Clifton in the Capital: Tallahassee Civic Activist

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Restored to its 1902 appearance, the Historic Capitol stands as an icon at the center of Florida’s Capitol complex; restored areas include the 1902 Governor’s office and chambers of the House of Representatives, Senate, and Supreme Court. Together with exhibit panels, photographs, and interactive multimedia, the museum offers a journey though the colorful history of representative government in Florida. More than 250 artifacts in 21 rooms invite visitors to trace the evolution of Florida government from territorial days to the present.

2. Tallahassee-Leon County Civil Rights Heritage Walk

The Tallahassee-Leon County Civil Rights Heritage Walk, located along Jefferson Street, serves as a memorial for 58 civil rights activists. This location was the site of lunch counter sit-ins in the 1960s, which are also depicted in the Heritage Walk. The walk also memorializes the Tallahassee Bus Boycott-- the second-largest bus boycott in the US. The sidewalk is made of terrazzo panels that feature bronze footsteps bearing the names of important individuals associated with the Civil Rights Movement in Tallahassee.

3. Florida A&M Theater Protest, May 1963

In the summer of 1963, hundreds of students from Florida A&M protested segregation at several downtown theaters, including the State Theatre which was located here on Monroe Street. Hundreds of students met on campus and marched down Monroe Street protesting the theater. After nine days of protest, dozens of students were arrested on May 30, 1963. The protests continued throughout the summer.

4. May Oak at Lewis Park

The May Oak was the central backdrop for a longtime Tallahassee festival known as May Day. The live oak, now a stump in Lewis Park, in downtown, Tallahassee, was where a court of Leon County High School students would congregate after a King and Queen were chosen and coronated. The tradition began in the 1800s and continued until the 1970s. May Day was discontinued after Leon High School was integrated. The tree later collapsed from age. Springtime Tallahassee succeeded the festival after the oak fell. A plaque at the stump reads: TALLAHASSEE'S MAY OAK LEWIS PARK The Tallahassee May Day Festival, one of the oldest annual celebrations in Florida, was held under the stately May Oak from 1844 to 1974. The historic landmark collapsed on August 9, 1986.

5. LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts

Founded in 1963 by four community leaders --Mary Metzke, Clifton Lewis, June Strauss, and Nanette Fisher--their goal was to establish a fine art gallery and a space for art education activities for Tallahassee and the Big Bend region. LeMoyne is currently located in the restored 1854 Antebellum Meginniss-Munroe home. Originally, it was in the Deeb House in the Park Avenue Historic District. In addition to offering gallery space to local artists and traveling exhibits, a sculpture garden is open to the rear, and a ceramics studio is in the basement. An education center is in a separate building. LeMoyne also has its own permanent collection including works by George Milton, Karl Zerbe, and Nancy Reid Gunn.

6. Florida A&M Students Wage Sit-Ins to Protest Segregation, 1960

On February 13, 1960, Florida A&M students and other members of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) held the first of what would turn into a year-long campaign of sit-ins to protest discrimination at department store lunch counters throughout downtown Tallahassee. After a week of similar protests, police began arresting the students in significant numbers. Despite the arrests, by March the FAMU students were joined by white students from Florida State. After 250 students were arrested, another 1000 joined a protest march that ended when police fired tear gas at the students. Although a white mob threatened the young people with guns and other weapons, the police only arrested Black men and women as the spring protests continued into summer. By 1961, the tactics of the police and white city officials derailed the movement. Students continued to boycott the stores, but integration would not come to Tallahassee until Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. On May 26, 1956, there were two female students from Florida A&M University who were named Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson. These ladies paid to board a bus that was just about filled to capacity. Shortly after they were asked to stand by the bus driver because they were sitting next to a white women. After this the Florida A&M student body engaged in social activism. Then on February 20, 1960, the students conducted a sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counter. There were thirteen students and eleven of them got arrested. With this movement inspired a lot of others to join and give thanks to those students who protested.

7. Lichgate Tree Park

Lichgate on High Road is a small park that is the original site of the cottage home of Florida State University English professor and Shakespeare expert, Laura Jepsen. Jepsen built her home after searching for the perfect site for over two years. The property includes a towering live oak tree with branches dipping low to the ground. The cottage was based on old English-style cottages and was constructed of materials collected from old homes in Vermont, with some wood panels dating over 250 years old. Jepsen worked at FSU from 1946 to 1978, and lived in the house until her death in 1995. The Laura Jepsen Institute operates the grounds and its facilities are available for rent for private weddings and celebrations. The park includes a flower garden, a volunteer-run vegetable garden, a stone labyrinth, and a few structures such as the old dog house. Clifton Van Brunt Lewis, a local civic activist, worked to helped preserve the park in the late 1990s.

8. Lewis Spring House

Designed in a hemicycle (i.e., a semi-circle) shape, this unique-looking home was created by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and constructed in 1954. The house is one of only two homes designed by Wright in this shape, as designated by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Spring House Institute, which was founded in 1996, is currently working to raise funding to purchase the home to begin its preservation and restoration for use as a public meeting space for artists, activists, and enthusiasts, just as it was used historically.

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Clifton in the Capital: Tallahassee Civic Activist

Created by Lydia Nabors on March 24th 2018, 9:32:46 am.

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Explore the sites in Tallahassee that civil rights activist and arts advocate Clifton Van Brunt Lewis helped support in mid-century Florida and beyond. Clifton and her husband worked in interracial committees, offered their home as meeting space, and supplied exhibition space and financial backing to citizens of Tallahassee, both black and white. Clifton worked tirelessly to create equal spaces for all and made many appeals to city and county officials to improve conditions across the state. Visit the museum exhibition website at CliftonInTheCapital.omeka.net to learn more.

Entries on This Tour

Clifton in the Capital: Tallahassee Civic Activist

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