[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 7, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING TAMPA BAY'S LOCAL TRAILBLAZER, MORDECAI WALKER. IN HONOR OF 
                          BLACK HISTORY MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. KATHY CASTOR

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 7, 2023

  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise during Black History Month 
to honor the life of an extraordinary leader, educator and pillar of 
the St. Petersburg community, Mr. Mordecai Walker.
  Mr. Walker was born in Citrus Park in rural Hillsborough County on 
July 4, 1924, to Charlie and Pearl Walker. He attended segregated 
schools in Hillsborough County--Citrus Park School for colored 
children, Booker T. Washington Junior High and Middleton High School, 
where he graduated in 1943. Mr. Walker started his college education at 
Bethune-Cookman University where he had the distinct honor of shaking 
the hand of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. 
However, as the war continued in Europe and the south Pacific, Mr. 
Walker was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served overseas in New 
Guinea.
  After attaining the rank of Sergeant and completing his enlistment in 
1946, Mr. Walker returned to higher education at Tennessee State 
University (TSU) where he completed his bachelor's degree in 
agriculture and then he went on to earn his master's degree in 
agriculture from Florida A & M University. As a student at TSU, Mr. 
Walker was an essay winner for writing ``America's Most Popular 
Athlete''--writing that Joe Louis was more popular than Jackie 
Robinson. For winning the essay, he was given an all-expenses paid trip 
to New York City to see Joe Louis fight. During that trip Mr. Walker 
remembers going to an integrated New York City theater to see Gone with 
the Wind.
  While at TSU, Mr. Walker competed on the track team with Olympian 
Mickey Patterson and Ed Temple, who later became an Olympic coach. In 
1950, he was initiated into the Rho Psi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi 
Fraternity, Inc. Mr. Walker would go on to become one of the original 
seven founders of the Eta Rho graduate chapter in St. Petersburg, FL in 
1962, where he also served as the Chapter Basileus from 1991 through 
1993. After more than 70 years of service, Mr. Walker remains active in 
the local chapter and is still committed to Omega's four cardinal 
principals of Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance and Uplift.
  After graduating from TSU, Mr. Walker returned to Tampa to teach at 
Simmons Elementary School in Plant City and later Middleton High School 
in Tampa, where he was a driving force in establishing the agriculture 
program. Mr. Walker was pivotal in creating a curriculum and funding 
sources to bring the program to fruition. After his short stint in 
Hillsborough County, he relocated to Pinellas County, where he spent 
more than 30 years teaching, advancing and developing agricultural 
programs. Mr. Walker was inducted into TSU's Agriculture Hall of Fame 
for his more than 30 years of service to advancing the field of 
agriculture in education. In 2019, he was also inducted into the City 
of St. Petersburg Senior Hall of Fame for his services of volunteering 
to help the quality of life for residents of St. Petersburg.
  Mr. Walker is known for overcoming adversity. Coming of age in an era 
of segregation, Mr. Walker acted with dignity and grace. showing 
respect to everyone around him even when he was not afforded that same 
respect. During the Civil Rights movement, he was active in the 
Ambassador's Club, which was a civic club that worked to address the 
ongoing fight for civil rights. as well as celebrating the community's 
achievements during this time.
  Mr. Walker is the oldest living member of the Historic Gas Plant 
Community, which was the second African American neighborhood formed in 
St. Petersburg. This historic community thrived from business, 
entertainment, and education. It was the place for working class 
African Americans. Unfortunately, many families were eventually 
uprooted during the expansion of Interstate-275 during the 1970's.
  Mr. Speaker, today I join with the entire community of St. Petersburg 
in honoring Mr. Mordecai Walker for his long commitment to education, 
bettering the lives of all those around him and as a living legacy.

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