South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010
Wilhelmina Jakes Street, a civil rights activist who initiated the Tallahassee Bus Boycott of 1956, has died of natural causes. She was 80.
In 1956, Mrs. Street was a student at Florida A&M University and was arrested with a friend, Carrie Patterson, when they both refused to move to the back of a crowded city bus. The arrest sparked outrage among civil rights activists and led to the boycott, which was the start of the desegregation of the city's public transportation system.
Mrs. Street later graduated with a degree in education and for 33 years worked as a teacher.
A native of Hardeeville, South Carolina, Mrs. Street grew up in West Palm Beach and returned to South Florida after graduation.
Mrs. Street was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the Federated Women's Club of Fort Lauderdale, the Florida A&M University Alumni Association, and a lifelong member of the NAACP.
She died on Tuesday morning.
Mrs. Street was preceded in death by her husband, Neopoleon Street and her daughter, Priscilla Lewis. She is survived by three siblings, two grandsons and one great-grandchild.
Visitation will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at New Mount Olive Baptist Church, 400 NW Ninth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Services will follow at the church at 2 p.m.
Mrs. Street's family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Hospice of Palm Beach County Foundation by calling 877-494-6890. For more information on the funeral services, contact Roderick Stevens, director of Shuler Funeral Home, at 561-882-4255.
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