Jacksonville icon Sollie Mitchell dies at 103

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville veteran Sollie Mitchell has died at the age of 103.

The City of Jacksonville announced Mitchell’s passing on social media Tuesday. “My most sincere condolences on the loss of the legendary Staff Sgt. Sollie Mitchell,” said Mayor Curry. “Very few can fathom the sheer history that Mr. Mitchell experienced. He was nothing short of an icon in the Veteran Community & the entire city joins in mourning this loss.”

Mitchell was born in Ocilla, Georgia on June 20, 1918. He attended the old Stanton High School in Jacksonville before being drafted during WWII. He served from 1941 until 1945—when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan. In a 2014 interview, Mitchell described his military service in his all-Black company.

After the war, Mitchell moved to Jacksonville where he worked as a Pullman Car Porter. Mitchell’s mother-in-law introduced him to A. Phillip Randolph, a prominent labor rights advocate, who mentored Mitchell on civil rights issues. Both men worked to influence public policy that ultimately led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Mitchell played an important role in 1963, as the only Pullman car porter on the Freedom Train that took passengers from Jacksonville to the March on Washington.

He worked for the railroad all the way until his retirement in 1981.

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Sollie Mitchell In a 2020 photo, Sollie Mitchell holds his high school graduation photo. (Lakesha Burton)

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