John g riley biography
John Gilmore Riley House
Historic house in Florida, United States
United States historic place
The John Gilmore Riley House is a historic home in Tallahassee, Florida. It is located at East Jefferson Street. On August 1, , it was added to the al Register of Historic Places.
John g riley biography Source: Black Then. Riley swears his personal acquaintance with the Hardy Croom family history and his knowledge of its sole surviving heirs. The home was preserved but underutilized for 15 years. You can achieve your goals even if someone is trying to stop you.It is now known as the John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture.[2]
History
Constructed circa , the Riley House is the last physical evidence of a thriving middle-class African-American community that existed in downtown Tallahassee at the turn of the 20th century known as Smokey Hollow.[3] The house, a two-story vernacularwood-framed home, remained in the family until [2]
More than a historical landmark, the house is a noble witness to progress and the ability of its owner to succeed despite the odds.
Unlike many other historic facilities in Tallahassee, the Riley House has humble beginnings. There was no dramatic transfer by will; neither did it come with a trust account or other means to help sustain operations or address perpetual needs of maintenance and security.
The house was almost destroyed in the s due to eminent domain but was saved through the actions and hard work of local residents and activists.[4] The Riley House was restored in [4] and in the Florida NAACP partnered with the Riley Foundation to purchase the house.[5] The museum opened in with Althemese Barnes as the founding director,[4] who retired in [6] Barnes is responsible for creating the group who developed the commemorative shotgun homes of Smokey Hollow in Cascades Park, across the street from the museum.[4] Barnes also interviewed and recorded hundreds of interviews with former residents of Smokey Hollow.[4]
Present
The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Thursday and offers guided tours which includes a tour of the Smokey Hollow Commemorative Park.[2] The museum features an animatronic, speaking figure of Riley, donated by Disney.[4]
In , the museum received a grant from Institute of Museum and Library Services to digitize "the voluminous archive at FSU and TCC's Riley Museum Archives of photos, documents, rare books, oral histories and artifacts that document the history of Black Floridians in Leon and Gadsden counties."[7]
John Gilmore Riley
John G.
Riley was a prominent member of the African-American community in Tallahassee.
John g riley biography wikipedia Send Password Reset Message Cancel. Ashley Faris was especially impressed by Riley as a self-made man. It felt like you were there almost. Notes on a chapter about John G.He was born a slave in Tallahassee on September 24, [8] When slavery ended, Riley pursued his education and became an educator himself.[8] He began his teaching career in at a school in Wakulla County.[9] From to he was the principal of the Lincoln Academy, which was the first secondary school in Tallahassee open to Black students and one of only three Freedmen schools in the state to offer higher education to formerly enslaved people.[10] This school was later named Lincoln High School.
Along with his career in education, Riley was a prominent member of his community. Riley served as Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Masons of Florida, a fraternal organization.[10] He also served as the Secretary of the Florida NAACP and was a Member of the Negro Business League.[11] Riley purchased seven major properties in Tallahassee, on one he built his home[9] and rented several properties to other families.[10] Some of his land ended up being the future sites of the Department of Natural Resources, Bryant Building, and the parking lot of the Florida State University Law School.[2]
John Gilmore Riley died a millionaire in at the age of