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Helen Dixon

At age 17, Helen Dixon’s father Charlie Jones came to Sarasota from Madison, Florida in 1921 after his father died.
 Her mother moved from Ocilla, Georgia. Dixon played in the yard on her family’s four-acre property. She made toys out of a five-gallon syrup can, punched holes in it, filled it with dirt and attached a clothes hanger. One of her dad’s employers gifted him with a “play house” equipped with electricity, a refrigerator and a stove. It was moved to their property and used to feed neighbors in need. When Newtown Day Nursery opened, she was among its first students. “My sister and I were the first two students to attend. We were really excited because it meant we would get to play with other kids during the day. We loved it.” Her father worked for Davis Lumber Company and was John Ringling North’s chauffeur. The outspoken Newtown leader constantly advocated at City Hall on behalf of African American residents for street lights, mail delivery and Booker High School’s teachers and students.
“The teachers would say, ‘Miss Jones, please tell your daddy to come out to the school. We need more money.’ He would go downtown and next thing you know; the teachers would get a little raise.” After constructing many homes, the entrepreneur opened a plumbing and electrical business, Charlie Jones and Sons. He helped construct the historic Wright Bush house on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.