[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 158 (Monday, September 14, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H4373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





      SUPPORTING ALTHEA MARGARET DAILY MILLS POST OFFICE BUILDING

  (Mr. SOTO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our bill, H.R. 
2969, which passed the House today.
  This bill names the Florence Villa United States Post Office located 
at 1401 1st Street North in Winter Haven, Florida, as the Althea 
Margaret Daily Mills Post Office Building.
  Ms. Althea Margaret Daily Mills is an unsung hero in the fight for 
desegregation in Florida.
  Ms. Mills began her education in Pughsville, Winter Haven's first 
Black community. When she was 13, she moved to Pennsylvania to live 
with an aunt. There, she was able to attend integrated schools.
  In 1963, Mills filed a lawsuit against Polk County Board of Public 
Instruction to end the dual school system and allow her son to attend 
the then-all-White Winter Haven High School. This lawsuit eventually 
led to integration of all Polk County public schools.
  When asked about her motivation to challenge the system, Mills would 
later say: ``Our instructors were just as good, but some of my son's 
textbooks would go to page 3 and then skip to page 35. You can't learn 
like that.''
  Ms. Mills was also the first Black career employee of the United 
States Postal Service in Winter Haven and eventually became a manager 
of the Florence Villa Post Office, which will bear her name.
  Mr. Speaker, although she passed in 2008, her legacy lives on, and I 
thank my colleagues for the support of this bill.

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