There was a double celebration on Thursday, September 25 at Tallahassee's John G. Riley House and Museum. It was the 135th anniversary of the home's construction. And it was the 168th birthday of its builder, John Gilmore Riley. Among the many speakers was Retired Sergeant Jarvis Rosier of the Second Infantry U-S Colored Troops.
"History is like a clock that people use to tell the political and cultural time of the day. It's also used as a compass to find themselves on the map of human geography. History tells us who we are and what we are. History tells us where we are and where we're going. But more importantly, history tells us who we are and where we still must go."
Much of the celebration focused on the importance of the Black Masonic movement to the history of Florida's African Americans, especially those in North Florida. Jerry Urso, the Grand Historian of the Union Grand Lodge of Florida said John Gilmore Riley was a huge force in that movement.
"It's our legacy that we bring you here today and the legacy of John Gilmore Riley, who as a teacher, as an educator, and as a holy man. To understand as a Mason, there's no house holier in Masonry than that of the Holy Royal Lodge Masons."
Riley was the head of that Lodge from 1949 until his death in 1954. He had been born into slavery but was a millionaire at the time of his death, owning several valuable properties in Tallahassee in addition to his home in the city's Smokey Hollow neighborhood.
