A crowd gathered in mid-March at the Cortez Village Historical Society’s Cortez Cultural Center to honor the late Dr. Mary Frances Fulford Green.
During the celebration March 16, a commemorative plaque was mounted on the building at the CCC as a testament to Green’s dedication to preserving the cultural heritage of the fishing village.
Green died June 9, 2022, at age 96.
Cortez Village Historical Society board president Cynthia Rodgers said no one was more passionate about preserving Cortez than Green.
Since 1985, Green led protests to prevent Chris-Craft from building a recreational marina, save the Cortez Trailer Park, keep the Cortez Post Office open and prevent a high bridge on Cortez Road.
Green founded the Cortez Village Historical Society, obtained numerous grants, worked to put Cortez on the National Register of Historic Places and create a protection zone for the village, helped form the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage and purchase the land for the 95-acre FISH Preserve, as well as helped transform the 1912 Cortez Schoolhouse into the Florida Maritime Museum and preserve the old Burton Store.
Green also was a champion for women and a licensed mental health counselor, co-founding a program for survivors of domestic violence and serving as its director, as well as serving on a statewide task force on the status of women. She founded WINGS to assist previously incarcerated women with employment.
The center is at 11655 Cortez Road W., Cortez. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
For more information, contact the CVHS at 941-540-0590 or cvhs2016@aol.com.
Mary Francis was a force to be reconned with, my mother (Sue Turner Maddox, her cousin) was with her in all those efforts too, but the person(s) that actually laid the groundwork were Doris M. Green, Wayne Neild, and Linda Molto. Doris “Toodle” Green wrote the book:” Fog’s Comin’ In”, the collection and publication of the family histories of the founding of the village including stories, photographs and research that caused her to be considered the “Village Historian”; some might recall Toodle’s brother, W.H. “Snook” Adams, who founded the Holmes Beach Police Department. Pretty much supports the notion that it takes a village, one that hopefully will be kept.