A three-year effort to honor four impactful residents of Hannibal Square culminated on the morning of August 3rd with the Shady Park Pioneer Memorial Dedication.
Residents joined community leaders and members of city government in witnessing the unveiling of the memorial, which features busts of Ideal Womans’ Club founder Mary Lee DePugh (1878-1949), activist and founder of the Winter Park Advocate newspaper Gustavus Christopher “Gus” Henderson (1862-1917), and Frank R. Israel (1848-1925) and Walter B. Simpson (1859-1915) who both served as town aldermen and were the first Black residents to be elected to government office in Winter Park.
The project was first presented to the city in 2021 by a committee of Hannibal Square residents, later joined by city representatives that included then-mayor Phil Anderson and Commissioner Sheila DeCiccio. “It stands as a testament to the strength and resilience of those who came before us,” Mayor DeCiccio said of the memorial.
Community advocate and committee member Mary Daniels recognized those who made the memorial possible, but said the day belonged to everyone. “It is about you, the residents of this community, and to acknowledge the importance of the history of the Hannibal Square community, its residents, and their contributions to the city of Winter Park.”
The busts are the centerpiece, but the memorial is also comprised of a wall that notes significant dates in Hannibal Square’s history. A shield with engraved ram horns adorns the wall and a separate elephant tusk sculpture stands by the busts. Memorial artist and designer George Gadson said the tusks are a symbol of the Carthaginian general who is the Hannibal Square neighborhood’s namesake, and of the four memorialized pioneers. “They represent resilience and the ability to overcome obstacles,” he said of the tusks, adding the ram horns embody strength, wisdom, and humility. “A fitting metaphor for human inspiration.”
The ceremony also included an historic dramatization of speeches by DePugh, Henderson, Israel, and Simpson by local performers, Maria Olivia Bryant, Ben Codallo, Maury Lambright, and David McFadden, respectively.
Members of the memorial committee also worked on the Unity Corner community space, which broke ground in January by the northeast corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. The project will include a statue of Dr. King and the names of Black families who originally resided on the property before being displaced in the 1950’s through eminent domain. Both projects represent the participation of many stakeholders to recognize and honor a shared community history.
“It takes a great collaboration, understanding, agreeing to disagree to meet the common goal,” Daniels said. “And it doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, we all should be interested in participating in our respective communities.”