Geraldine F. Thompson
Encyclopedia
Geraldine F. Thompson in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Thompson is a Representative in the House of Representatives
of the U.S. state
of Florida
. She received her Bachelors degree from the University of Miami
in 1970. She received her Masters degree from Florida State University
in 1973. It should also be noted she lives in Orlando, Florida with her children.
Geraldine F. Thompson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and grew up in the South Dade town of Perrine, Florida where members of her family worked in agriculture and construction. She attended Miami Dade Community College and received a John F. Kennedy/Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship to attend the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida where she enrolled shortly after that school ended racial segregation. In 1970, she received a bachelor’s degree with honors in journalism and business education. She moved with her husband, Emerson,. to Tallahassee where he attended law school and she worked in state government and higher education. Her first position in Tallahassee was as Executive Secretary to Representative Gwendolyn Sawyer Cherry, the first African American woman to serve in the Florida House of Representatives. After working for several years, she sought a Master of Science degree in Communication from Florida State University, which she received in 1973. She then joined her husband in Orlando and immediately became active in the Central Florida community.
She began work in Orlando as a teacher in the Orange County Public School System. After six years, she left the classroom to accept a position as Director of the Equal Opportunity Office at Valencia Community College where she served for 24 years as Assistant to the President. Among her many accomplishments at Valencia Community College, she initiated the establishment of the “College Reach Out Program” which enabled thousands of low income and disadvantaged students to fulfill their dream of going to college. She also served on the boards of the Orange County Community Action Advisory, the Metropolitan Orlando Urban League, WMFE Public Broadcasting Station, the YMCA, the Mayor’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission, the Holocaust Memorial and Resource Center, and the West Orange Healthcare District.
In 1987, she was appointed by Governor Bob Graham to the Florida Commission on Human Relations. She received confirmation from the Florida Senate and remained on the Commission during the terms of Governor Lawton Chiles, where she was elected by her fellow commissioners to serve as chair.
Also considered a local historian, her passion for history led her to conducting research and compiling documents which resulted in authoring a book entitled, “Black America Series: Orlando, Florida,” in 2003. She is also credited with preserving one of Orlando’s unique landmarks, The Wells’ Built Hotel, which housed some of America’s most prominent citizens, including Justice Thurgood Marshall, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Jackie Robinson and many more. She helped to secure funds to convert the hotel into a museum which is known today as The Wells’ Built Museum of African American History.
In November 2006, she was elected by the constituents of District 39 in Orlando to serve as the first African American female to represent Orange County in the Florida House of Representatives. In her legislative capacity, she currently serves as the ranking Democratic member on the State Affairs committee and is a contributing member of the Tourism and Trade Committee and the Government Efficiency and Accountability Council.
She is married to the Honorable Emerson R. Thompson, Jr. and is the mother of three children (Laurise, Emerson III, and Elizabeth) and the grandmother of four (Jasmyne N. James, Imani G. Thomas, Kiara R. Thompson, Symone P. Thompson)http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4380&SessionId=61. She enjoys reading and traveling.
On Tuesday, November 18, 2008, the http://www.orlandosentinel.com Orlando Sentinel reported that Rep. Thompson is giving some serious thought to running for the newly created county-wide school board chair http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_namesblog/2008/11/a-new-school-ch.html.
Thompson is a Representative in the House of Representatives
Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...
of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. She received her Bachelors degree from the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
in 1970. She received her Masters degree from Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
in 1973. It should also be noted she lives in Orlando, Florida with her children.
Geraldine F. Thompson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and grew up in the South Dade town of Perrine, Florida where members of her family worked in agriculture and construction. She attended Miami Dade Community College and received a John F. Kennedy/Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship to attend the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida where she enrolled shortly after that school ended racial segregation. In 1970, she received a bachelor’s degree with honors in journalism and business education. She moved with her husband, Emerson,. to Tallahassee where he attended law school and she worked in state government and higher education. Her first position in Tallahassee was as Executive Secretary to Representative Gwendolyn Sawyer Cherry, the first African American woman to serve in the Florida House of Representatives. After working for several years, she sought a Master of Science degree in Communication from Florida State University, which she received in 1973. She then joined her husband in Orlando and immediately became active in the Central Florida community.
She began work in Orlando as a teacher in the Orange County Public School System. After six years, she left the classroom to accept a position as Director of the Equal Opportunity Office at Valencia Community College where she served for 24 years as Assistant to the President. Among her many accomplishments at Valencia Community College, she initiated the establishment of the “College Reach Out Program” which enabled thousands of low income and disadvantaged students to fulfill their dream of going to college. She also served on the boards of the Orange County Community Action Advisory, the Metropolitan Orlando Urban League, WMFE Public Broadcasting Station, the YMCA, the Mayor’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission, the Holocaust Memorial and Resource Center, and the West Orange Healthcare District.
In 1987, she was appointed by Governor Bob Graham to the Florida Commission on Human Relations. She received confirmation from the Florida Senate and remained on the Commission during the terms of Governor Lawton Chiles, where she was elected by her fellow commissioners to serve as chair.
Also considered a local historian, her passion for history led her to conducting research and compiling documents which resulted in authoring a book entitled, “Black America Series: Orlando, Florida,” in 2003. She is also credited with preserving one of Orlando’s unique landmarks, The Wells’ Built Hotel, which housed some of America’s most prominent citizens, including Justice Thurgood Marshall, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Jackie Robinson and many more. She helped to secure funds to convert the hotel into a museum which is known today as The Wells’ Built Museum of African American History.
In November 2006, she was elected by the constituents of District 39 in Orlando to serve as the first African American female to represent Orange County in the Florida House of Representatives. In her legislative capacity, she currently serves as the ranking Democratic member on the State Affairs committee and is a contributing member of the Tourism and Trade Committee and the Government Efficiency and Accountability Council.
She is married to the Honorable Emerson R. Thompson, Jr. and is the mother of three children (Laurise, Emerson III, and Elizabeth) and the grandmother of four (Jasmyne N. James, Imani G. Thomas, Kiara R. Thompson, Symone P. Thompson)http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/details.aspx?MemberId=4380&SessionId=61. She enjoys reading and traveling.
On Tuesday, November 18, 2008, the http://www.orlandosentinel.com Orlando Sentinel reported that Rep. Thompson is giving some serious thought to running for the newly created county-wide school board chair http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_namesblog/2008/11/a-new-school-ch.html.