T. Thomas Fortune: Civil Rights leader was born in Jackson County, Florida

T. Thomas Fortune
Marianna-born journalist and civil rights leader

He rose from slavery to editorial power.

by Dale Cox

Drivers zip past simple brown signs each day as they travel on U.S. 90 into Jackson County, Florida. The signs state simply that the county was the birthplace of T. Thomas Fortune.

He was a significant figure of the late 19th century, but many today do not know his story. Here are the basics:

Timothy Thomas Fortune was born into slavery at Marianna on October 3, 1856, but was destined to demonstrate just how far Americans could rise with education, hard work, inspiration, and determination. He has been called "Tuskegee's Point-Man" for his support of Booker T. Washington and the innovative programs at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University).

Based on Fortune's own memories, much about his childhood has been misrepresented by modern writers. His father, Emanuel Fortune, was enslaved by Joseph W. Russ, a prominent Jackson County resident. Russ not only encouraged Emanuel's education but entrusted him with the management of his large leather tannery. (Note: Russ was the father of the Joseph W. Russ, Jr. who later built Marianna's beautiful Russ House).



Emanuel Fortune
Father of T. Thomas Fortune

When Emanuel married Sarah Jane Hires, Joseph Russ arranged for the two to live together at the home of Eli P. Moore, a leading Marianna merchant, and partner in the firm of Alderman, Moore & Company. It was there that T. Thomas was born in 1856.

According to the later writings of T. Thomas Fortune, he and his parents were treated well by Russ and Moore, although they were kept in a condition of slavery. He grew up playing with Moore's four children and later remembered that he was never treated as anything other than a member of the family during the eight years that he lived in slavery.

When the War Between the States (or Civil War) came to an end, Emanuel Fortune enrolled his son in the new public school established in Marianna by the Freedman's Bureau. He excelled in his studies and quickly gained the attention of the publisher of the Marianna Courier newspaper, Frank Baltzell.

Marianna, as it appeared when T. Thomas Fortune lived there.
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

Just a few years older than T. Thomas, Frank likely had known the young man all of his life. Baltzell gave Fortune a job at the newspaper, starting him on a career that would lead him to heights never before attained by an African American in the United States.

T. Thomas Fortune went on to work at newspapers in Jacksonville, Washington, D.C., and New York over the years that followed. He enrolled at Howard University but was forced to withdraw after a few semesters due to financial restraints.



T. Thomas Fortune

He published his first book, Black and White, Labor, and Politics in the South, in 1883, establishing himself as an influential spokesman for the civil rights movement. It was T. Thomas Fortune who coined the term "Afro-American" (which eventually became today's African American), and he was a leading figure in the Afro-American League.

T. Thomas Fortune cultivated the friendship of Booker T. Washington during the 1890s and became a leading advocate of Washington's visionary Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. He helped with the preparation for publication of Washington's landmark book The Future of the American Negro.

Home of T. Thomas Fortune in New Jersey
Courtesy Library of Congress

By the early 1900s, Fortune was the chairman of the National Negro Business League. He also continued his career in journalism, becoming editor of the New York Age and The Negro World. The latter paper achieved a paid circulation of more than 200,000 under Fortune's leadership and was distributed in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America.

T. Thomas Fortune died on June 2, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Signs designating Jackson County as his birthplace stand on U.S. 90 near Sneads and Cottondale, but the county, unfortunately, has no historical marker or monument to tell his story. His home in Red Bank, New Jersey, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains a landmark to this day.

Read other stories on the history of Jackson County, Florida, by visiting https://twoegg.blogspot.com.

Ghosts of the Russ House

The Russ House in Marianna is one of the most beautiful architectural landmarks in Florida. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is a local treasure and is the ideal location for the purpose it currently serves - that of Chamber of Commerce and official welcome center for visitors to Jackson County.

Built in 1895 and remodeled to its present appearance in 1910, the home has been a centerpiece of the Marianna community for more than 100 years. The house has also seen its share of tragedy over the years and perhaps it is this history that contributes to its status as one of the "most haunted" places in Florida.

According to Betty Gilbert Davis of the Big Bend Ghost Trackers, the organization that conducted an extended investigation of the ghost reports in the Russ House, her group found evidence of at least two ghosts in the old house, one male and one female.

Most who believe that the house is haunted believe the male ghost is that of its builder, Joseph W. Russ, Jr., who took his own life in 1930 after seeing the family's fortune evaporate during the early days of the Great Depression. The figure of a man with a mustache has been seen in the house and eyewitnesses have reported hearing strange sounds and picking up odd scents there.  A ghostly figure has also been seen peering through the windows of the tower atop the house, something that would be a remarkable feat for a living person as it opens directly into the second floor of the house and has no floor of its own!

To learn more about the stories and some of the known history of the Russ House, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/russhouseghosts.

Russ House - Marianna

The historic Russ House in Marianna is one of Jackson County's best known landmarks. For generations of the county's school kids, it was the "old haunted house" on West Lafayette Street. Today, however, it is the beautifully restored home of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.

Often mistaken for an antebellum plantation manor, the home was actually constructed in 1895 by Joseph W. Russ, a prominent Marianna businessman and landowner. It was altered some from its original appearance in 1910 and was home to five generations of Russ descendents. In 1995 the home was deeded to the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and was beautifully restored over a four year period beginning in 1996.

At the same time, the grounds of the home were developed into a beautiful public park. The landscaping project eliminated an old gas station that once obstructed the vista of Lafayette Street from the front of the house and added a very nice touch of greenery to an already beautiful section of the city.

The home functions today as offices for the Chamber of Commerce, but is open to the public during normal business hours. Chamber representatives can also answer questions about Jackson County.