Susie C. Holley
Susie C. Holley Religious Center
In National Women’s History Month, President Roslyn Clark Artis, and the faculty and staff of Memorial University, recognize the life and work of Susie C. Holley.
Susie C. Holley is remembered as a strong advocate for the Baptist Church and of African Americans in South Florida. Her contributions and benevolence extended to local, state, and national causes.
Across the street from the campus of Florida Memorial University is the Susie C. Holley Religious Center where faculty and students gather for the annual Founders’ Day Convocation, religious services, and other special events. Sitting on top of the Susie C. Holley Religious Center is a bell that reportedly was employed to call slaves for orders in the Old Hanson Plantation.
Susie C. Holley was the wife of Reverend Robert Holley, who served as the president of Florida Memorial College in Live Oak from 1926 until it merged with the St. Augustine campus in 1941. During these years in Live Oak, Susie Holley created what has become Donation Day when in the 1930s she began soliciting produce, canned goods, and clothing to support the institution on “Love Gift Day.”
By the time of her death in 1981, Susie Holley was credited with raising $1.6 million for the support of Florida Memorial.
Susie C. Holley is also known for establishing the Cradle Nursery in the early 1950’s at the Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Ft. Lauderdale, where her husband was pastor. Mrs. Holley recognized the need for such a day care center, as she watched children play in front of the First Baptist Church Piney Grove—where the nursery was first housed. Mrs. Holley and the Board (she established) solicited the support of community leaders and various organizations to help construct the children’s daycare facility. The Pilot Club of Fort Lauderdale donated the land and helped raised funds to help construct the site where Cradle Nursery has been located for the past 55 years.
Outside of the church, Susie Holley worked with the Northwest Woman’s Club, the United Way, Provident Hospital, the NAACP, the United Nations Association, the Juvenile Court Advisory Board, and the Quality Education Committee of the Broward County School Board. The City of Ft. Lauderdale named her its “Woman of the Year” in 1955.
Susie C. Holley left a legacy of positive social action and stewardship in the Baptist Church.
