MOUNT DORA, Fla. \u2013 In Mount Dora, the admiration for late journalist Mabel Norris Reese still runs deep. People here describe her as a trailblazer and a fighter\u2014someone who didn\u2019t back down, even when doing the right thing came with a steep price.<\/p>\n
That legacy was front and center Thursday as a new push to get Reese inducted into the Florida Women\u2019s Hall of Fame was announced.<\/p>\n
The effort is being led by the Mary Ellen Robertson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).<\/p>\n
\u201cAn area we really focus on is American history, education and certainly as a women\u2019s organization, the contributions of women to our communities and to our country,\u201d said Candy Davis, the chapter\u2019s regent.<\/p>\n
Reese is best known for her relentless reporting on the Groveland Four case more than 70 years ago\u2014four Black teen boys falsely accused of raping a white girl in Lake County.<\/p>\n
Supporters say Reese dug into what was happening behind the scenes at a time when challenging the system could be dangerous\u2014especially in the segregated South.<\/p>\n
Former Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall publicly pushed the accusations, but Reese\u2019s reporting and advocacy helped bring attention to what supporters say was a pattern of abuse and injustice.<\/p>\n
One of the accused, Ernest Thomas, was hunted down by 1.000 men and later shot at least 400 times, according to accounts shared during Thursday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
And the violence didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n
Gary McKechnie, founder of the Mabel Norris Reese effort, told the crowd the case involved brutal treatment and forced confessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSheriff McCall had a torture chamber\u2026 (he) stripped them, tied them up and strung them up by a pipe and beat the hell out of \u2019em,\u201d McKechnie said, describing what he said happened to Samuel Shepherd, Walter Irvin and Charles Greenlee.<\/p>\n
McKechnie said the men were beaten until they confessed to a crime they did not commit. Their convictions were later overturned.<\/p>\n
He also described what happened during the police transport following that conviction.<\/p>\n
McCall \u201cdrives them back near Umatilla, pulls off on the road, takes Walter and Sammy out of the backseat \u2014 they\u2019re still handcuffed \u2014 and shoots them both,\u201d McKechnie said.<\/p>\n
Shepherd died. Irvin survived\u2014after reportedly playing dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe plays dead until the press show up\u2026 they notice he\u2019s moving and they tell the sheriff he\u2019s not dead,\u201d McKechnie said.<\/p>\n
Supporters say Reese this is when Reese learned the story the sheriff told her was inaccurate and thus began her quest for the real truth…putting pressure on a system that, for decades, failed the wrongfully accused.<\/p>\n
Reese\u2019s family and supporters say her commitment to the truth made her a target.<\/p>\n
In Mount Dora, News 6 was told thru her actions Reese became the target of the KKK. Her property was damaged, her dog was killed, and she was forced to leave her home and business behind.<\/p>\n
Still, she kept going.<\/p>\n
Her granddaughter, Cindy Chesley Erickson, told the crowd she didn\u2019t fully understand her grandmother\u2019s impact when she was growing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up, I had no idea what a badass my grandmother was,\u201d Erickson said.<\/p>\n
She also said that strength became part of their family\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of our family legacy demand is that we raise strong women that stand up for good and for right,\u201d Erickson said.<\/p>\n
Others at the event said Reese\u2019s courage should be a reminder\u2014and a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did whatever she could and brought more attention to what was going on here,\u201d said Fred LeBarron, an organizer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is our responsibility to stand up for those who cannot fight back,\u201d said Brian Moyer, a retired Marine and former deputy.<\/p>\n
A group known as the \u201cCommittee of Three\u201d has been working since 2019 to get Reese recognized by the Florida Women\u2019s Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are supposed to be women who\u2019ve made contributions to their communities, to our state, and most often beyond\u2014to make life better,\u201d said Jill Greenberg, a committee member. \u201cSo we said, Mabel has to be in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers say Thursday\u2019s announcement is meant to build momentum\u2014and support statewide recognition for a woman they believe changed Florida history with her reporting.<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of the presentation, the DAR chapter inducted Reese into its \u201cWomen in American History\u201d database\u2014another step supporters hope helps strengthen the case for statewide honors.<\/p>\n
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