President’s Award

2022 Distinguished Alumni Award

President’s Award Dr. Enid Pinkney, MS 1967

 Dr. Enid Pinkney, MS 1967

Born in Overtown, Miami, Enid Pinkney has received numerous awards for her tireless efforts to preserve the area’s history, especially the role African Americans played in it.

Pinkney was and continues to be the driving force behind the restoration of the Historic Hampton House, a Miami Green Book motel from the era of segregation where celebrities and athletes like Sammy Davis, Jr., and Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) once stayed. Today it is a cultural center and museum in Miami’s Brownsville corridor.

Among her many activities, she served as the first African American president of the Dade Heritage Trust; co-founded The Church of the Open Door United Church of Christ; and was the organizer and former chair of the Lemon City Cemetery Community Corporation, focused on preserving an abandoned African American cemetery. Pinkney has written books and articles and her expertise has lead to appearances on TV and radio shows and documentaries.

Pinkney earned a BA in Social Sciences from Talladega College, an MS in Guidance and Counseling from Barry University, and honorary doctorates in Humane Letters from St. Thomas University and Talladega College. She worked as a social worker and then in the Miami-Dade County Public School System until she retired as assistant principal at South Miami Middle School in 1991.

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