First women to hold a top leadership role in AACS:

Jacqueline Browne, Chairperson 1995 – 1998  A retired educator and a graduate of Hunter College in NYC where she earned a BA & MS degree, Jackie also earned a diploma in public service at St. John’s University.  After more than 25 years at the Board of Education, she elevated herself to Deputy Superintendent and Admin Superintendent before retiring as community Superintendent of District 25 in NYC.  She also served as vice president of the NY Association of School Superintendents and has held seats on numerous boards.  Contributing toward organizing the structure of the AACS not long after it was initially formed in 1991, Jackie was instrumental in developing the prospectus which would aid in moving the AACS toward land ownership and funding the building of our current facility.  After her leadership role chairing the Board of Directors at  AACS Jackie took the lead in reorganizing the local branch of the     NAACP. She became their first-elected Branch 5147 president.  The Jacqueline A. Browne Memorial Golf Tournament became a fundraiser formed in her honor after her death to commemorate her contribution to the organization.

Youngest Woman in Leadership – President from 1/2 014-12/2015
Stephanie Ecklin

Stephanie Ecklin is the youngest person to have been elected in a leadership role at
AACS. Stephanie’s focus as president was involving young people, she understood the
importance of leaving a legacy. Stephanie has often given back to her community and
was commended for being among Flagler County Leaders working with FEMA to
distribute aid after Hurricane Matthew. She has always been an advocate for youth
fostering multiple youth programs. Stephanie published “Our Voices Thrive” (OVT) Teen
Magazine, was a youth after school program administrator in partnership with the Flagler County School System and chairperson for the Flagler County NAACP ACT-SO.an achievement program for youth. She was also instrumental in bringing the Boys and  Girls Club to Flagler County and director at their Rymfire/Palm Coast Branch of the Volusia/Flagler Boys and Girls Club. Currently she serves as regional manager for Child
Protective Services of the Connecticut Judicial Branch for Juvenile matters.

Served as President of AACS

Vikki Taylor

Vikki Taylor retired to Palm Coast in 2000 after a fulfilling 30-year career as an educator. She holds a Bachelors and Master degree. During her time with AACS as President and working with the Cultural Committee she served her community in many ways. She served as Secretary of the Flagler County Branch of the NAACP, a member of its Executive Committee, member of Delta Sigma Theta Soroity, Inc. of Palm Coast/FlaglerCounty Chapter where she served as recording secretary and Executive Committee. Says,Vikki, “Volunteering gave me the opportunity to live my dreams without guilt or pretension. I Loved That”. In 2018 she returned to the midwest reflecting on her experiences with ‘love and joy”

Served as Chairperson of the Board of Directors

Elva Lee is an Original Lifetime Member of the AACS. Along with Dr. Jeanne Lea, James Hinson and Professor Banks of Bethune Cookman, Elva created the original by-laws of the African American Cultural Society. When the charter and by-laws were provided to the IRS for approval of non-profit 501(c)(3) status, they were accepted on first submittal.
Elva has continued to provide service to the AACS over many years. Recently, she has participated in telling her story of the early years in AACS for documentation

Current Chairperson of the Board of Directors

​​Stephanie joined AACS as soon as she moved to Palm Coast in 1992 and is a Gold
Lifetime member. She has a Bachelor’s in Accounting and a Master’s of Business
Administration and worked in the nonprofit field for over 40 years. Stephanie has been a
member of the mortgage elimination, annual cookout, audit, budget and finance, holiday
gift giving and Permanent Endowment Fund committees and has chaired the Awards,
New Years Luncheon and 25 th and 30 th Anniversary committees. She also volunteers for
the Pyramid Players Golf Tournament and has performed in several of AACS’ plays.
Stephanie has served AACS as Financial Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, 2 nd
Vice President, member of the Board of Directors and is currently the Chairman of the
Board.

Past Board Chair

AACS Salutes Evelyn D. Corbin

My parents, both immigrants to the U.S., met and married after a chance meeting at a “Marcus Garvey Back to Africa Rally” at Madison Square Garden. My mother, Beulah Talbot, had come from Bermuda to become a Missionary. My father, Talbot Talbot, had come from Jamaica, BWI. I am their second child. (Their first was my recently deceased sister, Nora (an AACS member). I graduated from PS 119 in Harlem, Harriet Beecher Stowe JHS in Harlem and Hunter College HS in NYC. I went directly to Hunter College, but left after one year. Eventually I worked at the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C., and as a WAC briefly. I was in the last class of U.S. Cadet Nurses and became the first Black nurse to graduate from the Westchester School of Nursing at Grasslands Hospital in Valhalla, New York.

Early in my three years at Grasslands, I met a Black medical student from Meharry Medical College who was working at our hospital for the summer. When we both graduated, we married and had two daughters. I worked as a staff and head nurse at Brooklyn and L.I. hospitals. In 1960, we moved to the Long Island area designated for Blacks at that time, only to discover that we had been “steered” to Lakeview where we could not get a library card at the local elementary school surrounded by all white schools and Brown elementary school students. This was two years after the Brown decision. Also, our children had no access to the public library unless we paid another library for a card.

I then became president of the Lakeview NAACP, CORE and the Friends of the non-existent Lakeview Library. I found it necessary to finish my BS in Education and my Masters in Library Science. I also became a leader of an Urban 4-H Club of eight girls. The NAACP took our case (Malverne, L.I. School District) to the Supreme Court as the test to strike down de-facto segregation. We held boycotts, demonstrations and arrests, but eventually the schools were integrated.

In the meantime, I helped to raise funds for the building of the Lakeview Public Library. The Library sponsored the first Black Outdoor Art Show ever done on Long Island. Our own Shirley Jones coordinated the show every summer for many years. In 1976, the NYS Library Association chose me as one of ten Distinguished Directors of a small public library in New York State.

My husband, Eustace E. Corbin, MD, was a surgeon and practiced in St. Albans, Queens. We came to live in Palm Coast in 1991, but he was already ill and died in 1994. We have two adult daughters.

I was secretary of the Palm Coast Computer Club, and I have been a volunteer reference librarian at the Flagler County Library for about 6 years.

I joined the AACS in 1995. Last year I was proud to be one of the honorees at the AACS Awards ceremony. I am in my second three-year term on the Board of Directors where I am Vice-Chairperson of the Grants Committee. I coordinate the Underground Railroad Quilters, African Crafts Program, the Martin Luther King Day Program, and I am a member of the Steel Drum Committee.

I am a member of the Unitarian Universalist Society of the Greater Daytona Area.

The AACS proudly salutes Evelyn D. Corbin!

This is an article from the AACS publication The Scribe

 

 

Co-Founder

​​Co-Founder of the African American Cultural Society, Inc. 1991

Jeannette Smith established roots in Palm Coast, and early on joined the North East Florida Jazz Association, preceded by a 40-year career with the New York Telephone Company. By virtue of cultural enrichment, she was a founder of the African American Cultural Society, Inc. (AACS), and the only woman to serve in that role. She became secretary of the Executive Committee and in many positions throughout the organization. She was a stickler for reading every bit of mail, to protect her interests.

Her home on Pickwood Place was the AACS’ official address. Strengthened as a former A.M.E. member, she became a charter member of First A.M.E. Church, and as an initial Steward Board member, Jeannette’s name is inscribed on the church’s cornerstone. She further served as secretary of the Inspirational Choir, and publicity chair of First A.M.E.’s first United Efforts Day. She was a great financial supporter of her church and the African American Cultural Society.

This is an article from the AACS publication The Scribe