On Thursday, Feb. 13, Senator Geraldine Thompson, representing Florida Senate District 15 in West Orange County, passed away due to complications from a knee replacement surgery. The senator was 76 years old and worked in the Florida legislature as an Orlando lawmaker for almost 20 years, racking up a multitude of impressive accomplishments and awards during the time she spent fiercely dedicated to legislative service. Before devoting her life to public service, Sen. Thompson worked as a teacher for Orange County Public Schools for six years and as an administrator at Valencia Community College for 24 years.
Her work remains relevant today and will continue to impact Florida citizens, including those attending the University of Central Florida in the heart of Orlando. In honor of her life and legacy, here are some of her most notable achievements.
- The Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture
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The Wells’Built Hotel, opened by Dr. William Monroe Wells in 1926, provided lodging to African Americans during the Segregation era, where, according to the Wells’Built Museum’s website, “although African Americans were taxpayers like other residents of Orlando, they did not have access to recreational facilities, good schools, police protection, health care and other services that were provided to white citizens.” Dozens of celebrated Black Americans stayed at the Wells’Built Hotel in its prime, including Jackie Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Ray Charles.
The building was originally set to be scrapped, but Sen. Thompson believed it could be transformed. After Sen. Thompson had written a proposal, Trust for Public Land purchased the building. Sen. Thompson founded the nonprofit organization titled the Association to Preserve African American Society, History and Tradition, and both TPL and PAST received various grants to fund the hotel’s renovations. In June 2009, the hotel opened as the converted Wells’Built Museum, a hub for Orlando’s African American culture, history, and community. It remains in Orlando’s Holden–Parramore Historic District, open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Florida Senate - Her book, Black America: Orlando, Florida
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Yep, you read that right. Sen. Thompson was a published writer and author, too. She also wrote for her college newspaper at Miami Dade College while pursuing her associate’s degree. Published in August 2003, the book details the many achievements of African Americans in Orlando, taking the readers on a journey through over a century of Black history and culture in Central Florida. You can purchase the enlightening and well-written read on websites like Amazon.
- Orlando’s Civil Rights Wall of Fame and other accolades
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In 2021, Sen. Thompson was inducted into Orlando’s Civil Rights Wall of Fame by the City of Orlando for her work in the Florida legislature dedicated to social justice. Some of her other notable awards and honors include the 2022-2023 Humanitarian Award from the Orlando International Film Festival, Democratic Women’s Club Legislator of the Year, Alpha Phi Alpha Drum Major for Justice Award, the 2013 Mary Hatwood Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the 2021 Outstanding Public Official Award from Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County.
Additionally, she was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and affiliated with the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the Orlando Children’s Trust.
- The groveland four
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The Groveland Four were four African American men who were wrongly accused of abducting and raping a 17-year-old white woman in July 1949. Shortly after the accusations, one of the men, Ernest Thomas, was chased down by a mob led by Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall and shot over 400 times. The other three, Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepherd, and Walter Irvin, were convicted by an all-white jury. Afterward, Shepherd and Irvin were shot by McCall in an act of “self-defense,” where Shepherd died from his wounds. Irvin went on to live and received the death penalty (although this was later changed to life in prison).
The case of the Groveland Four remains a harrowing example of racial injustice that yielded innumerable consequences. For example, after Harry T. Moore, the director and founder of the Florida National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called for McCall to be indicted for murder, his house was bombed on Christmas Day, 1951, killing him and his wife. According to the Zinn Education Project, “some of the Groveland Four had never even met each other before being arrested, and there was no evidence which would indicate any of the four men committed the crime.”
Sen. Thompson was instrumental in the eventual exoneration of the Groveland Four. She initiated legislation to exonerate the Groveland Four, first introducing SCR 136 during the 2016 legislative session. While the bill died in the Florida Senate’s Judiciary Committee, other bills were introduced and passed, leading to the exoneration of the Groveland Four in 2021. During the 2024 legislative session, Sen. Thompson also sponsored the Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Florida Voting Rights Act, also known as SB 1522: Elections, which would have made voting more accessible for all eligible parties in Florida.
- Florida’s Black History Museum Task Force
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The Florida Museum of Black History Task Force was created after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed CS/CS/HB 1441 into law in May 2023. It called for the creation of a nine-member task force with the responsibility of “provid[ing] recommendations for the planning, construction, operation, and administration of a Florida Museum of Black History.” The Governor, the Senate President, and the House of Representatives Speaker appointed members. Most notably, Sen. Thompson was appointed chair of the task force by the 2022—2024 Senate President Kathleen Passidomo. On June 28, 2024, the task force disbanded after submitting their Final Report, and on July 1, St. John’s County in St. Augustine was selected to be the location of the Florida Museum of Black History. Sen.Thompson was incredibly dedicated to this project and worked tirelessly toward it while she was chair of the task force.
Especially as Black History Month comes to a close, I urge you to explore further the contributions that Sen. Thompson has made to Florida. During the last legislative session, I interned with Sen. Thompson under the guidance of her steadfast Legislative Aides, Anika Hamilton and Michael Brien. Her wisdom and dedication to preserving Black culture and furthering education for all were astounding, but even more fascinating was the fact that many UCF students hadn’t heard about her. Sen. Thompson was a force to be reckoned with, and I hope that reading about her many achievements was inspiring to you.