Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 5-15-18

Local
Historic Marker To Honor Fortune Street Bridge Namesake
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The month of May has al- ready been filled with several exciting, community- get-in- volved events. The upcoming weekend will also be busy with several events. One event is the dedication of a historic marker for the 1960 sit-ins at the site of the F. W. Woolworth building in downtown Tampa.
Then, the following day, a historic marker will also be placed at Fortune Taylor Bridge, known for many years as the Fortune Street Bridge. The ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 20, 2018, 10 a. m. – 11:30 a.
m.The unveiling will be held at Fortune Taylor Bridge, lo- cated on Laurel Street and Doyle Carlton Dr., and the ceremony to place the marker will take place at the Tampa Riverwalk (down- town).
Just a 5-year resident to Tampa, Gloria Jean Roys- ter, thought it befitting that freed slave, Fortune Taylor Ranson should be honored with a marker. She was in- spired for the project by something said by City Councilman Frank Red- dick, last October about the name being put back on the bridge.
In little to no time, Ms. Royster started the process to having the recognition done. An activist, writer and on the Board of Directors for the Downtown River Arts Neighborhood Association, Ms. Royster lives 1 block south of East Fortune St.
“It was November and all I was concerned about was going out of town for Thanksgiving,” Ms. Roys- ter said.
With continued encour- agement from Jennifer Dietz, Dr. Cheryl Ro- driguez and Shirley Foxx- Knowles, Ms. Royster applied with the Hillsbor- ough County Historical Advi- sory Council to preserve the legacy of Madame Fortune Taylor Ranson. The appli- cation was made in Novem- ber. The council voted unanimously in January, 2018 for the process to pro- ceed.
Other than Councilman Reddick, Ms. Royster has gotten the support of the Honorable E. J. Salcines, and historian, Fred Hearns.
Minister, Downtown Portico Campus, Hyde Park United
Methodist Church, and Hearns, among others are
expected to attend on Sunday morning.
MS. GLORIA JEAN ROYSTER ...Spearheading event
to honor Madame Fortune Taylor Ranson
In February, 2018, Ms. Royster and Ersula Knox Odom, historian, founded Friends of Madame Taylor. “The purpose of my efforts was to honor, preserve and make public the legacy of Tampa pioneer, Madame Fortune Taylor Ranson, and to encourage our chil- dren...because she was loved by children,” Ms. Royster explained.
Although this is a Hills- borough County-sponsored event, the Friends of Madame Fortune Taylor had to secure funding for the marker. In steps Attorney Bill Wagner of Wagner McLaughlin, who assisted with securing funding.
Fortune Street History
Fortune Street downtown and the Fortune Street Bridge (now named the Lau- rel St. Bridge) across the Hillsborough River, were named for Fortune Taylor, a former slave and wife of former Hernando County slave, Benjamin Taylor. The street carried her name at a time when it was un- usual. The Honorable Sal- cines said: “history has forgotten this woman who provided her land so the bridge that saved West Tampa could be built.”
Together, the Taylors tended orchards of oranges, guavas, and peaches on the eastern shore of the Hillsbor- ough River in the late 1800s.
After Benjamin’s death in 1869, Fortune was granted homestead to their 33 acres along the east bank of the Hillsborough River, on July 1, 1875. Three years later, Tampa Mayor Ed- ward A. Clarke bought some of her land for $252.
State Senator Darryl Rouson, Commissioner Pat Kemp, Property Ap- praiser B0b Henriquez, Councilman Reddick, Councilman Guido Man- iscalco, Justin LaRosa,
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