James R. Ford (December 1, 1925 – October 11, 2017) was an American educator, politician, and businessman. In 1972, Ford became the first African-American mayor of

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

, and the first black mayor of a U.S. state capital city. He later served for fourteen years as a city commissioner, being repeatedly re-elected.

Early life and career

Ford was born and raised in Leon County, attending local public schools, which were segregated. He went to college at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

, a

historically black university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

, where he earned his B.S. in 1950 and his MEd in 1959. He served in both the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. He worked in the Leon County public school system from 1950 to 1987, starting as a teacher. Later he became the county system's first black administrator, presiding over Leon County's first integrated school staff.

Mayor of Tallahassee

In 1971, he was elected as a Tallahassee

city commissioner City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a plurality-at-large voting basis. These commissione ...

. In 1972, Ford was elected as

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

's first African-American mayor and the first African-American mayor of any state capital city. He was elected to subsequent terms as mayor in 1976 and 1982 while serving during the interim periods as a city commissioner (1973–1975 and 1977–1981) as well as after his last term (1983–1985). As mayor and commissioner, he played a key role in establishing the Minority Business Department, the Frenchtown Area Development Authority, and the Affirmative Action Office. He also worked to eliminate segregated practices in the city government and to secure employment opportunities for blacks.

Business career

Ford was also active in the business community. He built

WAMN WAMN is a classic country formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Green Valley, West Virginia, serving Bluefield in Virginia and Bluefield and Princeton in West Virginia. WAMN is owned and operated by West Virginia-Virginia Media, LLC. ...

Radio Station, becoming Tallahassee's first black manager of a radio station. He owned and managed six businesses and acted as the president of CNJ Associates.

Civic activities

Ford served as the president of Sigma Phi Pi and

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternities, which he had joined in college. He was president of the Tallahassee

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

and the Tallahassee chapter of

100 Black Men 100 Black Men of America is a men's civic organization and service club whose stated goal is to educate and empower African-American children and teens. As of 2009 the organization has 110 chapters and more than 10,000 members in different citi ...

. He was commander of the Tallahassee Sail and Power Squadron. He also sat on the boards of the

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

, the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...

, the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

Big Bend Chapter, the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

's Tallahassee Chapter, and the Florida League of Cities. He also sat on the boards of the Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center, the Lively Vocational School and Peoples 1st Community Bank.

Personal life

He married Clinita, and they had three children together: a son James R. Ford Jr. and two daughters, Janita and JaKathryn. Ford died on October 11, 2017 at the age of 91.

References

Tallahassee's Son, James R Ford born
/ref> {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, James R 1925 births 2017 deaths Mayors of Tallahassee, Florida Businesspeople from Florida Educators from Florida African-American business executives American business executives African-American activists Florida Democrats Florida A&M University alumni African-American mayors in Florida 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century African-American people