Page 36 - Florida Sentinel 2-4-22

Black History: The History Behind The Names
Kimbell Elementary School
Kimbell Elementary was named in honor of the late Mrs. Sylvia Rodriguez Kimbell. A Tampa native, Mrs. Kimbell was the Valedictorian at Middleton High School in 1950. She en- rolled at Florida A & M Uni- versity and graduated with a B. A. Degree in Education. She earned her Master of Science Degree from Chap- man College in California, and she received her doctor- ate from Florida State Uni- versity.
She returned to Tampa and taught school before en- tering politics.
Mrs. Kimbell was elected to serve on the Board of Hillsborough County Commissioners in 1990.
She later served as Chair- person and was re-elected to
SYLVIA RODRIGUEZ KIMBELL APRIL 7, 1934 --- JUNE 3, 1994
serve the residents of Dis- trict 3, in 1992.
In May 1993, the first An- nual “Sylvia Rodriguez Kim- bell Symposium on Race Relations” was held in Tampa. The symposium pro- vided a forum.
Lomax Elementary School
Lockhart Elementary School
Originally named College Hill Elementary School, the facility was named for the area in which it was located in East Tampa. It opened in 1952 after the Robles Pond Ele- mentary School was closed. During the 1960s, the school was renamed in honor of its first principal, John W. Lockhart. In 1997, it began educating children in grades K-5.
BISHOP THOMAS LOMAX
Lomax School initially opened in 1907 as a grammar
school to serve students in Northeast Tampa. During its early years, the school was di- rectly connected to the Gilchrist Institute, originally a private school affiliated with the African Methodist Episco- pal Church.
It was named in honor of Thomas Lomax, a Bishop of the AME Church. Lomax has existed as an elementary school, sixth grade center and high school. As of the 2002 school year Lomax became an Elementary Magnet School of Math, Science, & Technology for students in grades kinder- garten through fifth.
pointed as an associate pro- fessor in the Educational Leadership Department of the College of Education and directed the Upward Bound program for more than twenty-five years. During Dr. Pride’s tenure, more than two thousand low-income and first-generation college students were admitted to a college or university. The University of South Florida awarded him with an hon- orary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1994.
Dr. Pride retired in Feb- ruary 1996 and the Hillsbor- ough County School Board named Pride Elementary School in his honor in August 2000.
Reddick Elementary School
A Tampa native, Mrs. Doris Ross Reddick was the only child of Mrs. Clemmie Ross James, a Tampa educa- tor. She attended the schools of Hillsborough County, and after graduating enrolled at the Uni- versity of South Florida.
After earning a Master’s Degree in Special Education in 1969, Mrs. Ross Reddick embarked upon a career as an educator. During her tenure, she became the first Black teacher assigned to Thonoto- sassa Elementary School.
Following her retirement, Mrs. Ross Reddick became the first African American woman elected to the Hillsbor- ough County School Board. She served in that capacity for 12 years.
Mrs. Ross Reddick and a
DORIS ROSS REDDICK
friend co-authored “Cross Over The Walls,” a guidance book to help Caucasian teach- ers communicate with Black students.
In the fall of 2008, Reddick Elementary School, located in Wimauma, was opened and named in her honor.
Pride Elementary School
DR. RICHARD PRIDE
Dr. Richard F. Pride, Sr., was principal of Blake High School with a long and distinguished career in the field of education. He was ap-
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