On this, the centennial of Negro History Week, Jacksonville Today has compiled the Blacksonville 100, a list of people with ties to Jacksonville who made an impact. Some lived their whole lives in Jacksonville. Others lived here but made a larger impact elsewhere. A select few were reared elsewhere but left an indelible mark in Jacksonville.

This city has raised champions, cultivated great artists and educated exemplary people.The Blacksonville 100 is a recognition of trailblazers, who represent a small sample of the millions of melanated Jaxsons past and present. We listened to local historians, scholars, authors and a few seasoned saints to compile the Blacksonville 100. They include Jerry Urso; Rahman Johnson, Ph.D.; David Jamison, Ph.D.; Tim Gilmore, Ph.D.; Alan Bliss, Ph.D.; Brenda Simmons-Hutchins, Ph.D.; Sylvia Perry; Adonica Toler, Ph.D.; Carol Alexander and Larry Wesley, Ph.D.

Reporting from the late Camilla Perkins Thompson – the daughter of famed attorney Daniel Webster Perkins – was invaluable to this project. Research from the late Mary F. Mungen Jameson and The Jaxson’s Ennis Davis contributed to this project.