Mozell Booker
Mozell Lee Booker
DOB: 11/8/41 - 81 yrs. old
Mozell was the first woman Chair of the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors and the 2nd African American Supervisor; her husband/Jerome was the first African American Supervisor. Between them, they served on the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors for 32 years (16 years – Mozell; 16 years – Jerome).
Mozell had a distinguished career as an educator and an educational administrator. She taught children in Washington DC, Germany, Japan, California and Virginia. She was a school principal in both Fluvanna County and Charlottesville.
Mozell was born and raised in Fluvanna’s Thessalonia Community, home of the Thessalonia Baptist Church which was established in 1868 by James D. Barrett, a former slave. Following emancipation, Mr. Barrett was a preacher, community leader and political activist in Fluvanna, educating and organizing Blacks to seek their rights as citizens. The church community had a significant impact on Mozell’s trajectory.
One of six children in a family of modest means, Mozell attended Dunbar School (a Rosenwald School). At the Dunbar School, Mozell took part in oratory contests where she learned diction and vocabulary, even competing in the Ted Mack talent show. She then attended the SC Abrams High School, the first African American High School in Fluvanna. SC Abrams High School was established in 1936, being segregated until school integration in 1969. Mozell was the Salutatorian of her senior class. Mozell went to Virginia Union University, a private HBCU in Richmond, VA. She went on to obtain two masters degrees during her educator career.
Mozell and her late husband have two children. Their daughter, now retired, was a distinguished educator and is currently on the Williamsburg, VA school board. Mozell lives with her son and his family, living at the family lake-side homestead.
Mozell grew up in an African American community, both church and school, that provided mentorship and role models for achievement, citizenship, behavior and dress*. Mozell takes on leadership roles within most organizations that she becomes involved, such as the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation, Child Health Partnerships and as the teacher for a women’s Bible study group. She grew up believing she could overcome any barrier in order to achieve her goals for herself and her community. Mozell – a remarkable woman!