The City of Miami recently elected its first female mayor in its 130-year history. While Eileen Higgins is the first woman to officially hold the office, there was another woman who led the city through turbulent times and did the work of mayor during her storied tenure in Miami City Hall.
Her name was M. Athalie Range — a civil rights advocate and the first Black person to run for the city commission.
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She got her start in politics as an activist for her community in Liberty City on the Parent Teacher's Association at the school of her children. At the time, Black students at Liberty City Elementary could only drink hot water from outdoor fountains fed by pipes exposed to the sun. She advocated for those students to have access to cool drinking water.
Her grandson, N. Patrick Range II, said Athalie Range didn't want to enter politics, but her community noticed a talent for leadership and pushed her to run in 1965.
" There were a group of a group of ministers here in the community and they all decided that she would be a proper candidate to run for city commission," Range II told WLRN. "It was not something that she had planned for, but after sitting and talking with them, she recognized the need and she was willing to step forward at that time."
Range lost her initial race, but was appointed by the mayor the following year to fill a vacancy on the dais. She was reelected twice and would later be appointed again in 1989.
She went on to become vice mayor for the City of Miami and trusted ally to Mayor Stephen P. Clark.
On Nov. 25, 1970 Clark had just resigned to become mayor of Dade County. A special meeting was called to appoint a new leader for the city, and Range presided over the commission for the appointment — making her the first woman to perform mayoral duties for the city a full 55 years before Higgins' election.
"Mrs. Range did this so long ago in a time where women were never expected to do anything like this, and did it in a state that was steeped in racism. So she's not just a trailblazer, she's a trailblazer all in capital letters," Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins told WLRN.
Range spoke out at community meetings amid violent riots in 1968 when white businesses were ransacked during Black resident protests. She encouraged Black Liberty City residents to manage their own businesses and serve their own community.
"I saw a pitiable piece in the paper this morning where the merchants were saying that they had lost everything they had and that they had nowhere else to open another business. But let me tell you this: those same merchants have made their living on this community for a long time," Athalie Range said in a speech recorded by WJTV on Aug. 11, 1968.
In 1971, then-Florida Gov. Reuben Askew appointed Range as secretary of Community Affairs. She was the first African-American to serve as head of a Florida state agency.
She was a staunch advocate for civil rights and the Black community in Miami and beyond well into her old age.
"You can legislate the books on the law but you can’t legislate the hearts of men," she said in 1980 after riots erupted following the death of Arthur McDuffie, a Black insurance salesman who was killed by Miami police officers.
To the people of Miami, she was an icon known as Mrs. Range: an elder and leader who political candidates would seek endorsements from, and community members would solicit for advice. But to her grandson, Range II, she was "Grammy."
"That was my name for her when I was young, but then as I got older then she became 'Mighty Mouse' to me. That was the only thing I could equate her to because her stature was small like a mouse, but her might was super," he said.
Range II keeps his grandmother's office in their family funeral parlor in Liberty City preserved, 20 years after her death in 2006. The walls are replete with awards, framed newspaper clippings, keys to various cities and honorary diplomas from major colleges and universities in South Florida, including an honorary doctorate in Humanities from the University of Miami.
"This little short lady born in Key West and raised here in Liberty City was able to obtain honorary doctorates from every major educational institution here locally. I just think that’s a tremendous accomplishment," Range II said.
Range II has followed in his grandmother’s footsteps as a civic leader. He was executive director of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust, which oversaw the historical park that served as the first beach Black residents could visit in Miami-Dade county.
He sees his grandmother’s legacy as one that uplifted generations of strong leaders years after her tenure.
"Since my grandmother passed you've had so many female politicians come into power, and it just says to me that they're all in one way or another kind of standing on her shoulders. So for me she certainly helped to pave the way for folks like Eileen Higgins to come and have that opportunity. It’s a proud moment," he said.
