Alice Mickens

Alice Frederick Mickens was a civil rights leader and philanthropist in West Palm Beach.[1]

Early life and education

Mickens was born in Bartow, Florida to formerly enslaved people from South Carolina. Her family moved to West Palm Beach when she was young.[2]

She graduated with honors from Spelman College.[2]

Mickens House

A white two-story house, with white awnings on all windows, surrounded by a white fence.
The Mickens House, built by Haley Mickens.

In 1917 Mickens and her husband, Haley Mickens, moved into a two-story home they had built at 801 4th Street.[2][3]

Mickens hosted influential black civil rights leaders, scholars, entertainers and other notable figures at the house, including Ralph Bunche, A. Philip Randolph, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Louis Armstrong.[2] The Mickens hosted afternoon garden parties for professional baseball players in the Negro Baseball League when they were practicing nearby.[3] Black entertainers and scholars who could not stay in local hotels stayed in the Mickens' rooming house across the street from their home.[1][4]

Alice and Haley adopted several foster children, including Alice Moore.[1][5]

Mickens was a trustee of Bethune-Cookman College and received an honorary doctorate from the school.[2][3][4]

Death and legacy

Mickens died in her home on January 19, 1988, at age 99.[2] A science hall at Bethune-Cookman and a park in West Palm Beach are named after her.[1][3][4]

As a result of advocacy by Alice Moore, a foster child of the Mickens, the Mickens House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 City of West Palm Beach (2020-02-18). Black History Month: Haley and Alice Mickens and Dr. Alice Moore (Video). Archived from the original on 2025-05-02. Retrieved 2025-03-21 – via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "WEST PALM PIONEER DIES AT 99 DR. ALICE F. MICKENS A 'GODMOTHER' TO MANY". Sun Sentinel. 1988-01-20. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Tuckwood, Jan. "100 YEARS OF THE WOMEN'S VOTE: On the front porch of history". The Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
  4. 1 2 3 City of West Palm Beach (2022-02-25), Twin Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies Mark Major Upgrades to WPB Parks, retrieved 2025-03-21
  5. ↑ Doris, Tony (2021-02-20). "Black History Month: A tour highlighting 9 West Palm spots of significance". The Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
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