Alice Mickens
American civil rights leader
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Alice Frederick Mickens was a civil rights leader and philanthropist in West Palm Beach.[1]
Early life and education
Mickens was born in Bartow, Florida to formerly enslaved people from South Carolina. Her family moved to West Palm Beach when she was young.[2]
She graduated with honors from Spelman College.[2]
Mickens House
In 1917 Mickens and her husband, Haley Mickens, moved into a two-story home they had built at 801 4th Street.[2][3]
Mickens hosted influential black civil rights leaders, scholars, entertainers and other notable figures at the house, including Ralph Bunche, A. Philip Randolph, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Louis Armstrong.[2] The Mickens hosted afternoon garden parties for professional baseball players in the Negro Baseball League when they were practicing nearby.[3] Black entertainers and scholars who could not stay in local hotels stayed in the Mickens' rooming house across the street from their home.[1][4]
Alice and Haley adopted several foster children, including Alice Moore.[1][5]
Mickens was a trustee of Bethune-Cookman College and received an honorary doctorate from the school.[2][3][4]
Death and legacy
Mickens died in her home on January 19, 1988, at age 99.[2] A science hall at Bethune-Cookman and a park in West Palm Beach are named after her.[1][3][4]
As a result of advocacy by Alice Moore, a foster child of the Mickens, the Mickens House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[3]