Jones High School grants a valuable insight into the funding, resources, and...
During a time of segregation and struggle for change in the society of the early 1960’s, brave individuals got together in hopes of testing the ruling of the Supreme Court in Boynton v. Virginia in 1960 which deemed segregation on interstate buses unconstitutional. Bound for the Deep South, this bi-racial group of volunteers encountered odds that got increasingly difficult to deal with especially...
In June of 1944, J. Saunders Redding published an opinion piece on the G. I. Bill of Rights in a column he wrote for The Baltimore Afro-American newspaper. African Americans who served in the segregated Armed Forces returned home from WWII to an equally segregated American society. Redding worried whether “colored men and woman would take advantage of its [G. I. Bill] provisions" because military...
In 1949, the Orlando Negro Chamber of Commerce presented the details on the upcoming housing development, Washington Shores. Many citizens from all throughout the state came to visit and inspect the new developments progress. This community was unlike any other housing development of this time since all the houses were going to be “owned and peopled by Negro citizens.”  The Washington Shores community...
As many northerners opposed slavery, some certainly did not. The idea of the abolition of slavery became the central political issue in the North as well as the South during the 1850s. In 1853, Doctor John H. Van Evrie of New York explained, “Gigantic efforts are now being made to convince the people of the North that the overthrow of the present relations of black and white races in the South, or...
“W.H. Ridgeway, the 16-year-old driver of the white bus, sobbed in his hospital bed and told his mother over and over how sorry he was the wreck had happened” The Columbia State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper, reported this pitiful scene on January 21st, 1953, under the front-page headline, “Clarendon School Bus Crash Kills 2”. The State ran no pictures of the crash, but the details...