Valada Parker Flewellyn
Author, Poet, Storyteller, Exhibit Curator
Author/Storyteller
Her books include: “Poetically, Just Us” 1990, “Yours Truly” 1994, “Jack & Jill of America into the New Millennium” 2000, the history of the oldest African American family organization. Her most recent publication is “African Americans of Sanford” an Arcadia Publication. 2010
Valada has been a presenter at several Walt Disney World venues: The Disney Market Place, The Grand Floridian, and Epcot. Her children’s book, “The Mosquito” was first introduced in a one women show at the Disney Institute, 1997.
For many years Valada has supported the Zora Neale Hurston festival as a performer, Zora Special Places tour guide and as a volunteer. She played the role of “Juel” in the festival’s first production of Zora’s play, “From Sun to Sun” at the Annie Russell Theatre, on the campus of Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. Due to the racial prejudice of the time, 1930s, Zora Hurston and her troupe were not allowed to perform on the theatre stage, but was relegated to the school's cafeteria.
Valada is the producer of two documentaries: Goldsboro: An American Story, 2006 and Ensign Jesse Leroy Brown the first African American Naval Fighter Pilot, 2011.
Exhibit Curator:
“Enter Colored Hats: Poetry & Presence”Seminole County Museum, Sanford Florida
“Enter Colored Hats” University of Central Florida Library, Sanford Museum.
“A Pilot Lights the Way: A tribute to Ensign Jesse Leroy Brown & Blacks in Aviation” opened at the Univ. of Central Florida Library and traveled to the following venues:
Oakmonte Village, Lake Mary, Fl
Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), Melbourne, Fl,
The Warbird Adventures Museum, Kissimmee, Fl
Orlando Sanford International Airport, Sanford, Fl
The African American Military Museum, Hattiesburg, Ms
The National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Fl
The Sanford Museum, Sanford, Fl
"PRAISE, REACH & TEACH: The Legacy of Joseph N. & Wealthy Crooms," founders of Crooms Academy, the first Negro High School in Sanford, Florida.
"He Shook Hands With MLK", Seminole County Museum
"Celebrating the Purdy's" , Oakmonte Village, Lake Mary, FL
"The National Black Golf Hall of Fame: Celebrating Golf's Black History"
*Note: Valada Flewellyn is the Historian & Archivist for the National Black Golf Hall of Fame"
Professional memberships include:
The Association for the Study of African American Life & History
The Association of Black Women Historians
The Association of African American Museums
Sanford Historical Society
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The Society of Florida Archives
Valada has penned commemorative poems for:
Meharry Medical College, 125th Anniversary
Seminole County's 65th Anniversary
Jack & Jill of America, Incorporated, 60th Anniversary
Liberty Bank, New Orleans, 25th Anniversary
News Orleans, Zulu King & Queen of Mardi Gras, 1999
Lucille O'Neale's graduation, Bethune Cookman College
Miss America, Erika Dunlap's Coronation Celebration
Dedication at Bethune Cookman College
Closing of Naval Base Hospital in Orlando
Tryavon Martin
Congresswomen Corrine Brown (Coretta Scott King Memorial)
and a host of friends and relatives.
Valada was appointed to the Sanford Historical Advisory Board by the Sanford City Council, she is former president of The Sanford Historical Society and on the board of the Crealde School of Art and the Hannibal Square Heritage Center, Winter Park, Florida.
She served on the Advisory Board of Creative Sanford Incorporated producers of the folk play, Celery Soup's, “Touch & Go”. Valada was an actor in the Inaugural production. The story of Valada's first childhood experience with race was the topic of the central themes in the play.
Valada is Poet Laureate of Jack & Jill of America, Incorporated and co-author of the organization history book.
Valada is an Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. (Orlando, 2002)
Valada and her husband Thomas are active members of Washington Shores Presbyterian Church, Pastor Erika Rembrandt Smith. She enjoys music, art, history and tennis.
Author, Poet, Storyteller, Exhibit Curator
Author/Storyteller
Her books include: “Poetically, Just Us” 1990, “Yours Truly” 1994, “Jack & Jill of America into the New Millennium” 2000, the history of the oldest African American family organization. Her most recent publication is “African Americans of Sanford” an Arcadia Publication. 2010
Valada has been a presenter at several Walt Disney World venues: The Disney Market Place, The Grand Floridian, and Epcot. Her children’s book, “The Mosquito” was first introduced in a one women show at the Disney Institute, 1997.
For many years Valada has supported the Zora Neale Hurston festival as a performer, Zora Special Places tour guide and as a volunteer. She played the role of “Juel” in the festival’s first production of Zora’s play, “From Sun to Sun” at the Annie Russell Theatre, on the campus of Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida. Due to the racial prejudice of the time, 1930s, Zora Hurston and her troupe were not allowed to perform on the theatre stage, but was relegated to the school's cafeteria.
Valada is the producer of two documentaries: Goldsboro: An American Story, 2006 and Ensign Jesse Leroy Brown the first African American Naval Fighter Pilot, 2011.
Exhibit Curator:
“Enter Colored Hats: Poetry & Presence”Seminole County Museum, Sanford Florida
“Enter Colored Hats” University of Central Florida Library, Sanford Museum.
“A Pilot Lights the Way: A tribute to Ensign Jesse Leroy Brown & Blacks in Aviation” opened at the Univ. of Central Florida Library and traveled to the following venues:
Oakmonte Village, Lake Mary, Fl
Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), Melbourne, Fl,
The Warbird Adventures Museum, Kissimmee, Fl
Orlando Sanford International Airport, Sanford, Fl
The African American Military Museum, Hattiesburg, Ms
The National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Fl
The Sanford Museum, Sanford, Fl
"PRAISE, REACH & TEACH: The Legacy of Joseph N. & Wealthy Crooms," founders of Crooms Academy, the first Negro High School in Sanford, Florida.
"He Shook Hands With MLK", Seminole County Museum
"Celebrating the Purdy's" , Oakmonte Village, Lake Mary, FL
"The National Black Golf Hall of Fame: Celebrating Golf's Black History"
*Note: Valada Flewellyn is the Historian & Archivist for the National Black Golf Hall of Fame"
Professional memberships include:
The Association for the Study of African American Life & History
The Association of Black Women Historians
The Association of African American Museums
Sanford Historical Society
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The Society of Florida Archives
Valada has penned commemorative poems for:
Meharry Medical College, 125th Anniversary
Seminole County's 65th Anniversary
Jack & Jill of America, Incorporated, 60th Anniversary
Liberty Bank, New Orleans, 25th Anniversary
News Orleans, Zulu King & Queen of Mardi Gras, 1999
Lucille O'Neale's graduation, Bethune Cookman College
Miss America, Erika Dunlap's Coronation Celebration
Dedication at Bethune Cookman College
Closing of Naval Base Hospital in Orlando
Tryavon Martin
Congresswomen Corrine Brown (Coretta Scott King Memorial)
and a host of friends and relatives.
Valada was appointed to the Sanford Historical Advisory Board by the Sanford City Council, she is former president of The Sanford Historical Society and on the board of the Crealde School of Art and the Hannibal Square Heritage Center, Winter Park, Florida.
She served on the Advisory Board of Creative Sanford Incorporated producers of the folk play, Celery Soup's, “Touch & Go”. Valada was an actor in the Inaugural production. The story of Valada's first childhood experience with race was the topic of the central themes in the play.
Valada is Poet Laureate of Jack & Jill of America, Incorporated and co-author of the organization history book.
Valada is an Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. (Orlando, 2002)
Valada and her husband Thomas are active members of Washington Shores Presbyterian Church, Pastor Erika Rembrandt Smith. She enjoys music, art, history and tennis.