TAMPA, Fla. – For 250 years, bold individuals have built, defended and defined this country. While Florida was not an original state, it has a rich history of artists, explorers and patriots who helped shape the nation.
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There are far more impactful Floridians than can be ranked without fervent debate. But since our founders valued debate, FOX 13’s Craig Patrick put together a countdown of some of the greatest people who were raised or spent most of their lives in Florida.
No. 5: Ray Charles
Raised in Greenville, Florida, Ray Charles began his legendary career performing in clubs across the Tampa Bay area. He bridged gospel, jazz, blues and country to become a founding father of soul music.
Pictured: Ray Charles.Â
Rising from humble beginnings and segregation, he revolutionized music in a distinctly American way and went on to win 17 Grammys.
What they’re saying:
Tampa civil rights leader Arthenia Joyner recalled the magic of seeing him perform live: “You know, there he was performing, in live color. You say, ‘Oh my God, this is the real Ray Charles. This is just wonderful.'”
No. 4: Marjorie Harris Carr and Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Tied)
Marjorie Harris Carr grew up in Lee County and led a small group called the Florida Defenders of the Environment that accomplished massive feats. In the 1960s, the government destroyed part of the famous Ocklawaha River while trying to build an ill-advised barge canal through the middle of Florida.Â
Carr was the driving force that stopped it.Â
Pictured: Marjorie Harris Carr and Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
And while Marjory Stoneman Douglas wasn’t raised in Florida, moving here as an adult. However, we relaxed the countdown criteria for her because her legacy of protecting the Everglades is undeniable. As Douglas once noted, before her work, “Nobody had written about the Everglades… nobody knew anything about it.”
What they’re saying:
Environmentalist Jim Gross described Marjorie Harris Carr as a “mover and a shaker” who “didn’t take no for an answer,” while Steve Robitaille noted she “literally runs this operation out of her kitchen [with] volunteers.”
Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham said of Marjory Stoneman Douglas: “Hers was a voice in the wilderness for most of her life. Hers was a voice that helped preserve the wilderness and the natural systems which we all depend [on] for survival.”
No. 3: Former Governor Lee Roy Collins
Born and raised in Tallahassee, former Florida Governor LeRoy Collins was a champion of higher education and a true profile in courage. In a 1960 radio address, he stunned the segregationists who elected him by firmly denouncing segregation, calling it “unfair and morally wrong.”
Pictured: Former Florida Governor LeRoy Collins.
Collins labeled the practice undemocratic, unrealistic, and un-Christian, taking steps to end it and putting Florida on the path to equality. He noted, “We can never stop Americans from struggling to be free.” He paid for the stance politically, getting trounced in his next statewide race.
What they’re saying:
“He was a man of real moral courage. It killed his political career,” said Arthenia Joyner. “But when you stand up for what you believe in, regardless of what eventually may happen to you, you know in your heart that you did the right thing. And he did.”
No. 2: John Young
John Young grew up in Orlando, excelled as a naval test pilot, and returned to Central Florida to blast off into space. He remains the most traveled explorer in human history.
Pictured: John Young.Â
Standing alongside America’s first 16 astronauts, Young holds the unique distinction of being the only astronaut to have flown Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle missions. He commanded the first shuttle flight and was the ninth man to walk on the moon.
Young was always the first to say humanity must keep exploring.Â
“When we develop all the technologies we need to develop to live and work on the moon and go on to Mars, then we will have developed the same technologies that will save the people who live on this planet,” Young said in 2006.
No. 1: Col. Leonard Schroeder
Pictured: Col. Leonard Schroeder.
Col. Leonard Schroeder, who spent much of his life and his long retirement in Largo, was the ultimate liberator. You won’t see him in the old films of D-Day, because he arrived before the cameras. His boat was the first to land at Normandy, and his boots were the first to touch the beach.
Charging the Nazi gunners as bombs dropped around him, machine gun bullets ripped through him. He survived the hits, killed the machine gunner, and helped clear a hole in the seawall deep and wide enough for allied vehicles and tanks to get through. After he died, his family donated his boots to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans in 2019.
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