Orlando officials unveiled “Senator Geraldine Thompson Way” along a portion of West South Street Friday morning to honor the life and legacy of the late Orlando-area state senator who passed away earlier this year.
“The honorary street name designation recognizes her decades of service, advocacy and leadership in the Orlando community,” a news release from the city reads. Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer and Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis (Thompson’s successor) unveiled the new roadway Friday.
Sen. Thompson, 76, spent most of the past two decades in the state Legislature, as a Democratic member of the Florida House and Senate representing parts of West Orange County, including Pine Hills, Parramore, Eatonville, Ocoee and Winter Garden. She passed away in February, following complications from a knee surgery, according to her family.
The new roadway designation for Thompson, located along West South Street between South Division Avenue and U.S. 441, was approved by the Florida Legislature earlier this year as part of a broader bill (HB 987). That bill, signed by Gov. DeSantis, authorized the roadway designation for the late Orlando senator and various others, including “Harris Rosen Way,” to honor the late Orlando hotelier, and “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard” in Palm Beach County.
Thompson is remembered as a champion of civil rights, a dedicated public servant and a trailblazer, as well as a beloved mother, wife, grandmother and great-grandmother.
A former Orange County public school teacher and Valencia College administrator, Thompson formerly served as the director of Parramore’s Wells’ Built Museum of African-American History, a building that once served as a hotel that lodged prominent African American performers and civil rights leaders during the Segregation Era. Thompson championed the preservation of that hotel, located on South Street along the new designated roadway. Thompson also authored a compilation of stories reflecting African American history in Central Florida, titled Black America: Orlando, Florida.
The Florida Democratic Party, in a statement released after her passing, described Thompson as a “true trailblazer” in Florida politics. “A lifelong public servant and a fighter for civil rights, her impact on Florida stretched far beyond the average elected official,” the statement read, adding that Thompson championed expanding access to healthcare, student education, and preserving Black history and culture.
Even Republican Gov. DeSantis had an almost complimentary statement to share in response to Thompson’s passing. “I know she meant a lot to a lot of people, particularly in Central Florida,” DeSantis said at a February news conference, a day after her death. “And, you know, she’s been in the Legislature since I’ve been governor, and we have actually worked together on some issues.”
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