Delray Beach has a civil rights icon living in their midst and have failed for more than 60 years to recognize her contributions to city history.
In the fall of 1961, Rev. Dr. Randolph Lee & Mattie Lou Williams Lee sent their 15 year old daughter, Yvonne Williams Lee, off to all white Seacrest High School (now known as Atlantic High School) to become their first black student. She wasn't accompanied by National Guardsmen like the other brave integrators that we've all learned about, but instead she went off on her own with pencil and paper her only shields. If it were not for the courage of the Lee family and young Yvonne, Atlantic High School would not be the place it has become today and many of us would not be blessed to have formed the many lasting friendships we have.
Miss Lee, now Mrs. Yvonne Odom, has remained in Delray Beach her entire life. She was a teacher in Delray Beach schools, yet there is no mention of her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and Delray Beach history taught in those schools. There is no plaque commemorating her heroic choices at Atlantic High School. There is no statue raised in her honor at Old School Square, or anywhere else.
It is time that Delray Beach City leadership step up and rectify this longstanding wrong. Mrs. Odom (nee Lee) deserves to be permanently recognized by the city for her contributions.