WE’RE GOING TO TALK MORE ABOUT THAT FORECAST FOR THE 2 100TH ANNIVERSARY. A JACKSONVILLE
COMING UP HERE TOMORROW. WE’LL
HAVE THAT COMING UP. ALL
RIGHT. THANK YOU, JOHN.
>> AS JACKSONVILLE’S
BICENTENNIAL INCHES CLOSER,
REMEMBERING SOME OF THE CITY’S
MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN ONE
OF THEM WAS EARTH AM AND WHITE
BORN JUST 10 YEARS AFTER THE
CIVIL WAR, SHE WAS A WOMAN
AHEAD OF HER TIME. REPORTER
JENESE HARRIS LOOKS BACK AT
THE INFLUENCE WHITE AND OTHERS
HAD ON THE WEALTHY. THE POOR,
THE YOUNG AND OLD ALL
THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES IN
WHITE WAS BORN IN 18. 76 AT
THE TIME. JACKSONVILLE WAS A
YOUNG THE 54 YEAR OLD CITY AND
THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA AFTER
THE CIVIL WAR WAS COMING TO AN
END, WHY DIDN’T HER ADOPTIVE
MOTHER, CLARA WHITE, A FORMER
SLAVE WOULD TRANSFORM DOWNTOWN
JACKSONVILLE THROUGH
PHILANTHROPY AND ADVOCACY FOR
DECADES.
>> DONICA TOLER, EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR OF THE AND AND WHITE
EXPLAINS HOW THE MOTHER
DAUGHTER DUO. CLARA WHITE’S
LEGACY STARTED FEEDING PEOPLE
AT A HOME? NOT CLARA HAD BEEN
A SLAVE.
>> AND AT THE END OF SLAVERY,
SHE NOTED THAT PEOPLE IN HER
NEIGHBORHOOD IN THAT AREA WERE
HUNGRY. SO SHE THE PART OF HER
HOME. AND EARTH. THE WHITE,
HER ADOPTED DAUGHTER SAW HER
DO THIS WORK.
>> THE HISTORY OF EARTH WIDEN
HER MOTHER IS HELD INSIDE THIS
BUILDING. IT WAS ONCE A
THEATER BUILT IN 1917, FOR
AFRICAN AMERICANS, BUT IS NOW
KNOWN AS THE CLEAR WHITE
MISSION. THIS IS THE AND AND
WHITE MUSEUM TYPE WRITER,
LEDGER AND TELEPHONE. LIVE
ASIDE, THE ORIGINAL CHAIRS,
THE WHITE WOOD ONCE USED AS
SHE READ AND PLANNED HER DAY
RUNNING MULTIPLE BUSINESSES.
SHE IS SERVING THE POOR. WELL,
SHE’S RUNNING HER.
>> HER OF SHE ACTUALLY HAD A
TAXI SERVICE. YOU HAD A
DEPARTMENT STORE, SHOE STORE.
SHE WAS SHE AN ADOPTION
AGENCY. SHOULD UNEMPLOYMENT
BUT AS JACKSONVILLE MOVED INTO
THE 20TH CENTURY WAS MET WITH
DEVASTATION. THE GREAT FIRE OF
19. 0, ONE, 3 YEARS LATER, THE
CLARA WHITE MISSION WAS
FOUNDED HELPING MANY WHO LOST
EVERYTHING IN THE MEANTIME,
OTHER GROUPS WERE FLOURISHING
JUST FOOTSTEPS AWAY FROM THE
CLARA WHITE MISSION IN THEIR
OWN WAY. LA VILLA, WHICH
BECAME PART OF JACKSONVILLE IN
18. 87 WAS HELPING THE CITY
GROW IN THE COMMUNITY WAS VERY
YOU WOULD HAVE FOUND CHINESE
HERE. SYRIANS.
>> TO LEAD THE WAY IN DUES
>> GREEKS THE GERMAN. IT WAS
VERY NEIGHBORS. SOME BUILDING
STILL REMAIN LIKE THIS WAS
SONIC TEMPLE. SO THAT BUILDING
WAS REALLY IMPORTANT. WAS THE
CROWN JEWEL FOR THE BLACK
COMMUNITY IN THE STATE,
ESPECIALLY IN THE MASONIC
ORDER. TOLER SAYS RECORDS
SHOW.
>> THERE WERE AT LEAST 700 TO
1000 AFRICAN-AMERICANS
INVOLVED IN POLITICS AFTER THE
CIVIL WAR THAT LED TO MANY
ORGANIZED GROUPS SUCH AS THE
BLACK MASONS AND EASTERN STARS
LED IN PART BY DANIEL WEBSTER
PERKINS, ANOTHER FIGHTER FOR
EQUALITY. A PHILIP RANDOLPH
WAS BORN IN 18. 89, A FILLER
RANDOLPH WHO GREW UP OUT EAST.
HE WAS FROM CRESCENT CITY, BUT
HE GRADUATED FROM IT. WILL
WATERS COLLEGE.
>> WENT ON TO BE A MAJOR CIVIL
RIGHTS LEADER AND A LABOR
UNION LEADER. IN FACT, HE AND
EARTH A WHITE OR AMONG THE
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT LEADERS
BEFORE THE PEAK OF THE
MOVEMENT. IN THE 1960’S EARTH,
A WHITE AND A PHILIP RANDOLPH
WERE KEY IN. FORESEEN FRANKLIN
D ROOSEVELT TO HIRE BLACK
PEOPLE IN THE FEDERAL JOBS
DURING THE DEPRESSION. AND
DURING WORLD WAR, 2 BECAUSE
BLACKS WERE NOT GETTING THOSE
POSITIONS, BUILDING THE TANKS
AND ALL THOSE THINGS FOR THE
WAR AND THEY THREATEN TO A
AROUND OFF, THREATENED TO
PROTEST. AND FRANKLIN DID NOT
WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. SO HE
SIGNED THE EXECUTIVE ORDER TO
SEND HIGHER BLACK FAST FORWARD
TO 2022, THE ACTIONS OF A FEW
HAVE MADE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION
TO JACKSONVILLE.
>> AND ITS HISTORY. GENIE’S
HAIR IS CHANNEL 4. THE LOCAL
STATION. THE CLARA WHITE
MISSION IS STILL ON. ASHLEY
STREET HELPED THOUSANDS IN THE
COMMUNITY. THERE’S ALSO A