Rosewood descendants end family reunion at Mount Olive AME Church in southeast Gainesville
Descendants of victims of the Rosewood Massacre came to Gainesville this weekend to have a family reunion to remember and commemorate the 100th anniversary of one of the most horrific racial conflicts in Florida and American history.
This year’s reunion officially began Friday with a fish fry meet and greet at Veteran’s Memorial Park at 7400 SW 41st Place in Gainesville, followed by at “Biker Welcome” at the park Saturday morning that included a trip to the Wright House in Rosewood escorted led by Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the House is the last house in what once was Rosewood, a community of 300 people – mostly Black – who lived along State Road 24, the Road to Cedar Key and less than an hour to the southwest from Gainesville.
The reunion continued Saturday with a “Sneaker Ball” at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center at 837 SE Seventh Ave. that featured those in attendance wearing their “dressy best” and “best sneakers.”
The reunion ended Sunday with a morning worship church service at Mount Olive AME Church at 721 SE Eighth St. in the Springhill neighborhood where members of one of the surviving families, the Bradleys, have been affiliated with the church for a long time, said Vivian Filer, 85, a lifelong member of the church who is also a community activist and historian.
Mae McCoy-McDonald and her sister Barbara Woods attended the reunion and they are Rosewood descendants by way of the Bradley family.
Woods currently resides in Gainesville.
“It has been a lovely week,” Woods said. “So many people have participated.”
McCoy-McDonald said she enjoyed the events and hoped to educate more youth about the Rosewood history.
“We are entering a new phase and encouraging families to keep the story alive,” McCoy-McDonald said. “It is a key part to know where we go from here and what we have to accomplish. I want to educate our youth and we’re asking God to lead us.”
The church service began with an invocation prayer by Otis Stover, a deacon at the church.
“The enemy tried to bring destruction to this group but look how we’ve prospered and look at how we’ve grown,” Stover said.
Gregory Doctor, a Rosewood descendant, recounted the events of the reunion weekend with Rosewood descendants and thanked those who have been along for the journey since the start of January when events began celebrating the centennial anniversary of the massacre.
“We have received nothing but love from the city and the state during the Rosewood centennial,” Doctor said. “Thank you family members for the sacrifices you’ve made. When you have a vision, you have to stay the course.”
Historian Vivian Filer shared a few words about how the Rosewood Massacre affects all Black communities around the nation.
“Rosewood ancestors are all of our ancestors,” Filer said. “We can’t forget the massacre that robbed us of lives and legacies.”
A video presentation titled “Rosewood to Redemption” was shown during the service.
Rosewood anniverary: Crowd gathers in Gainesville to remember Rosewood Massacre and to celebrate the future
The video gave a history of Rosewood and the Civil Rights Movement and singer Joy Banks sang the Rosewood to Redemption song throughout the video that was penned by the late Bob McPeek, a legend in the music and cultural scene in Gainesville.
The Rev. John D. Williams Sr., pastor of Mount Olive, delivered a sermon about overcoming traumas from human victimization.
“Talking therapy can be helpful to overcome traumas,” Williams said. “Trouble don’t last always and joy comes in the morning. The question is: how long is the night?”
Williams said denial is maladaptive when it comes to recovering from something traumatic.
Williams said that with Jesus’ sacrifices, there should be no fear to speak up and demand justice.
“Our eternal salvation is secured,” Williams said. “What do we have to fear? We can speak truth to power.”
Family members then attended a luncheon at the Cotton Club Museum, located adjacent to Mount Olive, for a closing prayer and meal.
Sisters Bernadette Wrispuss Wright and Evelyn Wrispuss Williams attended the event together.
Wright traveled from Bartow and Williams traveled from Zephyrhills. They said they are Rosewood descendants by way of the Evans family.
Their mother was Altamese Wrispuss and her mother was Josephine Evans Lewis.
“The annual reunion means a lot because all of the families can get together,” Wright said. “It is a time to love each other and remember how much it means to us. I want to instill in the youth that we are somebody.”
Williams said she has been to every single Rosewood reunion except one since the early 1980s where it first began in Lacoochee in Pasco County.
She encourages the youth to do research on Rosewood and to pass on the history for generations.
“That’s our past and our heritage,” Williams said. “I’m very excited to be here and see what our foreparents made for us to get together. We will keep the legacy alive.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Rosewood reunion in Gainesville includes trip to historic site
