Senator Geraldine F. Thompson Way to be unveiled Friday in Orlando

Officials are scheduled Friday to officially recognize Senator Geraldine F. Thompson Way — a renamed portion of South Street in downtown Orlando honoring the late Senator who died this year.

Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer are expected to attend the 10:30 a.m. ceremony to unveil the new road sign.

Bracy Davis, who won a Special Election to finish the remainder of Thompson’s term, said on social media that the event is paying tribute to Thompson to “honor her decades of leadership, her dedication to preserving African American history, and her unwavering service to the people of Florida.”

Thompson died at age 76 in February from knee replacement surgery complications.

Thompson was the Director of the Wells’Built Museum of American-American History in Orlando’s Parramore district. Fittingly, Senator Geraldine F. Thompson Way will be renamed on West South Street between South Division Avenue and U.S. 441, which passes by the museum.

“Sen. Geraldine Thompson was a force — a trailblazer, a historian, a fierce advocate, and a devoted mother and grandmother who worked every day to uplift all Floridians, ensuring that no one was left behind,” U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost said in a statement at the time of her death.

Other lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, put out statements of support and tributes after her death.

Thompson, a Democrat, had represented Orlando in the Legislature for two decades. At one point, the Orlando Sentinel described her as the “epicenter of Black history in Orlando.”

She took people on bus tours of the city’s Black history, wrote a book on Orlando’s African American community, hosted Juneteenth events and helped launch Orlando’s early celebrations to honor Martin Luther King Jr. 

Last month, officials gathered to open Harris Rosen Way, the honorary roadway on International Drive between State Road 528 and Sand Lake Road.

Rosen, the CEO of the largest independent hotel chain in Florida, died at age 85 in 2024.