Pembroke Pines, FL — On Friday, February 22, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson and U.S. Postal Service Area Vice President Jo Ann Feindt will honor late civil rights activist Jesse J. McCrary, Jr. at a 2 pm dedication ceremony at the Little River Post Office, 140 NE 84 Street, Miami. They invite the public to join them as they welcome the McCrary family and other guests on this special occasion.
Following the dedication ceremony, a plaque honoring McCrary will be installed in the Post Office lobby. The name of the Post Office will not change.
Program highlights will include a performance by Jesse J. McCrary, Jr. Elementary School students. Postal supervisor Tayloria McPhee-Johnson will sing the national anthem and a repertoire of songs commemorating the occasion.
McCrary was an American lawyer in Florida. A civil rights activist, he entered state politics and served as Secretary of State of Florida, becoming the first African American member of the Florida Cabinet since the end of Reconstruction. In 1967, McCrary became Florida's first assistant Attorney General. He returned to private practice in 1979 and was active in the community in the 1980s and 1990s.
McCrary was born in 1937 in Blitchton, Florida, the son of a Baptist preacher. He attended Howard Academy in Ocala and was very active in the sports program. He was the quarterback of the school's championship football team. He was a political science major at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he was a civil rights activist, organizing sit-ins in Tallahassee. He was also on the debate team, a member of the drama club and an ROTC cadet. McCrary did a stint in Army Intelligence before graduating from FAMU Law with his Juris Doctor in 1965.
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