Gainesville unveils street sign in honor of community activist Charles S. Chestnut III

Voleer Thomas
Updated ·4 min read

Family, friends and community members gathered across from Chestnut Funeral Home on Tuesday to witness the unveiling of the street sign named after the late Charles S. Chestnut III.

Chestnut, who died on Dec. 4 at age 83, was a longtime community activist, business owner, local politician and friend and mentor to many in the community.

The sign unveiling ceremony took place at the intersection of Northwest Eighth Avenue and First Street.

“He was a humble man,” said Gainesville City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut, to whom he was married to for 48 years.

She also said her late husband would have been deeply moved by the city’s sign unveiling for his legacy.

“He would’ve been beyond disbelief that something like this would happen,” she said. “He would be surprised that the city would go to this extent.”

A section of Northwest Eighth Avenue between First Street and Waldo Road in Gainesville was named in honor of the late Charles S. Chestnut III on Tuesday morning. Pictured from left are Alachua County Commissioner Charles "Chuck" Chestnut IV, Gainesville City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut and Christopher Chestnut. In the background is Chestnut Funeral Home, which has been a mainstay in the Gainesville Black community since 1914. (Credit: Photo by Voleer Thomas, Correspondent)

Community service: 2 east Gainesville patriarchs honored for community service

Gainesville city commissioners voted on Dec. 7 to designate and dual name the part of Eighth Avenue between Northwest Sixth Street and Waldo Road as “Charles S. Chestnut III Avenue.”

Charles Chestnut III was a leader in the Gainesville civil rights movement as president of the Alachua County NAACP Youth Council. He coordinated sit-ins to integrate white-only counters at local drugstores and helped in securing equal access to public accommodations for Black residents in Alachua County.

Chestnut also played a role in expanding voters’ rights with a campaign to help Black residents vote in the county.

“He gave his life to the movement,” Cynthia Chestnut said. “He would say, ‘We won’t be wealthy, but we will give in service. The work I’ve done will speak for itself.’”

She said the fight continues to those seeking equity in their communities.

“We must continue the fight,” she said. “Sometimes it gets difficult and there’s no victory in sight, but in the end, justice will prevail.”

Alachua County Commissioner Charles "Chuck" Chestnut IV said the recognition his father is receiving with the street naming means a lot to him and the family.

“My dad gave so much to this community, and he helped so many people,” he said. “This is a great recognition for him and his life and what he did in the civil rights movement. He followed in my great grandfather’s footsteps. He has done a great job in serving this community.”

Chestnut Funeral Home

Chestnut III was the head of Chestnut Funeral Home at 18 NW Eighth Ave. for six decades.

The Black-owned funeral home has been operated by generations of the Chestnut family since 1914 and it was honored in 2014 by the state of Florida with a historic marker

“He loved Gainesville and he loved all of you,” said Christopher Chestnut, about his father. “In this six-block radius was where he spent his entire life. This was his domain, so it was appropriate that his name is on this street.”

The unveiling ceremony began with a few words from Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward.

“The history has already been made,” Ward said. “It’s our job to help memorialize this for future generations and this generation.”

Family, friends and community members gathered across the street of Chestnut Funeral Home on Tuesday to witness the unveiling of the street sign named after the late Charles S. Chestnut III. (Credit: Photo by Voleer Thomas, Correspondent)
Family, friends and community members gathered across the street of Chestnut Funeral Home on Tuesday to witness the unveiling of the street sign named after the late Charles S. Chestnut III. (Credit: Photo by Voleer Thomas, Correspondent)

Eighth Avenue now bears the name of two great local civil rights icons — Charles S. Chestnut III and the late Rev. Thomas A. Wright, Ward said.

In 2018, the city unveiled a stretch of Northeast Eighth Avenue in the Duval neighborhood as the “Rev. Dr. Thomas A. Wright Boulevard.”

Wright was president of the local NAACP for many years during the civil rights movement in Gainesville and served as pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church from 1962 until his retirement in 2006.

The street naming represents those who have fought for equal opportunity — from the business owners to the preachers.

“The best political advice I received from Mr. Chestnut was, ‘It’s not about the last vote, it's about the next vote. We can’t hold on to the last thing that happened. You have to move forward to complete the goal,'" Ward said.

Ward’s comments were followed by a prayer by the Rev. Karl Anderson, pastor of Upper Room Ministries.

“We thank you for sending us a guiding light,” Anderson said. “Thank you for blessing him and allowing him to do what he did on Earth.”

A public funeral service for Charles Chestnut III will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at the Phillips Center on the University of Florida campus at 3201 Hull Road.

City of Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward speaks during the unveiling of a street naming ceremony in honor of the late Charles S. Chestnut III on Tuesday morning. (Credit: Photo by Voleer Thomas, Correspondent)
City of Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward speaks during the unveiling of a street naming ceremony in honor of the late Charles S. Chestnut III on Tuesday morning. (Credit: Photo by Voleer Thomas, Correspondent)

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: "Charles S. Chestnut III Avenue" street signs unveiled in Gainesville