Submitted by AnnMarie Henry
The City of Miami will honor a Black Miami Pioneer Incorporator with a street named after him on Friday, February 10th.
Alexander C. Lightbourne was one of 162 Black men who voted for the Fort Dallas settlement to be incorporated as a city on July 28th, 1896.
But not for him and these men, Miami would not have been incorporated at that time.
In later recollections of that day, Isidore Cohen, another Miami pioneer who was present at the incorporation meeting, Lightbourne ‘gave the best speech’ at that meeting.
Lightbourne’s contributions to early Miami were quite significant. In March of 1896, he and his wife Mary Zeigler founded the Greater Bethel AME Church in their home.
This church still stands today in the historic community of Overtown.
Lightbourne, who was also a school teacher, played a critical role in ensuring that the colored children of Miami were provided with access to education. In 1897, he implored the city’s commission to provide funding for colored children and also served as the superintendent for the colored school.
Lightbourne was also served as a local chairman for the Republican Party and served as a delegate for the convention in the fall of 1896.
But Lightbourne had an impressive resume even before he arrived in Miami.
In 1866, the young Bahamian native arrived in the United States and made his way to Tallahassee.
He worked as a teacher with the Freed Men’s Bureau during the time of Reconstruction. This is where Lightbourne was introduced to politics and became an active member in the Republican Party.
Lightbourne was elected as Sergeant At Arms in the Florida Legislature in 1869.
It was during this time that he caught the attention of then Governor Harrison Reed who appointed Lightbourne as a Justice of the Peace in 1871 for Gadsen County.
While in Gadsen County he sat on the Board of Commissioners. Became trustee of Quincy AME church and also worked as a teacher.
Lightbourne also worked for the Railway Mail Service before moving to Jacksonville in 1885 and became master workman for the Knights of Labor Union.
Lightbourne moved further down the east Florida coastline until he made his way to Fort Dallas in the spring of 1896.
He remained active in the church, politics, and education up to his death in 1908.
He is buried in the Miami City Cemetery.
The City of Miami Commissioners paid homage to Lightbourne’s contributions during their commission meeting in February 11, 2021.
The Greater Bethel AME church did the same during their 125th anniversary in March of the same year.
After extensive research, Executive Producer AnnMarie Henry of Profiles in Black America discovered great- great granddaughter Allison Lightbourne Jones. The New York native had moved to South Florida. She accepted the honors in her great-great great grandfather’s name.
After further research it was discovered that one of the descendants of Lightbourne’s wife Mary Zeigler is former Miami Dade Commissioner Barbara Jordan.
The City of Miami will honor Lightbourne’s contributions to the city with a street designation on February 10th, 2023. The designation will encompass the area of Northwest 1st Court and 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Street. Lightbourne and his family lived in that vicinity on what is now todays Northwest 8th Street and 1st Court.
The designation ceremony will take place at the Greater Bethel AME church, the church that Lightbourne founded in 1896 at 11 a.m. It is located at 245 NW 8th Street in Miami’s Overtown.
The producers and researchers of Profiles in Black Miami, AnnMarie Henry, Christine Malcolm and Keith Moore are honored to have unveiled these revelations that led to the upcoming activities.
