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'''John Sunday''' was a black businessman , landowner, and civic leader who held a number of political offices in Reconstruction-era Pensacola.
==Early life==
By the time Sunday retired, he was quite wealthy; in his 1907 book “The Negro in Business,” famed black educator Booker T. Washington called Sunday "the wealthiest colored man in that section of the state," estimating Sunday's fortune at $125,000, or more than $3.4 million in 2018 dollars. Washington wrote that Sunday "is said to pay taxes on $90,000 worth of property" and "owns valuable holdings in the principal business streets of the city, and employs steadily a force of men to repair old and build new houses."<ref>Washington, Booker T. (2006). ''The Negro in Business'', p. 236. Hertel, Jenkins & Co., Chicago.</ref>
Among the properties once owned by Sunday includes three of the four corners at the Belmont-DeVilliers intersection as well as the land now occupied by [[Pensacola City Hall]].
==John Sunday House==
In 1901, Sunday built the home which would later be referred to as the [[John Sunday House]] at the northwest corner of [[Romana Street|Romana]] and [[Reus Street|Reus]] streets in the [[Tanyard]] neighborhood. Despite pleas from preservationists, the house was demolished on [[July 16]], [[2016]].
==Deathand legacy==
Sunday died on [[January 7]], [[1925]], at the age of 86, and was buried in [[St. Michael's Cemetery]].
Preservationists who unsuccessfully worked to prevent the demolition of the John Sunday House later established the [[John Sunday Society]], a nonprofit organization whose mission is to "raise awareness of Pensacola’s diverse and multicultural history and to advocate for the preservation of Pensacola’s historic places and spaces."<ref>[https://johnsunday.org John Sunday Society website]</ref>
In 2019, Pensacola Mayor [[Grover Robinson]] proclaimed Sunday's birthday, March 20, "John Sunday Day."<ref>[https://weartv.com/news/local/city-of-pensacola-commemorates-march-20th-as-john-sunday-day "City of Pensacola commemorates March 20th as 'John Sunday Day'"], ''[[WEAR]]'', 19 March 2019. Retrieved on 1 June 2019.</ref>
==References==
