The good old boy system of Avon Park was shaken to its core in 1949. That September, five out of six incumbents were voted out of office. Among the newly-elected was young Wiley Sauls, who was just 21. The story...
Civil Rights
Avon Park City Council Throws Out All Black Votes in 1951 Election
Southern States Feared Negro Domination
Nothing was more terrifying to wealthy landowners in the post-Confederate South than an empowered black electorate. The suffrage of the previously subjugated class could easily disrupt their monopoly on Southern politics. The 15th Amendment, in theory, guaranteed the right to...
The Illusion of Freedom: African Americans in 1890s Florida
Despite being granted their freedom some thirty years prior, freed slaves in turn of the century Florida were still barely unshackled. Being set free (13th Amendment), granted equal citizenship (14th Amendment), and given the right to vote (15th Amendment) didn’t...