School integration caused trauma and

fear for Carolyn Mason and rightly so.

 She lived in Overtown’s “Black

Bottom” located at the corner of 8th Street and Central Avenue in segregated

Sarasota. There was a dividing line at 3rd Street or present day Fruitville

Road. “I call it the Mason-Dixon line. North of Fruitville was the Black

community; and south was downtown for the more affluent community.” The

communities did not mix. “My senior year in high school should have been my

best year, but it was full of apprehension. I couldn’t think past the fear of

being around people I had never been around before. I didn’t know what I was

afraid of, but I was afraid. Somebody should have talked to the children – all

of the children – about what to expect. Somebody should have said, ‘You don’t

have anything to worry about.’”

Mason began a career in public

service after viewing a theater production in Sarasota that lacked a diverse

cast. Frustrated, she became the go between for talented African American

artists and arts organizations. “I offered myself as a bridge. I was probably

on the board at one time of every arts organization in Sarasota County.” She

was elected to the Sarasota City Commission and served from 1999 to 2003. She

was Mayor of Sarasota from 2001 to 2003. Mason is the first African American

elected to the Sarasota County Commission in 2008 and served as chair in 2013

and 2015. Social issues are the focus of her work.  Carolyn Mason’s oral

history was provided by interviewer Hope Black.