Patriva “Triva” Mack

Patriva “Triva” Mack was born and raised in Clearwater, Florida.  She attended public schools, graduating from Clearwater High. After completing St. Petersburg Junior College with an associate in computer science, she enlisted in the United States Air Force and spent the first six-and-a-half years as a Non-Commissioned Officer.  

Through the off-duty education program she earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Administration, graduating with honors from St. Leo College.  She completed Officers’ Training School and later earned a master’s degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California.

During a family reunion, she tried to build a family tree to understand the connection to the many new cousins she was meeting. Unfortunately, she encountered one cousin who said to her, “Mind your business.”  Thankfully, another cousin stepped up to help her fill in the gaps. The information she gathered at that reunion was the initial spark for her interest in learning her family’s history.  

She retired after 26 years of military service.

While convalescing, she attended an “Introduction to Genealogy” course at the local library. Her first Ancestry search yielded her grandfather’s World War I Draft Registration Card and she was irretrievably hooked! She continued to dabble in genealogy and finally took the Ancestry DNA test. Triva has taken advantage of numerous webinars and seminars.  She is an active member of the Florida Genealogical Society, Tampa as well as a former board member of the Pinellas Genealogy Society.  She is also an active member of the Clearwater African American Cemetery Committee.

Carlton S. Childs Sr.

Elder Carlton S. Childs Sr., is the second youngest of 11 children birthed to Mr. Carlton Leroy Dixon and the late Mrs. Eunice B. Childs-Dixon. Elder Childs was born and raised here in the beautiful, sparkling city of Clearwater, and began his education at Williams Elementary, Curtis Elementary, John F. Kennedy Middle, and graduated from Clearwater High in June of 1975.

He joined the United States Army in August 1975 and served until April 1986 when he was injured in Korea. While on a three-day pass from boot camp, he came home to marry Vanessa D. Clark on September 12, 1975. Pastor and Lady Childs have been blessed with 49 years of marriage and four lovely children: Nakisha (Atlanta), Carlton Jr. (Clearwater), Cedric (Clearwater), and Carpucine (Atlanta).

In 1997, then Brother Childs received his call to the ministry when the Lord gave him the vision for Up With Life Ministries, which is a non-profit outreach and prison ministry that founded a residential re-entry and recovery program: Joshua House for men and House of Ruth for women in Clearwater. In 1988, then Minister Childs was licensed to preach and appointed Youth Pastor at Overcoming Church of God in Christ. In 2000, Minister Childs was ordained as an Elder by Bishop Matthew Williams.

After serving faithfully in the ministry, in 2002 Bishop Williams appointed him Assistant Pastor, and in 2006 the Lord saw fit to have Elder Childs appointed Pastor of Overcoming Ministries. In 2022, Pastor Childs was appointed Superintendent of the Greater Suncoast District of the Jurisdiction of Southwestern Florida, Church of God in Christ, By his current Leader Bishop Anthony W. Gilyard.

Elder Childs is currently serving the Jurisdiction of Southwestern Florida as the President of Department of Evangelism. He has served in the Youth Department for the Church of God in Christ’s Jurisdiction of Southwestern Florida for 12 years, being Vice president for four years before becoming President in 2010. He has been serving as member of the National Adjutancy Core for the Church of God in Christ since 2008 and is currently a National Overseer. He is also the President of the Board of Directors for the Willa Carson Heath Resource Center in Clearwater. Elder Childs has served as the President of the Upper Pinellas County Ministerial Alliance and was appointed President on January 8, 2017. Elder Childs is the founder of Men of God Life Ministry – a mentoring ministry for youth, the Mother Callie Gulley Daycare Center, and the Deacon Willie B. Cason Playground.

In 2021, Superintendent Childs was appointed Regional President of Region 13 of the International Department Of Evangelism in the Church of God In Christ, which serves Florida and Alabama.

Elder Childs has a Certification in Building Construction, an Associate of Science in Architectural Construction and Design both from St. Petersburg College, and a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Tampa College. He is currently studying theology.

Barbara Sorey-Love

Barbara J. Sorey-Love is a publisher, author, historian, and community servant. She was born in Clearwater, Florida in the basement of Morton F. Plant Hospital, on January 17, 1952, during the era of Jim Crow segregation. The basement was where the black mothers and their newborn babies were housed when the infant was born. Her parents are Johnny and Johnnie Lee Sorey. She grew up in the Mack Dixon Subdivision, one of the first African-American settlements founded in Clearwater, Florida, in 1909. She attended Clearwater’s St. Johns Helping Hands Nursery School on Brownell Street, which was the school started by St. John Missionary Baptist and St. John Primitive Baptist Churches because there were no established schools of early learning for black children in Clearwater.

Her kindergarten training was received in the home of PIONEER Home Schooler Mrs. Minnie Kerbo who taught many black children in her home on Garden Avenue.

She attended elementary school at Williams Elementary School in grades 1st through 6th. Williams was the first all black elementary School built in 1946 and opened in 1947 after World War II in the historic Mack Dixon Subdivision.

Barbara’s high school education began in 7th and 8th grade at the all-black Pinellas High School built in 1935 in the Mack Dixon subdivision on South Madison Avenue. The school was rebuilt in 1954 at a new location on 1220 Palmetto Street where it remains today. Pinellas High was the only school in North Pinellas County black students north of Ulmerton Road to New Port Richey attended.

Due to eminent domain and gentrification Williams Elementary and the community known as the Mack Dixon Subdivision aka Clearwater Heights were erased. Pinellas High School’s name was changed and those black students who grew up and went to school together were forced to attend the all-white schools in Clearwater, Dunedin, Largo and Tarpon Springs.

After court-ordered busing in 1963, she attended 9th grade at John F. Kennedy Middle School and Clearwater High School in 10th through 12th grades, graduating from Clearwater High in 1969.  She studied various academic courses at St. Petersburg College, Clearwater and University of South Florida, Tampa, thereby leading to gainful employment for 33 years in Purchasing as a Buyer Planner with the Square D Company (15 years) and Conmed Linvatec (18 years).

Barbara mentors students at Pinellas High Innovation (Clearwater) and Douglas Jamerson Elementary (St. Petersburg), she volunteers for the trash clean-up with Clearwater High School FREEDOM AMBASSADOR students at North Greenwood African American Memorial Cemetery and Martin Luther King Jr. Center, and she is a Clearwater Historical Society 2024 Trailblazing Women Honoree. She is an esteemed author of five books.

Barbara’s accomplishments include:
October 2016 – Co-Organizer of North Greenwood Library’s “A Night at the Library,” Clearwater’s Annual Black History Event.
December 2016 – Barbara and former members of Clearwater Heights organized the Clearwater Heights Reunion Committee with the sole purpose of planning a cookout with former friends and relatives who once lived in the bustling community. From those conversations the question “What    happened to the cemetery (St. Matthew Negro Cemetery)?”  led to a full investigation to rediscover Clearwater’s  erased cemeteries.
December 2021 – As Chairperson for the Clearwater African American Memorial Cemeteries Committee, she lead descendants, community organizers, and NAACP and Clearwater government leaders in a grassroots effort to have a Pinellas County Historic Preservation Board Marker Dedication for the erased cemetery at North Greenwood African American Memorial Cemetery.
August 2022 –  She founded the Clearwater African American Historical & Memorial Foundation, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit whose sole purpose is to preserve and memorialize historic cemeteries, buildings and landmarks within the City of Clearwater and Pinellas County.
April 2023 – As  Committee Co-Chair for the Pinellas High School Alumni 2023 Reunion Committee, she led Alumni and community members to advocate for the successful renaming of Pinellas High School to Pinellas High Innovation.
July 2023 – She presented a request for Historic Markers to be placed at St. Matthew Baptist Church African American Cemetery and Pinellas High Innovation before the Pinellas County Historic Preservation Board. Both were approved.
October 2023 – She became a Board Member for the 3C Society Non-Profit 501c3 as Communications Director.

Eloise Saylor-Bell

Lois Saylor-Bell was born in Clearwater, Florida. She attended public schools in Pinellas County, graduating from Dunedin High School . She spent many of her youth and young adult years in Atlanta, Georgia that inspired her selection of the HBCU Clark Atlanta University formerly, Clark College. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the Science of Home Economics and later attended Nova Southern University where she obtained a Certification for teaching Elementary and Primary Education.

Her years of teaching experiences included Pinellas County Head Start, where she served as director. She taught in Pinellas County Schools for 31+ years, where she served as Multicultural Liaison for 10 years at her school.

Her interest in the children in her neighborhood being more involved in their school and community experiences inspired her to create the Cherry Harris Steppers which involved young girls and boys working together learning routines in stepping which gave them a skill that they could perform at school and in public appearances. She later realized that being a part of her community was important to her learning and helping others to be proud of where they lived and called home.

Family was always a big deal in her life because the elders in the family made sure that they knew family members locally and across the country.

Her dad started questioning where his mother was buried. His mother passed away when he was very young. He and his siblings were sent away to live with relatives out of state until he returned as an adult. The cemetery where his mother was buried was no longer available for visitations. Her grandmother did not have a tombstone, which indicated that she was still buried at the original burial site. Her dad’s continuous inquiry concerned her and encouraged her involvement with the cemetery journey.

She has developed an interest in genealogy inquiries that will eventually help identify some, if not all of those that lay in the North Greenwood Colored Cemetery.

Diane Stephens

Diane Stephens is a lifelong resident of Clearwater, Florida, who grew up near the former North Greenwood Cemetery. She attended Clearwater schools, and received an Associate in Arts degree from St. Petersburg Junior College and a Bachelor of Arts from Grambling State University.

She started her career as an educator in the Pinellas County School System in 1979 and remained there until her retirement in 2016. She also served as Department Chair for Exceptional Education and taught GED classes.

Diane’s dedication to her community is far-reaching. From 2019 to present, she has served on the District Monitoring and Advisory Committee (DMAC), which monitors and advises the district regarding implementation of its unitary status. She was with the NAACP                                                                                                                      (2019 – 2023) as education chair, a mentor with the school system’s Lunch Pals (2018 – 2019), and Co-Education Chair for the CRA Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition (CULC)                                             (2020 -present).

She has volunteered for the Pinellas County African American History Museum since 2018.