GROVELAND FOUR

One high school graduate is making history before heading to college in the fall by being the first ever recipient honoring a member of a historic civil rights case.

Rep. Geraldine Thompson introduce HB 1133 this past Monday in hopes to further heal Groveland community.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Channel 9 is taking you through the decades-long story of the Groveland Four. Read: 9 things to know about the Groveland FourA white woman wrongly accused four Black men of raping her in 1949. Read: ‘A glory hallelujah day’: Judge grants exoneration of Groveland FourWe’re now bringing you their full story -- watch “Groveland 4: Journey to Exoneration” at 8 p.m. Wednesday on WFTV Channel 9. Television streaming appsOur WFTV Now app is free on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick. Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

Groveland Four A monument memorializing the Groveland Four was unveiled Friday in Lake County. (WFTV.com News Staff)LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — The Groveland Four were exonerated more than 70 years after they were falsely accused of raping a woman in 1949. Following that news, Channel 9 compiled nine things to know about the men involved and circumstances surrounding the case:>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<1. Shepherd, Irvin and Greenlee were tried and convicted by an all-white jury. Ron DeSantis agreed to pardon Shepherd, Irvin, Greenlee and Thomas, all of whom had been dead for years.

A judge has approved a series of motions that cleared the names of Lake County's Groveland Four, a group of young African American men wrongfully convicted of rape in 1949.

The families of the Groveland Four speak.

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Families of the Groveland Four will speak following a hearing on their exoneration. In 2017, the state legislature apologized to the Groveland Four and also recommended that they be exonerated. That’s what could happen Monday following a scheduled hearing. READ: ‘A very worthwhile journey’: Groveland Four monument unveiled in Lake CountyThe hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday. Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

A local prosecutor has filed a motion to clear the names of four African American men who were wrongly accused of raping a white woman more than seven decades ago.

A state attorney is still fighting to exonerate Lake County’s Groveland Four, a group of men wrongfully convicted of rape in 1949.

Mabel Norris Reese A bronze portrait of a Lake County journalist acclaimed for her reporting on the Groveland Four case will be unveiled in Mount Dora on Friday. (Mount Dora)LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A bronze portrait of a Lake County journalist acclaimed for her reporting on the Groveland Four case will be unveiled in Mount Dora on Friday. The event scheduled for 10 a.m. at Sunset Park, called “A Celebration of Courage,” will honor journalist Mabel Norris Reese. McCall also launched a rival newspaper to challenge Reese’s Mount Dora Topic. READ: ‘A very worthwhile journey’: Groveland Four monument unveiled in Lake CountyFunding Reese project began with donations from across the country through GoFundMe, and continued with grants from the Mount Dora Public Arts Commission, Mount Dora Community Trust, and other personal contributions.

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — It’s been more than 70 years since the men who the world knows as the Groveland Four were accused of kidnapping and raping a white woman named Norma Padgett Upshaw in Groveland, a rural community in Lake County. Only 9 Investigates obtained a summary of the FDLE investigation into the Groveland Four case. The review started nearly three years ago and could help determine whether the four Black men should be exonerated. READ: ‘A very worthwhile journey’: Groveland Four monument unveiled in Lake County“I am asking for exoneration because it never happened,” said Dr. Beverly Robinson. The FDLE probe focused on tracking down new leads and previously unreported information about the case handled by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Groveland Police.

The Groveland Four memorial was unveiled Friday in Lake CountyIf you need help with the Public File, call 407-291-6000.

TAVARES, Fla. – The Groveland Four memorial was unveiled Friday in Lake County. Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Ernest Thomas and Samuel Shepherd were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in Lake County in 1949. The Lake County men were accused under dubious circumstances. Ron DeSantis pardoned the men, and the Lake County Board of County Commissioners began planning the idea for a memorial. The granite memorial, posted in front of the Lake County Historical Museum, features a bronze plaque with a written account of the men’s ordeal.

A huge crowd gathered on Friday around the new memorial, which stands outside the Old Lake County Courthouse. TAVARES Hundreds gathered in front of the Old Lake County Courthouse on Friday morning for the unveiling of the Groveland Four Memorial. The Groveland Four Charles Greenlee, Walter Irvin, Sammy Shepherd and Ernest Thomas were accused of raping a 17-year-old Groveland girl in 1949. DeSantis and his Cabinet pardoned The Groveland Four last January after a united push from Lake County, local city and state leaders and Groveland Four family members and advocates. Last January, the Lake County Commission directed staff to develop a design for the monument honoring the Groveland Four.

The ceremony is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Old Lake County Courthouse, where the 4-foot-tall granite memorial has been placed. Ron DeSantis, who issued a posthumous pardon to the Groveland Four last year, will be speaking Friday at the Groveland Four memorial dedication. The ceremony is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Old Lake County Courthouse in Tavares, where the 4-foot-tall granite memorial has been placed. DeSantis will join other distinguished speakers including family members of the Groveland Four, authors Gary Corsair and Gilbert King, State Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere, and Lake County Commission Chairwoman Leslie Campione. And Campione was among the Lake County leaders who pleaded with the state for the pardon.

A monument recognizing the wrongdoing against the Groveland Four, four black men accused of raping a white woman in Groveland in 1949, is set to be dedicated at 10:30 a.m. Feb 21 in front of the old courthouse in Tavares. TAVARES A dedication ceremony for a Groveland Four monument will take place next month, about one year after Chairwoman Leslie Campione first proposed the idea to the board. Im happy to tell you that the construction of the Groveland Four monument is being completed, Cole said. Campione said the date and time for the dedication was carefully considered based on board member and Groveland Four family schedules. In 2016, both the city of Groveland and Lake County adopted proclamations asking that the Groveland Four be exonerated.

Mabel Norris Reese exposed truth about Groveland FourPublished: January 14, 2020, 9:40 amIt was a case that made headlines and one that highlighted reporter Mabel Norris Reese.

It was a case that made headlines and one that highlighted reporter Mabel Norris Reese. She was the owner, editor, reporter for the Mount Dora Topic newspaper in the 1940s up until around 1960,” said Gary McKechnie, founder of the Mabel Norris Reese Fund in Mount Dora. McKechnie, in collaboration with artist Jim McNalis, recently unveiled a clay sculpture to honor the life of the journalist. “She was taking her leads from the sheriff, sheriff Willis McCall and she’s believing everything he’s telling her,” McKechnie said. For donations and to learn more about the story of Mabel Norris Reese, click here.

Florida lawmakers push to have Groveland Four exoneratedPublished: December 10, 2019, 6:18 pmFlorida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Florida lawmakers will renew their effort Tuesday to exonerate four men, known as the Groveland Four, who were wrongfully convicted of rape in 1949 in Lake County.

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Florida lawmakers will renew their effort Tuesday to exonerate four men, known as the Groveland Four, who were wrongfully convicted of rape in 1949 in Lake County. Last year, the Florida Clemency Board posthumously pardoned Ernest Thomas, Samuel Shepherd, Charles Greenlee and Walter Irvin. “Pardons were a major step forward, and the Greenlee family is very grateful to the Cabinet members for their actions earlier this year,” said Carol Greenlee, the daughter of Charles Greenlee. Thompson announced Tuesday she would push for a joint House-Senate resolution, to exonerate the men and ensure that the state officially recognizes their innocence. “I was proud to stand with my cabinet colleagues to issue a pardon of the Groveland Four — but more action is needed.

click to enlarge Photo via Florida Memory ProjectSheriff Willis McCall and an unidentified man with Charles Greenlee, Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin in the Lake County Jail, 1949Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and state Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere, want exoneration for the Groveland Four, expanding on pardons granted in January by Gov. An exoneration would be an official statement that the four men didnt do the crime.Thomas was killed by a posse in Madison County after the rape accusation. Shepherd, Greenlee and Irvin were beaten to coerce confessions before they were convicted by an all-white jury.Greenlee, at 16, was given a life sentence. Shepherd and Irvin, both U.S. Army veterans, were sentenced to death. Greenlee, released from prison in the early 1960s, died in 2012.The pardons were supported by current Lake County officials.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere, are holding a news conference Tuesday in the Capitol to call for an exoneration. Florida would then be sending the message: They didnt do it.Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and state Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere, are holding a news conference Tuesday in the Capitol to call for an exoneration. Exoneration of the Groveland Four will bring us closer to righting the wrong done to these men.On Wednedsay, Carol Greenlee. The County Commission issued a similar letter. Earlier this year, the County Commission approved funding and design for a Groveland Four monument, which will be displayed in front of the Old Lake County Courthouse in Tavares.

The message: Lake County is on the move. There are a lot of things all going on at one time.TAVARES The Lake County Commission on Tuesday hosted its annual state of the county address. The message: Lake County is on the move. The Lake County Historical Society won the bid to bring a statue of Edmund Kirby Smith back to the Lake County Historical Museum, which is housed in the historic courthouse. Today is about the state of Lake County, and our business here may seem to go against the grain of some breaking successes, said Hazelton, a Eustis resident.

TALLAHASSEE Mayors from across Lake County want Gov. A state panel last year considered proposals for relocating the Smith statue and backed a plan to move it to the Lake County museum. Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Laurel Lee, said Department of State officials had not received the letter from the Lake County mayors. DeSantis sent a formal request July 10 to the architect of the U.S. Capitol to substitute the Bethune statue for the Smith likeness. As part of DeSantis request, he noted that the Smith statue would be relocated to the Lake County museum as a Florida Department of State exhibition and long-term loan.

click to enlarge Photo by Monivette CordeiroMayors from across Lake County want Gov. The decision to move this statue was made by a small group who neither answers to or represents the public. We eight mayors represent 146,165 residents.DeSantis and the state Cabinet in January gave long-sought posthumous pardons to four black men, known as the Groveland Four, who in 1949 were accused of raping a white woman in Lake County.Smiths statue has represented Florida in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol since the 1920s. It is being replaced by a statue of civil-rights leader and educator Mary McLeod Bethune, a move that lawmakers approved in 2018.A state panel last year considered proposals for relocating the Smith statue and backed a plan to move it to the Lake County museum.Representatives for DeSantis didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. They decided in 2018 to make Bethune the replacement.