TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A mural honoring three Florida female trailblazers was unveiled Friday at the Lumen Technologies building at the intersection of Calhoun Street and Park Avenue.
Commissioned by the Junior League of Tallahassee with support from the Florida Department of State and Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority, "Project Daring" features Zora Neale Hurston, Betty Mae Jumper, and Majorie Harris Carr.
“The Junior League of Tallahassee is proud to be a part of the Project Daring Mural in Florida’s capital city. The mural celebrates female trailblazers we admire and respect while invoking a call to make the world a better place,” said Katie Britt Williams, President of the Junior League of Tallahassee. “Our hope is for the citizens of Florida and Tallahassee to enjoy this mural for years to come!”
Hurston is recognized as one of the 20th century’s greatest writers on the African-American experience and was the first African-American student at New York’s Barnard College.
Jumper, the first female chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, was the Seminoles’ first Health Director, one of two women appointed by President Nixon to the National Congress on Indian Opportunity, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Florida State University in 1994 for her dedication to improving the health, education, cultural and economic conditions of the Seminole people.
Carr became the first female wildlife technician in the United States after graduating from Florida State College for Women, now FSU. She successfully led the effort to stop the construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal and restore the Ocklawaha River.
All three have been inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame.
A quote, “all serious daring starts from within,” from Pulitzer Prize winner and former Junior League of Jackson volunteer, Eudora Welty will envelop the mural, created by Tallahassee-based artists Olivia Barattini and Savannah Salinas.
The Junior League said the mural will serve as a reminder to the community of the impact women have on the past, present, and future.
The Junior League of Tallahassee said it will host an unveiling event in the coming weeks.
