Author Geraldine Fortenberry Thompson has compiled a visual retrospective that takes readers on a journey from a rural, agricultural community where racial segregation was strictly observed to a point where African Americans broke barriers and began to actively participate in civic affairs in Central Florida. Thompson is the Founding President of the Association to Preserve African American Society, History and Tradition, Inc. (PAST), which operates the Wells' Built Museum of African American History and Culture located in the former historic Wells' Built Hotel.