List of the 200 Most Influential African-American Leon Countians of the Last Two Centuries

• Rev. R.N. Gooden* — noted pastor of St. Mary Primitive Baptist Church on West Call Street; civil rights leader; president of the state and local chapters of the SCLC.
• Rev. C.K. Steele* — leader of Tallahassee Bus Boycott, student sit-ins, school desegregation and protests to integrate Tallahassee’s airport, hotels and theatres.
• Christene Ford Knowles — former original Lincoln High School teacher; noted civil rights activist who sued Leon County School Board in federal court for school faculty integration; former school board candidate, who became the first black to run for a countywide office in Leon County.
• Dr. Russell Lloyd Anderson — physician and medical director, FAMU; first African-American to run for the Leon County School Board.
• Joseph Woodrow Hatchett — first black supreme court justice; first black federal judge in the South.
• Carrie Pittman Meek* — Tallahassee native; first black woman to serve in the Florida Senate; first black to serve in Congress from Florida since Reconstruction.
• Patricia Stephens Due — noted student leader of protests and jail-in movement.
• Floy L. Britt — went on to become a local district 4H agent, supervising all African-American home demonstration agents in Florida.
• Aquilina C. Howell — first woman to serve as assistant superintendent of schools in Leon County.
• Elder Owen Smith — civil rights leader; pastor of University Church of God in Christ and Watson Temple Church of God in Christ.
• Bishop Elbert Lee Sheppard — pastor of Watson Temple Church of God in Christ; presiding prelate of Western Florida Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.
• Dr. Emma Holmes Kittles — former FAMU administrator; dean of consumer science, FSU.
• Anita L. Davis* — first black woman to serve as Leon County commissioner; NAACP President; successfully filed suit to create single-member districts for county commissioners.
• Robert D. Perkins, Sr.* — founder of the Recreation Advisory Council for Negroes, leading charge to build first recreational facility for blacks; first Black director of Computer Center at FSU; facilitated Federal Court Action to end discriminatory hiring practices in City Government (resulted in Federal Consent Decree).
• Trudie Chester Perkins* — one of the first black nurses at TMH; founder of Community Health Organization; facilitated Federal Court Action to end discriminatory hiring practices in City Government.
• E. Lilyan Spencer* — community leader, pioneering principal of Bond Junior High School.
• H. Manning Efferson — dean and vice president, former acting president at FAMU.
• Samuel Harrison Coleman — first black U.S. postman in Tallahassee; president emeritus of the FAMU National Alumni Association.
• Dr. Doris N. Alston* — first black school board member in the 20th century.
• Dr. Charles L. Evans* — associate dean of the FAMU School of Business and Industry; president emeritus of the Tallahassee Branch NAACP.
• Rev. King Solomon DuPont — pastor of Fountain Chapel A.M.E. Church; civil rights leader.
• Rev. Daniel Boyd Speed — associate pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church; president, Tallahassee Branch NAACP; civil rights leader.
• Cleatrice T. Speed — owner of Speed’s Grocery.
• Dr. Charles U. Smith* — first black faculty member at FSU; first black chair of the Leon County Democratic Party; former dean of graduate studies at FAMU; civil rights leader.
• George Calvin Bess, Jr.* — Tallahassee native and voting rights activist; killed in Mississippi while registering black voters.
• Rev. Father David Henry Brooks* — vicar of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church.
• Rev. Dr. Herbert Clarke Alexander — pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church; professor, School of Business and Industry, FAMU.
• Dr. Nickie Beasley — educator; principal of Griffin Middle School; assistant principal, Fairview Middle School.
• Harry “Nick” Nims — first black administrator at Rickards High School; first black principal of Fairview Middle School.
• Dr. Benjamin L. Perry, Jr.* — founder and first president of the Tallahassee Urban League; FAMU president emeritus; successfully maintained FAMU’s status as an independent member of the state university system.
• B.L. Perry, Sr. — dean of education; dean of agriculture at FAMU.
• Dr. Gilbert L. Porter — civil rights activist; principal of the original Lincoln High School.
• Freeman D. Lawrence — last principal of the original Lincoln High School.
• M. Lucile Williams* — principal of Bond Elementary School; area curriculum coordinator, Leon County Schools; neighborhood leader and activist.
• Eva B. Mannings — educator; teacher at Sealey Elementary School.
• Clyde Isler Eaton — nurse at Laura Bell Memorial Hospital; prominent Frenchtown resident; principal of Ward Elementary School.
• Dr. Evelyn B. Martin — second black member of the Leon County School Board in the 20th century; former interim dean of the FAMU College of Education.
• Laura Thompson Dixie* — secretary, SCLC; nurse, W.T. Edwards Hospital; civil rights activist.
• Lizzie Smith Dennis — one of the first black nurses at TMH; civil rights activist.
• Leander J. Shaw, Jr. — first black supreme court chief justice.
• James H. Abner — principal of the original Lincoln High School.
• Noah Webster Griffin — principal of the original Lincoln High School.
• D. Edwina Stephens — neighborhood activist; nurse at FAMU Hospital.
• James R. Ford, Sr. — first black elected city official in the 20th century; school administrator; first black mayor.
• Nancy E. Russell* — educator; principal of Leonard Wesson Elementary School.
• Dorothy Nash Tookes* — founder of the Tookes Hotel in Frenchtown; educator; founder and first principal of Bond School.
• Dr. Devurn H. Glenn — first black assistant school superintendent; principal of Nims Middle School.
• Beulah Bruce Gregory — first director of the Dade Street and Walker-Ford Centers; one of the first black administrators hired with the city of Tallahassee.
• M.S. Thomas — dean of mechanical arts at FAMU.
• Eddie Barrington — barber; Tallahassee bus boycott participant.
• Wilhelmina Jakes Street — educator; one of the FAMU students who initiated Tallahassee bus boycott.
• Carrie Patterson Williams — one of the initiators of the Tallahassee bus boycott.
• Coach Alonzo Smith “Jake” Gaither — head football coach at FAMU; winningest coach in college football history at that time (1945-1969).
• Mercedes Williams — nurse, FAMU hospital; one of the first black nurses at TMH.
• Dr. Sybil Collins Mobley — founder and dean emeritus of the FAMU school of business and industry.
• Dr. George W. Gore, Jr. — president emeritus of FAMU.
• Rev. Moses General Miles — dean of students at FAMU; pastor of Philadelphia Primitive Baptist Church.
• Rev. George Henry “G.H.” Wilson — pastor of Greater Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church.
• Attorney Robert L. Williams — last dean of the original FAMU College of Law.
• Rev. Gus Ward Hill — pastor of Testerina Primitive Baptist Church; played significant role in the establishment of the Miracle Hill Nursing and Convalescent Center.
• Rev. Richard Matthews — moderator of the Old West Florida Primitive Baptist Association; pastor of Friendship Primitive Baptist Church and St. Mary Primitive Baptist Church on Georgia Street.
• Johnie Robinson — noted and prominent businessman; founder and owner of Robinson’s Grocery in Bond Subdivision; organized the Brotherhood of Maintenance Railroad Employees.
• Harkless Hadley — owner of Hadley’s Groceries on Brevard Street in Frenchtown.
• Joe Morris — owner of Cherry Hill Grocery in Bond Subdivision.
• Aldonia Hadley Flowers — noted community leader and civil rights activist; teacher at the original Lincoln High School, who forced assignment to Lively Vocational School following school desegregation.
• Virgil Lynn Elkins — area program specialist and county extension agent at FAMU.
• Mose Pemberton — worked as head custodian at Lewis State Bank for more than 42 years; received FAMU president’s award for having graduated the highest number of children from the university (1972).
• Mary Porter Pemberton — received FAMU president’s award for having graduated the highest number of children from the university (1972).
• Daisy Young — assistant director of admissions at FAMU; outspoken civil rights activist and NAACP youth advisor.
• Dr. Courtney Emery “C.E.” Walker — dean of agriculture and home economics at FAMU; neighborhood activist; namesake of the Walker-Ford Center.
• Dr. James N. Eaton, Sr. — FAMU history professor who founded the university’s Meek-Eaton Black Archives.
• Dr. Charles A. Walker — dean of the College of Pharmacy at FAMU
• Austin Porter — Waverly Plantation overseer; family members started the first May 20th emancipation day celebrations in Tallahassee.
• Cecil Hill Walker — became principal of the original Lincoln High School at age 20; secured the school’s accreditation for the first time since its founding in 1867.
• Matthew Estaras — principal of FAMU high school.
• Thomas Strong — proprietor of Mitchell Funeral Home, which eventually became Strong & Jones Funeral Home.
• Walton S. Seabrooks — principal of Bond Elementary School.
• Nathan B. Young — president of Florida A&M College for Negroes.
• Dr. L.H.B. Foote — medical director, FAMU Hospital; namesake of the Foote-Hilyer Administration Center.
• Wilmoth Henry Baker — owner and operator of Baker’s Pharmacy for more than 40 years.
• Kathleen “Kitty” Starke Baker — first black woman registered pharmacist in Leon County; owner and operator of Baker’s Pharmacy for more than 40 years.
• Dr. Alexander D.J. Brickler — first black physician hired at TMH.
• Edwin F. Norwood, Sr. — president of the Tallahassee Branch NAACP; first black to be employed in the office of the Governor.
• Rev. J. Metz Rollins — pastor of Trinity United Presbyterian Church on Gore Avenue; bus boycott participant.
• William “Bill” McGill — Gadsden County commissioner; former executive director of the community action program; advocate for civil rights and social justice.
• Dr. Leedell W. Neyland — university historian, provost and vice president for academic affairs at FAMU.
• Howard “Doc” Roberts — owner of Economy Drugs; organizer of the FAMU School of Pharmacy.
• Geraldine Douglass Roberts — first graduate of the FAMU School of Pharmacy class; retired FAMU faculty member and owner of Economy Drugs.
• W.H. Hill — owner of Café Deluxe in Frenchtown.
• Coach James “Billy” Oliver, Jr. — original Lincoln High School teacher and football coach.
• Robert Frank Nims — longtime assistant principal and principal of the original Lincoln High School.
• Philip John Nelson — first black principal of Rickards High School.
• Virginia Landers Lawrence — secondary schools coordinator, Leon County Schools; FAMU High School principal.
• John Gilmore Riley — educator, civil rights activist; principal of the original Lincoln High School.
• John Proctor — last black member of the Florida Legislature during the pre-Jim Crow era.
• Dr. William P. Foster — director of bands and founder of the FAMU Marching “100”.
• Coach Hansel E. Tookes, Sr. — FAMU physical education professor; assistant football coach and athletic director.
• Dr. Ralph W. Turner — FAMU dean of arts and sciences.
• Millicent Clark Holifield — founder of Tallahassee’s first black nursing program.
• Nannie S. McGuinn — FAMU dean of women.
• Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs — Reconstruction-era state legislator; founder and first vice president of FAMU.
• J. Virginia Hilyer — first registered nurse at FAMU; nursing instructor and hospital superintendent.
• Dr. Frederick S. Humphries — FAMU president emeritus.
• Rev. Ira D. Hinson — pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church.
• Dr. William H. Gray, Jr. — president of Florida A&M College; Baptist minister and civil rights leader.
• Matthew Bryant, Sr. — established businesses in Frenchtown, Smokey Hollow and Bond Community. Established Bryant’s Bail Bondman’s and Bryant Grocery Store.
• Henry Shingles — owner and operator of Shingles Chicken Shack.
• Robert “China Doll” Parramore — world’s second fastest human; athlete; developer.
• Suwanee “W.S.” Lewis — educator.
• Major James Morgan, Jr. — the 3rd black deputy hired with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office in the 20th century.
• Sergeant Fred D. Lee, Sr. — one of the first of 3 black officers hired with the Tallahassee police department in the 20th century.
• Nevada Beasley — educator.
• Johnny Young — first black to own property in Bond Subdivision.
• Charles Howard — contractor.
• Dr. Eunice J. Burgess — FAMU nursing dean emeritus.
• J. Luther Thomas — FAMU library director.
• Rev. Dr. C.C. Cunningham — FAMU director of careers, counseling and placement.
• Dr. Lua S. Bartley — FAMU health and physical education professor.
• Coach Bobby Lang — FAMU head track coach.
• Lula B. Cropper — FAMU professor of elementary methods and geography; dean of women.
• O.J. Chestnut — civil rights activist.
• Rev. Milton Cox — pastor of Trinity United Presbyterian Church.
• Dr. Leander J. Shaw, Sr. — FAMU dean of graduate studies.
• Attorney Ed Duffee, Jr. — civil rights attorney
• Al McCoy — major league baseball player; equal opportunity employment officer for the city of Tallahassee;
• Rev. Dr. James Hudson — FAMU professor and university chaplain.
• ‘Major’ C.J.A. Paddyfote — FAMU men’s counselor and commandant.
• Coach Robert Mungen — FAMU assistant physical education professor and football coach.
• Coach Costa Kittles — FAMU professor, head baseball coach and assistant football coach.
• Dr. Elsie Wallace — FAMU professor, reading specialist and founder of the university reading clinic.
• Dr. Victoria Efferson Warner — FAMU distinguished professor, social worker and community activist; founder of the university’s school of social work.
• Coach Robert “Pete” Griffin — FAMU physical education professor, head track coach, and head football coach.
• Anita Prater Stewart — FAMU associate professor of health and physical education.
• Dr. Charles Billings — FSU professor of political science; city commissioner.
• Annie L. Cooper — FAMU dean of women, acting vice president for student affairs and dean of students.
• Josie Duncan Speed — educator, English teacher at the original Lincoln High School.
• Nathaniel “Nat” Adderley — musician.
• Dr. Walter L. Smith — FAMU president emeritus.
• Alyce E. McLin — educator at Riley and Bond Elementary schools.
• Lessie Graham Sanford — educator.
• Emily A. Copeland — FAMU professor of library science; chair of library service department.
• Julian “Cannonball” Adderley — musician.
• Annie Lee Gordan Perry — first Jeanes teacher-supervisor for Leon County Schools.
• Dorothy Gunn Holmes — Jeanes supervisor for Leon County Schools.
• Sylvester Beasley — FAMU professor of automotive technology.
• Lucinda Lawrence — one of the first teachers at Bond School; thirty-year Leon County educator.
• Eunice Spencer Carter — teacher at Dawkins Pond, Rainey, Cobb, and original Lincoln schools.
• Genevieve Wheeler Thomas — FAMU dean of the school of home economics.
• Ellen O. Paige — FAMU home economics professor, athletics pioneer; hostess of female students.
• Dr. William J. Gunn — first black Tallahassee physician.
• Edward A. Pottsdamer — owner of E.A. Pottsdamer cigar factory; educator and businessman.
• Dr. Jacqueline Bolden Beck — FAMU dean of allied health sciences.
• Abram Crowell — Welaunee Plantation sharecropper; pioneering member of St. Peter Primitive Baptist Church.
• Odell McGreen — first black nurse in Leon County, who organized health clinics in all “colored” county schools.
• Rev. C.P. Allen — pastor of St. Mary Primitive Baptist Church on West Call Street.
• J.R.D. Laster — Leon County’s first black funeral director; owner of Laster Funeral Home.
• Minerva L. Adams — educator.
• Willie Kershaw Perkins — civil rights activist; taught at Griffin Junior High School for 45 years.
• Rev. A.J. Kershaw — presiding elder, A.M.E. church.
• Rev. Dr. Bernyce Hall Clausell — founder and pastor of Calvary Baptist Church.
• Willie Galimore — former FAMU football player; NFL star.
• Jubie Barton Bragg, Sr. — FAMU vice president; acting president; athletic director; head football coach.
• J.R.E. Lee, Sr. — president of Florida A&M College.
• Althea Gibson — FAMU graduate; world-renowned tennis champion.
• Rev. A.C. Redd — civil rights leader; pastor of St. James C.M.E. Church.
• Rev. H. McNeal Harris — civil rights leader; pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church.
• Rev. W.W. Wood — pastor of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church.
• Sevilla Burney Tillman — Leon County native and founder of Tillman’s Funeral Home.
• Robert “Bob” Hayes — world’s fastest human; first person to win an Olympic gold medal and super bowl ring.
• Lewis Washington Taylor — teacher at Centerville and Bel Air schools; treasurer of the “colored” emancipation day celebrations.
• Lucretia McPherson Taylor — former slave, master cook and seamstress; well-known and respected among black and white citizens.
• G.W. Conoly — FAMU agricultural education instructor; director of alumni affairs.
• Dr. Margaret Williams Lewis — FAMU dean of nursing.
• William R. Perkins — principal of Griffin Junior High School.
• Dr. Lillie Smith Davis — chairwoman of the FAMU elementary education department.
• Mamie J. Strong* — nursing supervisor at FAMU hospital; co-owner of Strong & Jones Funeral Home.
• Elbert W. Jones — co-owner of Strong & Jones Funeral Home.
• Dr. M.C. Williams — dentist and civil rights activist.
• James O. Mobley — businessman and civil rights activist.
• Malachi Andrews — civil rights activist.
• Willie James Gardner, Jr. — educator.
• Edward “Ned” Guy Crump, II — owner of Crump’s Tavern and Crump’s Pool Hall.
• Dr. Charles C. Kidd, Sr. — longtime FAMU dean of engineering sciences, technology and agriculture.
• Josiah T. Walls — FAMU agricultural instructor and former U.S. Representative.
• Father James Page — former slave; pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church; Reconstruction-era Leon County commissioner.
• Rev. John N. Stokes — Reconstruction-era Tallahassee city councilman; Baptist minister; blacksmith; second black sheriff of Leon County.
• Phillip DeCoursey — first black sheriff of Leon County.
• Rev. Robert Meacham — founder of Bethel A.M.E. Church.
• W.C. Twine — shoemaker.
• Dr. Alpha Omega Campbell — founder of Laura Bell Memorial Hospital in Frenchtown.
• Dr. Freddie J. Martin — dentist.
• Dr. J.R. Bate — chief of the FAMU department of obstetrics.
• A.A. Turner — pioneer worker with the Negro division of the Florida agricultural extension service.
• Rev. Charles H. Pearce — first Leon County superintendent of public instruction.
• Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs — first black secretary of state.
• Nelson McPherson — former slave; Seaboard Railway line worker; preacher.
• Rev. A.B. Spencer — pastor of Fountain Chapel A.M.E. Church.
• Elder Edmond Griffin — founder and pastor of Greater Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church.
• Rev. Mace Jenkins — pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church.
• Rev. William Burns — pastor of First Institutional Missionary Baptist Church.
• Rev. David Henderson — pastor of Jacob Chapel Freewill Baptist Church.
• Dr. Mahlon C. Rhaney — FAMU professor of biology; vice president for academic affairs; dean of the college of humanities and social sciences.
• Alice Clotelle Peacock — community activist; teacher at the original Lincoln High School and Leon High School.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
LOCAL CENTENARIANS WHO ARE STILL ALIVE

• Mattie Hall Mobley – Age: 110; civil rights activist and beautician.
• Dr. Anne Richardson Gayles-Felton* – Age: 100; retired chair of the FAMU department of secondary education