TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Elected officials should look like the people they serve.

At the center of this week’s Tally Back Then is a woman with this simple belief. Anita Davis made history in the 1980s and ’90s, paving the way for the Leon County Commission to become more like the Capital City population.

More Counts of That Time:

Delaitre Hollinger is co-executive director. Florida Civil Rights Museum. He says Davis came to Tallahassee in 1979 from Buffalo, N.Y. In 1981, she became the first female president of the local NAACP branch.

“The NAACP will enable many monumental changes to occur in the city of Tallahassee as a result of his leadership,” he said.

He sued Leon County in 1983.

“At the time, county commissioners were elected at-large and were only a five-member, all-white body,” Hollinger said. “The makeover you see today was a result of her efforts. Five single-member districts and two at-large commissioners.

His efforts paved the way for the first Black Leon County Commissioner, Henry Lewis III, in 1986.

In 1990, she would become the first African American woman to serve as Leon County commissioner.

He was re-elected four years later in a decisive victory. The oath ceremony was in 1994.

WCTV reported “quite a cheer” when Davis said he had toured the state but had “never seen a commission like ours.”

“Before Anita Davis, there had never been a Black person to serve as chairperson on the board of county commissioners,” Hollinger said. “There had never been a person of color re-elected to the commission before Anita Davis, so she was a history maker on every front.”

Davis continued to serve his community until his death in 2021. Last month, Tallahassee City Commissioners began the process of renaming a portion of Pasco Street to Anita Davis Place.

Hollinger also met with another prominent former president of the Tallahassee NAACP, Dr. He also shared his thoughts about Charles Evans.

Check out the video below to hear his story:

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