Hearing the Call

A black and white photo of Clifton shows her kneeling in front of a large wooden case with drawers, one of which she is opening. She looks up and to the right of the frame, her face pensive.

A sepia-toned timage shows a packed auditorium full of female students rapt in attention.

A black and white photo shows four young people, one of which is Clifton in a light-colored dress with a contrasting belt. She is surrounded by her three brothers, Tom, Sonny, and Billy, who wear suits. They are outside on a lush lawn.

Westcott Auditorium brimmed with excited upperclassmen, city officials, and distinguished guests as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the crowd on February 17, 1940. Underclassmen listened over a public address system installed specifically for the occasion while Tallahassee’s radio station, WTAL, broadcasted the speech across the airwaves.

Among those few lucky seniors was Clifton Van Brunt, a twenty-year-old Tallahassee native on the cusp of graduation.

Clifton took those rousing words to heart by engaging in civil rights activism, advocating for arts and cultural institutions for the public, and supporting environmental protection and historic preservation by tireless exchange with her elected officials.

As you learn the story of a Tallahassee civic activist, find yourself on the map of history: you may have been to these places all around town and not known what happened there, or just how many lives were touched.

Whether by offering exhibition space for artists in the late 1950s, providing financial support during the theatre protests and lunch counter sit-ins of the 1960s, or by marching for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, Clifton and her husband George stood apart from the majority of white Southerners of mid-century Florida.

Explore all of the trails Clifton blazed during her life in the capital city. Then, grab your map and discover the history made here in Tallahassee.