The late Gov. Reubin Askew and civil-rights leaders Sallye B. Mathis and Edward Daniel Davis were named this week by Gov. Rick Scott as inductees to the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame. Askew, who died last year, was elected governor in 1970 and served two terms.
In announcing the hall of fame selections, Scott’s office cited issues such as Askew’s support for desegregation and his appointments of top black officials, including the first black justice on the Florida Supreme Court. Mathis, who died in 1982, was a longtime teacher in the Duval County school system, was a civil-rights leader and was elected to the Jacksonville City Council. Davis, who died in 1989, served as president of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP and was an educator who fought for equal pay for black teachers.