[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              ELLA DINKINS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. VAL BUTLER DEMINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 12, 2018

  Mrs. DEMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the accomplishments 
and life of Ella Augusta Johnson Dinkins, as she celebrates her 100th 
birthday this year.
  Mrs. Dinkins was born on April 20, 1918 in Orlando, Florida. She is 
the first child of Addie Mae Gramling Johnson, a school teacher, and 
Augustus Newsome Johnson, an architect and builder.
  When the onset of the Great Depression destroyed her family's 
financial security, she moved with her parents to Eatonville, the first 
black incorporated municipality in the United States of America. There, 
she attended and graduated from the Historic Hungerford School.
  Mrs. Dinkins worked hard to support her family--as a domestic 
servant, truck farmer, insurance agent, hair dresser, and chicken 
farmer. During certain periods of her life, she worked three jobs at 
once. She retired in 1984 from her position with the United Telephone 
Company.
  Mrs. Dinkins quickly built a reputation in Eatonville as a civic and 
faith leader. She is a member of Eatonville's oldest congregation--St. 
Lawrence African Methodist Episcopal Church--where she has served on 
countless committees and as Chair of the Board of Trustees.
  In segregated Orlando, black women were forced to deliver babies in 
the basement of Orange Memorial Hospital. No incubators were available 
for children who needed them. Mrs. Dinkins helped to found Eatonville's 
Mothers' Club, which raised funds to buy incubators, saving the lives 
of vulnerable children in her community.
  During the 1950s, Mrs. Dinkins joined Eatonville's Volunteer Fire 
Department Auxiliary. In the 1960s, she worked to elect representatives 
who would work for equality, fairness, and progress.
  In the 1980s, she became a Founding Member of the Association to 
Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (PEC), and has spent thousands 
of hours organizing programs, volunteering at the Zora Neale Hurston 
National Museum of Fine Arts, and representing her community at 
historical preservation conferences nationwide. When Eatonville was 
designated the Historic Town of Eatonville, Mrs. Dinkins served on the 
first Historic Preservation Board. PEC continues to organize the ZORA 
Festival, STEM Initiative, and other community programs.
  Today, Mrs. Dinkins is widely known as a volunteer, civic leader, and 
community voice, who attends every Town Council meeting and other 
official community gathering.
  Mr. Speaker, the Historic Town of Eatonville is blessed to count Mrs. 
Dinkins as a resident. I am honored to represent her, and I 
congratulate her on her 100th birthday.

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