City to honor the late Tallahassee-born Congresswoman Carrie Meek with street naming

Special to the Tallahassee Democrat
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The City of Tallahassee will soon commemorate the late U.S. Congresswoman Carrie Pittman Meek by naming a street in her honor.

On Friday, Nov. 4, South Bronough Street between FAMU Way and West Palmer Avenue will be renamed Carrie Pittman Meek Street, continuing the legacy of the legislator who grew up in the Allen Subdivision neighborhood, just steps away from Florida A&M University.

Carrie Pittman Meek Street will be officially unveiled at a 10 a.m. ceremony at the corner of S. Bronough and Jakes and Patterson streets.

Past coverage: Carrie Meek, pioneering Black former congresswoman and FAMU grad, dies at 95

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"Carrie Pittman Meek dedicated her life to opening pathways that would help others improve their lives and communities – through her work as both an educator and stateswoman. It is my hope that honoring her name so prominently in her former neighborhood and near FAMU's campus will inspire the next generation of leaders," Mayor John E. Dailey said.

The idea to rename a street in honor of Meek,, who died at 95 on Nov. 28, 2021, was conceptualized by her family. The proposal was presented to the Tallahassee City Commission and the Leon County Commission, which collaborated to bring it to fruition.

Former Florida Congresswoman Carrie Meek cracks up Betty Castor, left as she recalls her time serving in the legislature on senate reunion day, March 20, 2008 in Tallahassee, Fla. Meek, the grandchild of a slave and a sharecropper’s daughter who became one of the first black Floridians elected to Congress since Reconstruction, died Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021. She was 95.

Meek, the granddaughter of a slave, was born in 1926. She was the youngest of 12 children of Willie and Carrie Pittman, owners of the Pittman Boarding House, a residence for college students. Instilling the importance of education in their children was important to the Pittmans, who lived on the lower level of the two-story house.

Meek graduated from the original Lincoln High School on Brevard Street. She earned a degree in physical education and biology from what was then Florida A&M College for Negroes. At that time, African Americans were not allowed to attend graduate schools in Florida, so two years later, in 1948, she received a master's degree from the University of Michigan. Meek went on to become an educator and public servant.

Representative Carrie Meek wore this prophetic t-shirt in the House chamber reading "A woman's place is in the House and the Senate". She was later elected to the Senate and then to the U.S. Congress. Meek was the first African American woman to be elected to the Florida Senate. She was a 1992 Florida Women's Hall of Fame inductee.
Representative Carrie Meek wore this prophetic t-shirt in the House chamber reading "A woman's place is in the House and the Senate". She was later elected to the Senate and then to the U.S. Congress. Meek was the first African American woman to be elected to the Florida Senate. She was a 1992 Florida Women's Hall of Fame inductee.

She taught at FAMU, taught and coached basketball at Bethune-Cookman College (now Bethune-Cookman University) and was a longtime administrator at Miami-Dade College.

She served from 1979 to 1982 in the Florida House of Representatives, chairing the education appropriations subcommittee, and then served from 1982 to 1992 in the Florida Senate.

Continuing her public service, Meek was elected to the United States House of Representatives for Florida's 17th congressional district (Miami-Dade County) from 1993 to 2002. She was the first African American since the 1800s elected to represent the state in Congress.

Upon taking office, as a freshman Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Meek was tasked with helping her district recover from the devastation of Hurricane Andrew. Over the years, she advocated for the poor and the elderly and championed education, housing and health care – issues she called "the springboards."

On Nov. 4, ceremony attendees can park at Anita Favors Plaza, located at 116 W. Van Buren Street near the intersection of FAMU Way and South Adams Street, where courtesy shuttle service will be provided to and from the event.

The City will stream the ceremony live at YouTube.com/CityofTLH.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: South Bronough Street to be renamed for Tallahassee-born Congresswoman