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<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Pedro Portal<\/p>\n
pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
For weeks after her mother\u2019s death, Tracie Boyd visited Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens cemetery in Pompano Beach, taking time to process her grief, bring flowers and spruce up the graves where both parents now rest.<\/p>\n
But she began to wander to other parts of the cemetery, curious to see if she saw graves of others she may have known that also need sprucing. That\u2019s when she happened upon the grave of Broward County educators Joseph and Blanche Ely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was in such a bad state, I just assumed that it couldn\u2019t have been them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Boyd has since spruced up the grave marker, but is now spearheading efforts to get the Elys, a prominent Black couple who were tireless advocates for advancing education for Black people in South Florida, a new grave marker. She has started a GoFundMe and reached out to community leaders and principals of Blanche Ely High and Dillard High, where Joseph Ely was principal, to garner support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are enough of us who have stood on the shoulders of Mr. and Mrs. Ely,\u201d she said. \u201cWe simply want something better than what is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Broward County educators Blanche and Joseph Ely\u2019s grave in Pompano Beach. Tracie Boyd has taken on the effort to try and improve their grave marker. Courtesy of Tracie Boyd Who were the Elys?<\/p>\n
Born in Reddick, Fla., in 1904, Blanche Ely graduated from Florida A&M University, and received a master\u2019s degree in teaching from Columbia University, according to an obit from the Sun Sentinel<\/a>. She taught at Deerfield Beach Elementary School and in Hialeah before becoming principal of Pompano Beach Colored School<\/a> from 1951 to 1970. The school was renamed Blanche Ely High School in 1954. It was closed due to desegregation efforts, the Sentinel reported, but reopened in 1974<\/a>. She was also instrumental in founding four schools, according to the Blanche Ely House Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Blanche Ely mentored countless Black educators, including Boyd\u2019s great cousin Eunice Cason Harvey, who was hired to work at Ely High School by Blanche when it was still an all-Black school. Still, she was stern and respected. \u201cMost people, when they think of Ms. Ely, they always say she did not play,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cShe was tough and didn\u2019t play even when my mother was a student there.\u201d<\/p>\n Ely\u2019s husband, Joseph A. Ely was born in Jacksonville and reportedly lived to be more than 100 when he died 1984, and was a longtime educator. In 1924, he would serve as the first principal of Dillard High School, the first school for Black students in Broward County, and later principal at Crispus Attucks High School (now a middle school). The original Dillard High School is now the Old Dillard Museum<\/a> in Fort Lauderdale, which is dedicated to preserving the city\u2019s Black history.<\/p>\n As Boyd raises funds for a new headstone for the couple, she\u2019s ran into a few hiccups: the cemetery won\u2019t allow her to simply replace it without notifying the next of kin, and it\u2019s been a challenge because the couple didn\u2019t have children.<\/p>\n She\u2019s put out feelers and some have said they may know a nephew or a cousin of the late Blanche Ely. Regardless, Boyd doesn\u2019t plan on giving up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want something that\u2019s more substantial than what is there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 4:30 AM.<\/p>\n![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MIA_100Elygravesite00NEWPPP.JPG\" "\\"MIA_100Elygravesite00NEWPPP.JPG\\"")
The grave of Black education pioneers Blanche and Joseph Ely’s at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
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