Rosa Lee Jones: The Mother of Cocoa
By Marissa Bellenger, HERstory: Women in History Intern at the History Center for fall 2022 The Space Coast certainly has its share of significant history, including notable women, but you may not have heard of one of the most remarkable: Rosa Lee Jones. Her life was dedicated to activism and
Downtown Orlando’s Civil Rights Sit-Ins
On March 9, 1962, eleven Black students were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for simply refusing to vacate a whites-only lunch counter during a peaceful sit-in demonstration at Stroud’s Rexall Drugstore on Orange Avenue and Church Street.
Chief Wilson and the Jones High School Band
Working against the odds, teenagers and their band leader became effective goodwill ambassadors for Orlando’s African American community in the days before the Civil Rights Movement.
Father Nelson Pinder and the Jones High School Class of 1962
Father Pinder led the fight to integrate Orlando’s restaurants and lunch counters, stores, playgrounds, parks, and schools. He helped to persuade the Orlando Sentinel to eliminate its “Negro Section” and to cover African Americans in the main edition of the paper.
Inaugural Women’s History Breakfast Honors Mary McLeod Bethune
On March 12, the Orange County Regional History Center presents its inaugural Women’s History Month Breakfast with a program honoring Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), the legendary Daytona Beach educator who is hailed as one of our nation’s most powerful advocates for civil rights and suffrage.
Mary Ann Carroll: “First Lady” of Highwaymen Leaves Rich Legacy
History Center staff members were saddened to learn of the death on Dec. 4, 2019, of Mary Ann Carroll, who was long a stalwart member of the group of Florida Highwaymen artists who have visited the museum for Meet & Greet events twice a year.
Mary McLeod Bethune: Educator & Activist
Known during her lifetime as the “First Lady of Negro America,” Mary McLeod Bethune is remembered for her contributions as an educator and civil rights activist. Although the founding of Bethune-Cookman University is probably her most well-known accomplishment, it is one of many.
Searching for Dr. King
On March 6, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his one and only trip to Orlando to give a speech at Tinker Field. More than 50 years later, the Collections Department at the Orange County Regional History Center is searching through the collections for footage of that historic visit.