WATCH REPLAY: City of Cocoa Unveils Mural Memorializing Beloved Cocoa Resident Rosa L. Jones

Members of the Jones family and Cocoa City Council unveiled the mural

ABOVE VIDEO: The City of Cocoa and the family of Rosa L. Jones unveiled a mural installation memorializing the life and legacy of civil rights activist, educator, reporter and beloved Cocoa resident on Saturday, Aug. 15.

BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA, FLORIDA – The City of Cocoa and the family of Rosa L. Jones unveiled the mural memorializing the life and legacy of civil rights activist, educator, reporter and beloved Cocoa resident on Saturday, August 15.

The Jones family and members of the Cocoa city council unveiled the mural.

The family worked with a Brevard builder and artist to create the mural installation at the traffic circle in the intersection of John Garren and Rosa L. Jones Boulevard in Cocoa Village.

The family raised more than $10,000 to complete this project which was approved by Cocoa City Council in June to be placed at the traffic circle.

Jones, who died Dec. 2, 2008, at 101 years old,  was a writer for the first black newspaper in Cocoa, radio broadcaster, philanthropist, preschool owner and community activist who was a part of the civil rights movement along with Harry T. Moore.

She worked as a contributing editor for The Script, the first black newspaper in Brevard County, which was founded and published by the late Dorothy Sweetwine.

Jones was a popular voice in the 1950s and 1960s on WKKO-AM radio in Cocoa every Sunday morning on a show called “Open House.”

She co-hosted the show with Dorothy Carder Moore, a student of Jones. The two announced special events, such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, the town’s comings and goings and deaths. Jones’ portion of the show was called “Gab Bag” and was popular in the town.

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