Florence Cook

COOK, Florence

Florence Elliott "Cita" Cook was born on April 12, 1943, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma to Florence Carter Bryan and Raymond A. Cook. She died peacefully on January 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia, maintaining her infectious smile and engaging eye contact throughout her final weeks.

Cita's 80 years were filled with curiosity, adventure, purpose, and serious scholarship. She enjoyed a happy childhood in Houston with her three younger brothers. Highlights include un-airconditioned, cross-country summer car trips in the 1950's, eight years at Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country, where she was named Junior Cup Girl, reading, writing, playing the piano, ice skating, and holiday celebrations at her many cousins' homes.

In Houston, Cita attended The Kinkaid School and Lanier Junior High School before graduating from Lamar High School in 1960. After receiving a BA in history from Southern Methodist University in 1964, she earned a "Degré Annuelle" from the University of Paris at the Sorbonne, where she studied French civilization. She also traveled Europe several times and lived for a period on Majorca.

Cita then earned a master's degree in American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in 1967, before moving to Northern California and beginning a teaching career that spanned nearly five decades. She taught in Bay Area public and private high schools until 1977, when she moved to San Francisco to teach at City College of San Francisco. She earned her PhD in history at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1992, where she also taught.

While in California, Cita and two friends built a house on a mountain overlooking Olema Valley, near the Pacific Ocean and the town of Inverness. She spent part of each summer there, walking on the beaches she loved, and hosting special friends and gatherings of educators. Cita also experienced the beauty of Hillsborough and Mill Valley while teaching there. She loved music and took full advantage of San Francisco's many cultural offerings.

Cita was a superb connector and catalyst for diverse entities to advance social change. During her years in San Francisco, she became part of a group of scholars who met frequently to discuss how best to teach history. They focused on the students themselves and what most reflected their lives. Her basement became a center of activity because she owned the group's only copy machine. Until her death, Cita remained in close touch with her Bay Area teaching colleagues, who collectively focused on an inclusive history curriculum highlighting many who had previously been ignored.

In 1992, Cita moved to Georgia, with the belief that she could make a difference there. She became an Associate Professor of History at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton. Her passions were Southern social history and the evolving role of Southern women. During her 16 years in Carrollton, Cita taught courses on these topics, published a wide range of scholarly articles, authored book reviews and made dozens of presentations.

Upon her retirement, Cita moved to Atlanta, having kept a pied-à-terre near the Arts District. During her last 13 years, she devoted her time to supporting social justice movements through daily contributions as a historian, documentarian, researcher and archivist. Through her work with Atlanta educators and the Southern civil rights organization Project South, she supported those whom she believed were making history: young people, women, teachers and community organizers. Cita's life was purposeful, and she made a profound difference in the lives of others.

Cita was described by one of her friends as both "brilliant and fierce." As an example, when the Atlanta school board would not tape the meeting comments from community members, Cita regularly typed verbatim notes and distributed those, to be sure their voices were heard.

A constant for Cita was quiet but impactful philanthropy, which began in Texas and will continue in the future. She lived modestly and gave generously to organizations that benefit the neediest amongst us. Before her death, she committed to providing a lead gift to help launch Project South's Brownsville Futures Project to reclaim the history and regenerate the legacy of Black neighborhoods in Atlanta.

Cita was a sixth-generation Texan and proud of her progressive and philanthropic great-great grandmother, Emily Austin Bryan, sister of Stephen F. Austin. At the same time, she did not hesitate to challenge her forebears, or to join other academic researchers in seeking the unvarnished truths of history. As a dedicated historian, Cita also carefully assembled hundreds of years of her own family's history and enjoyed deep connections with her many Cook, Bryan and Crain cousins.

Cita was predeceased by her parents; her brother, Frank Cook; and several beloved cousins. She is survived by her brothers, Lawrence Cook and Stephen Cook; and her sisters-in-law, Angie Prescott, Irene Cook and Allyson Cook.

"Aunt Cita" was a beloved, supportive, and enthusiastic aunt and great-aunt. She stayed in frequent contact with her seven nieces and nephews: Samantha Cook, Crosby Cook, Carrie Cook Mick, Bryan Cook, Robert Cook, Steve Cook and Elizabeth Cook Jenkins. She also adored her six great-nieces and nephews: Gracen Mick, Eliza Cook, Nora Cook, Austin Jenkins, Ainsley Jenkins and Asher Cook. Her files were thick with notes in which she sought the perfect Christmas and birthday gifts for each family member.

The extended Cook family would like to thank the many doctors and nurses who supported Cita during the short two months of her extremely rare, sudden onset and incurable neurodegenerative illness. They are especially grateful for the valiant and loving efforts of her good friends Rita Valenti, R.N. and Stephanie Guilloud of Project South, as well as the other treasured members of her Atlanta care team.

A fund is being established at Project South to continue Cita's education and research initiatives. Contributions to that fund may be sent in her memory to Project South, 9 Gammon Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30315, or online at www.projectsouth.org.

There will be celebrations of Cita's life this Spring in Atlanta, in Inverness and in a private family gathering in Houston.