Von Delany Mizell (1910–1973) was the second black
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
in
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and since at that time Fort Lauderdale's hospitals would not accept "colored" patients, he helped establish
Provident Hospital for black residents. He staged sit-ins and protests, boycotted Fort Lauderdale’s "
Colored School", and successfully sued the Broward County Medical Association for admittance. He started the first
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
chapter in
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
. He was also involved in efforts to provide a beach for black residents to use and to desegregate Broward County's other beaches.
Legacy
* The site of Provident Hospital, which has been torn down, is occupied by a community center, the Von D. Mizell Community Center, owned by the city of Fort Lauderdale.
* On July 1, 2016, John U. Lloyd Beach State Park was renamed the
Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park
Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park is a Florida State Park located in Dania Beach, Florida off Florida State Road A1A. The park is named for late civil rights activists Von Mizell and Eula Johnson, who first pressured Broward County (for ...
in honor of civil rights efforts undertaken by Mizell and Johnson during segregation.
Ethel Mizell Pappy Collection
Von D. Mizell's sister Ethel Mizell Pappy's personal family papers are housed at the
African-American Research Library and Cultural Center
The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center is a library located at 2650 Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the United States. A branch of the Broward County Library, it opened on October 26, 2002.
The library build ...
in
Fort Lauderdale, FL.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizell, Von Delany
Movements for civil rights
African-American physicians
Physicians from Florida
African-American history of Florida