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Ethel Mizell Pappy Family Papers, 1941-2016

 

Summary

Abstract:
The Ethel Mizell Pappy family papers contains personal letters, newspaper clippings, photographs, plaques and certificates of the Mizell family of Broward County, Florida.
Extent:
5 Hollinger Boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Ethel Mizell Pappy family papers, African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, Broward County Library.

Background

Scope and content:

The Ethel Mizell Pappy family papers contain personal and professional papers, correspondence, awards, printed materials and photographs documenting the professional and personal lives of the Mizell family of Broward County, Florida. Materials include photographs of Dr. Von D. Mizell and Ethel Mizell Pappy along with their colleagues and families. Other papers document Provident Hospital, the first hospital for African Americans in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Biographical / historical:

Ethel Mizell Pappy was one of 14 children born to Isadore S. and Minnie Mizell. Isadore Mizell was born the son of enslaved parents in 1883 in Jasper, Florida. He migrated to Dania Beach, Florida in 1907 where he and Minnie began farming and raising children as one of the pioneering Black families in Broward County, Florida. He was a strong believer in education and is credited for establishing the Dania School for Coloreds and St. Ruth Baptist Church in Broward County. All 14 of the Mizell children attended high school and 10 of them went on to obtain college degrees. Some of the more prominent Mizell children include Dr. Von DeLaney Mizell, Reverend Ivory Mizell, and Leroy "Roy" Mizell.

Reverend Ivory Mizell was a photographer, documenting the lives of African Americans in Broward County. He also established the first library in 1948 at Dixie Court Projects. Leroy "Roy" Mizell was a mortician and established the Roy Mizell Funeral Home, today known as the Roy Mizell & Kurtz Funeral Home.

Dr. Von DeLaney Mizell (1910-1973) earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Moorehouse College in 1932 and completed his medical education at Meharry Medical College in 1936. He held residencies at John Hopkins Hospital, Grady School of Medicine, and Provident Hospital (Chicago, Illinois). Dr. Mizell advocated for better healthcare for the Black community in Broward County. He established Provident Hospital with Dr. James Franklin Sistrunk in 1938. Dr. Sistrunk was the first Black doctor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sistrunk Avenue in Fort Lauderdale is named in his honor. In addition to his medical profession, Dr. Mizell and Eula Mae Johnson initiated the wade-ins at the "white-only" beaches in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1961. One of Florida's state parks' name changed to honor their activism – Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Dania Beach, Florida.

Ethel Mizell Pappy was born on May 27, 1916. She attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and Florida Normal and Industrial College, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education in 1944. She received her Masters of Arts degree in 1955 from Columbia University. Ethel taught elementary students from 1938 to 1982. In addition to her vocation, she served as the first president of the Von D. Mizell Library at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center, of which she was awarded for Lifetime Achievement in 2013. Ethel was a member of community organizations such as Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, the NAACP, the Urban League of Broward County, the Broward County Historical Society, the Democratic Club, the Board of Directors of Henderson Mental Health Clinic, and First Baptist Church Piney Grove. Ethel married Lilburne Brogdon Pappy and they had two daughters, Rosamond and Adlai. Her husband worked as a pharmacist at Pappy Pharmacy in Fort Lauderdale. Ethel passed away on May 18, 2014.

Provident Hospital opened in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1938. Black physicians Dr. Von D. Mizell and Dr. James Sistrunk founded the hospital to provide medical services to African Americans in Broward County during segregation. The hospital operated as a non-profit institution, expanding its capacity of 8 beds to 42 beds from 1938 to 1951. Dr. Mizell worked as the Medical Director and supervised staff. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Provident Hospital closed due to integration. The building became a community center, the Mizell Center for several years. The building was replaced with the YMCA in 2019.

Acquisition information:
Ethel Mizell Pappy donated the collection on July 9, 2007.
Processing information:

This collection received file level processing. This finding aid may be updated to reflect new descriptions as well as acquisitions to the collection.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into five series: Series I. Correspondence, Series II. Personal Papers, Series III. Provident Hospital, Series IV. Printed Materials, and Series V. Awards.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The Ethel Mizell Pappy family papers are open for research.

Preferred citation:

Ethel Mizell Pappy family papers, African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, Broward County Library.

Location of this collection:
African American Research Library and Cultural Center, Broward County Library
2650 Sistrunk Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale
FL
33311
USA