A quiet Florida citrus town became the scene of a gruesome racial cleansing that purged the black population for over 60 years. It must have seemed like a lifetime ago to Julius “July” Perry since he first arrived in Ocoee. More...
July Perry
July Perry was a leader in the black community of Ocoee during the early 1900s. He owned a sizeable plot of farmland with various citrus and sugar cane in harvest. His influence led many to attempt to vote in the 1920 election.
That advocacy cost him his life. A lynch mob rioted after Perry’s friend, Mose Norman, insisted upon voting. Perry was pulled from his Ocoee home, shot, and hung in Orlando.