Unsung Heroes

Top row:

1. Mary Jane Johnson: a renowned midwife who delivered over 1,500 babies in Parramore.

2. Mercerdese Clark: the first African American to be named the head of the County Public Health Department, and is the founder and President of the Central Florida Black Nursing Association.

3. Rubye Sanders: worked diligently for the community in her role as Health Educator for the Orange County Tuberculosis and Health Association.

4. Theresa Walton: played a key role in integrating Orange General Hospital and closing the “colored ward.” She was the first African American nurse at the hospital, and grew her career to become the first African American head nurse at the hospital.

Second row:

5. Pinkie Price: an entrepreneur who operated a sewing school. She also worked with the Lincoln theater and South Street Casino, and taught in the public schools for 20 years.

6. Billie Holiday: a famous jazz and swing music singer who frequently visited Parramore and stayed at the WellsBuilt hotel.

7. Dr. William Monroe Wells: the first African American doctor in Orlando. He was also the owner of the WellsBuilt hotel in Parramore, which he created for African Americans who were visiting Orlando and barred from segregated hotels. The WellsBuilt Hotel was featured in “The Green Book.”

8. Ella Fitzgerald: known as the first lady of jazz. She performed at the South Street Casino while being hosted a the WellBuilt Hotel.

9. Ray Charles: an iconic singer, song writer and composer. Mr. Charles lived in Paramore playing with multiple bands as he built the early stages of his career.

Third row:

10. Kattie Adams: became the first African American in 1980 to hold an Orange County School Board position.

11. Georgia Nell Woodley: a Civil Rights and Community Activist. Ms. Woodley became a Civil Rights Activist in the 1960s when her pastor the Rev. N.G. Staggers who was an activist in Orange County’s NAACP recruited members in his church to file a lawsuit to desegregate Orange County public Schools. Ms. Woodley was the first to sign up. That experience inspired Ms. Woodley to become a Community Activist in the 1970s when she galvanized her neighbors in the Parramore-Callahan area to start the first voluntary neighborhood incorporated association, which became the Callahan Neighborhood Association (CNA) Inc. Ms. Woodley first led her neighbors to convince the City of Orlando to pave the many dirt roads in Callahan and upgrade the sewer system. She then led the Callahan neighbors to partner with the Orlando Police Department to focus on reducing crime in the neighborhood spurned by drugs coming into the United States. One of her most visible leadership endeavors was in the 1980s convincing the City of Orlando to build a neighborhood center in the place of the deteriorated Callahan Elementary School that had been closed during the integration of Orange County Schools, and save the facade of the original school. The building became the Dr. J.B. Callahan Neighborhood Center where it is utilized for seniors’ events and children’s after school programs. Ms. Woodley continued to be a “Servant Leader” until the early 2000s when she became ill, but she continued to support the CNA as an advisor and mentor to the organization. In 2005 Georgia Woodley passed away, but she left a legacy of Love, Inspiration and Activism for the leaders and members of the CNA Neighborhood Association!

12. Reverend Jim Perry: known as “The Street Preacher.” He was a civil rights activist & NAACP Youth council President who helped students at Jones High School fight for desegregation.

13. Reverend Canon Nelson W. Pinder: a local community leader and another civil rights icon. He served the Episcopal Church of St. John for 52 years. During his lifetime, Reverend Canon Pinder organized sit-ins with Black teens protesting laws banning Blacks from eating at lunch counters and fought to integrate playgrounds, Little Leagues and schools.

Mural Features:

14. Green trim and frame work surrounding the mural: a reference to a detail off one of the covers of the Green Book. The Green Book was a travel guide published during the segregation era in the United States that identified businesses that would accept African American customers. Compiled by Victor Hugo Green, a postman who lived in the Harlem section of New York City, the Green Book listed a variety of businesses—from restaurants and hotels to beauty salons and drugstores—that were necessary to make travel comfortable and safe for African Americans in the period before the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Wells’Built Hotel in Paramore, now a museum, was registered in the Green Book and many famous musicians stayed there.

15. The columns or pillars: in architecture, act as structural elements that transfer loads from the slab, to the foundation and finally to the soil beneath. In this mural the columns are representative of the people of Parramore who acted as pillars of the community, often selflessly bearing heavy loads to support and uplift their fellow community members.

16. The Oranges: a reminder that many ancestors of the Parramore neighborhood were brought to the area as slaves to work in the orange groves that used to be here before the city existed, and many more continued to work as pickers on the groves even after slavery ended.

17. The Swan, Chrysanthemum Flowers and Sun: swans symbolize feminine intuition, grace, beauty (not just exterior, but exceptional inner beauty) and love. White chrysanthemums symbolize adversity and lamentation, as well as rebirth, and positive energy. On the mural, the swan is rising above the chrysanthemums, symbolic of rising up in rebirth from the grief in front of the sun, which represents healing, life energy, power, unity and peace. This is all under the phrase “Still I Rise,” the popular title of a Maya Angelou poem. This is all painted in a Art Nouveau style to reflect the art movement around the time Paramore was established.

18. The Monarch Butterfly: revered as a symbol of change, transformation and insight. Monarch butterflies represent the spiritual evolution and cosmic connection through one’s past lifetimes or the lifetimes of their ancestors. Monarch butterflies represent the guiding light that directs one to their highest spiritual truth, and the internal compass that we all have that never ceases to work to point us in the right direction. Seeing monarch butterflies represents our capacity to stay aware of the potential risks that surround us as well as our innate ability to stand up and be resilient each time we fall.

19. The Song Bird: people involved with music and the musically talented are often dubbed “songbirds” by the public. The songbird symbol also stands as a testament to the freedom of musical expression. Here the songbird represents those who used musical freedom to entertain and give hope to people during challenging times. Music, like other forms of art can make something beautiful out of the darkness and bring light and hope to many.

20. Tiger: the tiger is not just representing the Jones High School mascot, but also the ancient symbol of strength, power, courage, and ambition. The animal represents a symbolic release of fears and standing for truth, justice, and integrity. The quote beneath the tige , “Truth is a Letter from Courage” is from Eatonville’s own, Zora Neale Hurston, an author, anthropologist and film maker.

21. Gladiolus Flowers: the gladiolus flowers on either side of the tiger symbolize honor and remembrance. They also symbolize strength of character, faithfulness, sincerity, integrity and never giving up.