by Vickie Oldham, Newtown Alive
Newtown Alive is a podcast dedicated to the lives, memories and stories of the people of Newtown, Florida. Honoring the work that our predecessors did, while acknowledging the work left to do. For more information and all episodes visit our site: http://www.newtownalive.org/
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July 29, 2022
<p>Betty Jean Johnson is a voracious</p><p>reader who loves traveling to faraway places through books. </p><p>Her teacher Prevell Barber stoked an</p><p>appreciation for the written word. “I always had to read something in her class</p><p>or around her. The fact of it is when I read, I travel. We didn’t have TV until</p><p>later.” Johnson thought her college education would lead to a career in social</p><p>work.</p><p> </p><p>Instead, a high school class in</p><p>“library procedures” changed her trajectory after graduating from Gibbs Junior</p><p>College in St. Petersburg. Back then, Manatee Community College, now known as</p><p>State College of Florida was off limits to African Americans. Mary Emma Jones,</p><p>a well-respected entrepreneur and community leader orchestrated the hiring of</p><p>Mary Thomas at the Sarasota Public Library.</p><p> </p><p><br></p><p>Thomas helped Johnson land a job</p><p>there. The facility was not a welcoming place for African American patrons.</p><p>Johnson understood what Newtown residents encountered. “For a book report, I</p><p>had to go to that library for a book because we didn’t have it at the Booker</p><p>library. There were ‘closed stacks’ closed to Blacks. The lady at the desk had</p><p>to go to the stacks to get the book. When I started working there, those same</p><p>people were there.” For years, a perplexing question dogged Johnson. “What can</p><p>I do to get more Blacks to use the library?” A solution to the conundrum came</p><p>while preparing to work a split shift. She would ask the boss for use of an old</p><p>book mobile the library was about to replace. Instead, administrators provided</p><p>an outreach van that made books accessible to African American children.</p><p> </p><p><br></p><p>From a van to a storefront library</p><p>operating on a shoestring budget, Johnson and supporters kept pushing, even</p><p>though for years their efforts seemed fruitless. Finally, the North Sarasota</p><p>Public Library opened as a result of the seed of an idea that Johnson planted.</p><p>The facility is named after her.</p>
July 29, 2022
<p>Alberta Brown is known in the</p><p>Newtown community for her sumptuous southern-style Sunday throw downs – a big</p><p>roast seasoned to the bone, a large pot of collards, long pans of buttery yams,</p><p>melt in your mouth mac-n-cheese and moist cornbread with crispy edges.</p><p> It is as if a small army of</p><p>people are dinner guests. Extended family members, church friends and drop-ins</p><p>are part of the platoon stopping in for a plate. Brown’s family members were</p><p>sharecroppers from Alachua County. They moved to Palmetto and found work</p><p>picking tomatoes and green beans. Brown later worked as a live-in on Siesta Key</p><p>for a physician’s family. She took care of the couple’s little girl. When help</p><p>was no longer needed, she followed in her sister’s footsteps, training to</p><p>become a cook. The position at her next job evolved into more. Jane Bancroft</p><p>Cook, heir to the Dow Jones & Company family enterprise was looking for a</p><p>cook. Through a recommendation from a previous employer, Cook met a tall,</p><p>soft-spoken woman and hired her on the spot. Brown recalls the interview that</p><p>day. “She looked at me and said, ‘oh, you’re beautiful.’” What followed was a</p><p>friendship with Cook until her death in 2002 and a lifelong kinship with the</p><p>family that remains today.</p>
July 29, 2022
<p>School integration caused trauma and</p><p>fear for Carolyn Mason and rightly so.</p><p> She lived in Overtown’s “Black</p><p>Bottom” located at the corner of 8th Street and Central Avenue in segregated</p><p>Sarasota. There was a dividing line at 3rd Street or present day Fruitville</p><p>Road. “I call it the Mason-Dixon line. North of Fruitville was the Black</p><p>community; and south was downtown for the more affluent community.” The</p><p>communities did not mix. “My senior year in high school should have been my</p><p>best year, but it was full of apprehension. I couldn’t think past the fear of</p><p>being around people I had never been around before. I didn’t know what I was</p><p>afraid of, but I was afraid. Somebody should have talked to the children – all</p><p>of the children – about what to expect. Somebody should have said, ‘You don’t</p><p>have anything to worry about.’”</p><p>Mason began a career in public</p><p>service after viewing a theater production in Sarasota that lacked a diverse</p><p>cast. Frustrated, she became the go between for talented African American</p><p>artists and arts organizations. “I offered myself as a bridge. I was probably</p><p>on the board at one time of every arts organization in Sarasota County.” She</p><p>was elected to the Sarasota City Commission and served from 1999 to 2003. She</p><p>was Mayor of Sarasota from 2001 to 2003. Mason is the first African American</p><p>elected to the Sarasota County Commission in 2008 and served as chair in 2013</p><p>and 2015. Social issues are the focus of her work. Carolyn Mason’s oral</p><p>history was provided by interviewer Hope Black.</p>
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Newtown Alive is a podcast dedicated to the lives, memories and stories of the people of Newtown, Florida. Honoring the work that our predecessors did, while acknowledging the work left to do.
For more information and all episodes visit our site: http://www.newtownalive.org/
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