Supporting Althea Margaret Daily Mills Post Office Building

Floor Speech

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Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our bill, H.R. 2969, which passed the House today.

This bill names the Florence Villa United States Post Office located at 1401 1st Street North in Winter Haven, Florida, as the Althea Margaret Daily Mills Post Office Building.

Ms. Althea Margaret Daily Mills is an unsung hero in the fight for desegregation in Florida.

Ms. Mills began her education in Pughsville, Winter Haven's first Black community. When she was 13, she moved to Pennsylvania to live with an aunt. There, she was able to attend integrated schools.

In 1963, Mills filed a lawsuit against Polk County Board of Public Instruction to end the dual school system and allow her son to attend the then-all-White Winter Haven High School. This lawsuit eventually led to integration of all Polk County public schools.

When asked about her motivation to challenge the system, Mills would later say: ``Our instructors were just as good, but some of my son's textbooks would go to page 3 and then skip to page 35. You can't learn like that.''

Ms. Mills was also the first Black career employee of the United States Postal Service in Winter Haven and eventually became a manager of the Florence Villa Post Office, which will bear her name.

Mr. Speaker, although she passed in 2008, her legacy lives on, and I thank my colleagues for the support of this bill.

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