200 Celebrate WPB 'Unsung Heroes'

Palm Beach County District 7 Commissioner Priscilla A. Taylor (left) and Palms Central Manager, Customer Services Pablo Estupinan (right) lift the drape over the Robert Robinson Taylor stamp.

  

Helen Anthony Ferguson (red suit) was an award recipient who coincidentally, was celebrating her 97th birthday. Palms Central Manager, Customer Services Pablo Estupinan (standing) presented her with a birthday gift --- framed artwork of the Robert Robinson Taylor stamp. 

Story & Photos: Karin Nolf, A/Customer Relations Coordinator, West Palm Beach

During Black History Month, the West Palm Beach Post Office dedicated the Robert Robinson Taylor stamp to Palm Beach County Commissioner (District 7) Priscilla A. Taylor in the first annual “Unsung Heroes” Award ceremony on February 26. Taylor held the celebration to recognize 17 local African Americans who selflessly gave their time and talents to better the community of Palm Beach County.

“Each year during the month of February, our nation recognizes and honors the often over-looked accomplishments of African Americans in business and industry, science, education, civil rights, government and politics, and the arts. It is an occasion to pay tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity in our society," Taylor wrote in the program booklet.

The event took place in the Jane M. Thompson Memorial Chambers in Downtown West Palm Beach --- with an audience of over 200 attendees. Palm Beach County recorded the ceremony for future viewing on the local Government Channel 20.

On behalf of West Palm Beach Postmaster Richard Fermo, Palms Central Manager, Customer Services Pablo Estupinan told the audience of the accomplishments Robert Robinson Taylor achieved as the first black graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the country’s first academically-trained black architect. Taylor also supervised the design and construction of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama while also overseeing the school’s programs in industrial education and the building trades.

Palm Beach Sheriff Rick Bradshaw and staff served dinner to all attendees.

Vera Rolle Farrington (far left) accepted an “Unsung Heroes” Award. Farrington enrolled in Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in the Fall of 1947 and received an Associate's Degree in 1949.