Charles S. Chestnut, III

Civil Rights leader and Chestnut Funeral Home owner Charles S. Chestnut III, the first African American member of the Alachua County School Board and former Alachua County Commissioner, has died at age 83. Chestnut graduated from the former all-Black Howard High School in Ocala in 1958 before going on to attend what is now Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach and in 1961 earning his degree from Eckels School of Mortuary Science in Philadelphia. Two years later, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the 200,000 people who marched on Washington to hear the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech - later telling an interviewer that he knew at that moment he was witnessing history. Chestnut himself played a pivotal role in the history of Gainesville and the larger story of North Central Florida. Having acquired while in Philadelphia a desire to bring progress and equality to the Jim Crow South, Chestnut returned to the family funeral home newly motivated to move the needle on Civil Rights. As a local leader in the Civil Rights movement, Chestnut coordinated sit-ins with friends at the whites-only counters of Woolworth's, McCrory's and other local drugstores. He became president of the Alachua County NAACP Youth Council and worked to secure equal access to public accommodations for the Black residents of Alachua County. Once that goal was reached, he refocused his activism on voters' rights, rolling out a campaign to register Blacks to vote. Chestnut was married to Gainesville City Commissioner Cynthia Moore Chestnut for more than 40 years and is father to five children, including Alachua County Commissioner Charles "Chuck" Chestnut IV, and local businessman and attorney Chris Chestnut. He remained a strong and stalwart Civil Rights and business leader throughout his life. "His shoulders were the shoulders that so many, not only here in Florida, but around the country, stood on," said City of Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward. "Throughout his life, he continued speaking truth to power. Unconquered here on earth, his legacy will continue to lift us up and his light will continue to shine. This is a lifetime of good work that will roll onward. We thank his family for sharing Charles Chestnut with all of us for all these decades. His loved ones are in our hearts as they celebrate this remarkable life." Chestnut served on the Alachua County School Board from 1976-1992 and on the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners from 1992-2000. He was a lifetime member of the NAACP, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, a loyal lifetime member of Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church of Gainesville, and a U.S. Army veteran. For additional information, please contact City of Gainesville Public Information Officer Rossana Passaniti at 352-393-7842 or PassanitiR1@GainesvilleFL.gov. ###

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Charles S. Chestnut, III

August 1, 1940 - December 4, 2023