black history tours florida

6 fascinating destinations on the trail of Black history in Florida

By: Author Douglas C. Lyons

Posted on Last updated: July 5, 2024

Ask any aficionado of Florida Black history, and they’ll tell you that an easy way to learn how Black men and women have contributed to the story of the Sunshine State is to just hop in your car and follow the signs.

Of the more than 800 Florida historical markers that dot the state, a notable number recognize events and accomplishments involving Black Floridians who shaped our state and in some cases the nation itself.

Beaches, homesteads, schools — here’s a sample of some of the more interesting landmarks just a road trip away.

Beaches of Distinction 

American Beach on Amelia Island

On the state’s northern edge on Amelia Island, American Beach was once a 200-acre beachfront resort, a nationally renowned vacation spot for African Americans during the days of legally enforced racial segregation. 

Once a common practice in America, beaches, like many other parts of society, were racially segregated. Local governments across the United States enacted policies and practices that kept African Americans from setting foot on public beaches. Those same local officials also ignored pleas from Black community leaders for segregated Black beaches, and when they did find recreational areas for Black beachgoers, they often selected remote and hazardous locations. 

The idea of a Black resort along the Nassau County coast was the dream of Abraham Lincoln Lewis, who owned a successful insurance company and was Florida’s first Black millionaire. He initially wanted a beachfront retreat for his clients and employees, but the reality grew far beyond that to include permanent residents.

In its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, the beach attracted Black vacationers from across the South and luminaries like Hank Aaron, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Ossie Davis, Duke Ellington and Joe Louis.  

Ultimately, integration prompted the demise of American Beach as Black vacationers were welcomed elsewhere. Over the years, the size of American Beach diminished under encroaching development, primarily new resort communities eager to be on the ocean. 

What remains of the onetime Black beachfront paradise that offered “recreation, relaxation without humiliation” now contains the homes of a few remaining residents, the American Beach Museum, which boasts artifacts, photos and video presentations and three historic markers that describe the beach’s significance, the first home on the beach and the tallest dune system in Florida named after MaVynne Betsche, better known as “The Beach Lady,” a 25-year advocate for preserving the remains of American Beach. 

Read more : Abraham Lincoln Lewis Museum on American Beach

Higgs Beach on Key West

Near the southernmost point in Key West sits the Higgs Beach marker on a public beach that’s a combination beach strand, cemetery and stirring memorial to the opposition of the slave trade.

The story behind this unique beach fits the quirky history of Key West to a tee. 

In 1860, 1,432 Africans were freed from slave traders and taken to Key West, where they were quarantined for a time. Residents visited and cared for the quarantined captives, and the lucky ones were returned to Africa.

About 300 died in Key West and were buried in unmarked graves along the island’s southern shore. As time passed, the burial site was forgotten.

Today, the cemetery is part of a 16.5-acre beach park along the ocean side of Key West. It hosts the only shore-accessible underwater marine park in the United States, and its location puts it close to Duval Street, the island’s popular tourist district.

The park offers swimming and snorkeling to volleyball and pickle ball. There’s a beachside café, a Civil War fort and a two acres of gardens with ocean views.  

Besides being the home of the largest African Refugee Burial Ground in this hemisphere, the beach is also home of one of the largest AIDS Memorials in the country. 

In 2001, research unveiled the first unmarked graves. By 2010, 115 more graves had been discovered. In many communities, the discovery that a public beach had been built on a cemetery would have produced a debacle. Not so in Key West.

The community instead pushed for historic recognition, which ultimately resulted in the beach being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and community leaders invited African tribal dignitaries to consecrate the burial site, which is adorned with bronze plaques and African Adinkra symbols.

Read more: Higgs Beach: Memorial speaks to Key West’s cultural heart

Noteworthy Historic Sites

Lincolnville

America’s oldest city, St. Augustine, offers a lot of Black history, from the who found freedom as Spanish soldiers at Fort Mose to the downtown memorial of the 1964 Southern Christian Leadership Conference campaign that marked the most prominent civil rights protest in Florida.

Lincolnville, the city’s historic Black community, is its centerpiece.

The community was established by free men and women in 1866, just after the Civil War, in an undeveloped area southwest of Saint Augustine. The area got its name from President Abraham Lincoln.

As the town grew, so did Lincolnville, particularly during the 1880s when Standard Oil magnate Henry Flagler began redeveloping parts of the city to attract wealthy vacationers.

Lincolnville produced the nation’s first Black professional baseball team, the Cuban Giants, composed of Black waiters who worked in nearby hotels.

During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, local activists appealed to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in their efforts to integrate public facilities and schools. The ensuing march from Lincolnville to the old slave market in the city’s downtown historic district resulted in the arrests of hundreds.

Lincolnville began to change following the end of legal segregation. Over the years, many of the area’s middle-class professionals moved to newer, suburban areas. Still, the city recognized the area’s architecture and history. In 1991, the Lincolnville Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

The area, like many one-time predominantly Black communities located near downtown areas, retains much of its historic beauty, along with several historic markers, marking Black Catholic Heritage, Zora Neale Hurston and the district itself. Self-walking tours are a relaxing complement to the city’s more famous historic district. 

Read more: Lincolnville Historic District

Harry T. & Henriette V. Moore Cultural Complex

The marker near the front door of the complex tells the story of one of the nation’s first martyrs of the Civil Rights Movement.

The complex, just off the Mims interchange on Interstate 95, is a fitting memorial to an activist couple who died for their belief in a better America.

In 1934, the Moores founded the Brevard County chapter of the NAACP. Harry Moore would help organize the statewide NAACP organization and become its president. He worked to recruit new NAACP members, raise pay for Black teachers, investigate lynchings and file lawsuits against voter registration barriers. 

In 1946, both the Harry and Henriette Moore were fired from their teaching jobs, a common tactic used to discourage Black activism. Without his day job, Harry became even more active and ultimately establishing the Progressive Voters League which succeeded in increasing the registration of Black voters to a point higher than in any other southern state. 

In 1951, after the Moore family had returned to their home in Mims from a Christmas Day family dinner, a bomb exploded underneath their house.

Moore died on the way to a Black hospital about 30 miles away. His wife, Henrietta, died nine days later. The case remained unresolved until a state investigation that ended in 2006 named four Ku Klux Klan members who had long since died as the likely perpetrators.

A replica of their home now stands on the site of the original Moore home. The interior was modeled to look like the original home on the evening of the bombing.

The nearby museum offers artifacts, interactive exhibits, historic collections to detail the couple’s activities as civil rights activists.

Tours are available on request, and the complex contains an outdoor pavilion that can be rented to accommodate up to 150 guests, a large conference room and a gazebo for weddings, retreats and other events.

The overall mission of the complex is to serve as a civil rights resource and tourist center.

Read more: Harry & Henriette Moore Cultural Complex and Museum

Worthy Road Trips for Florida Black History

Fort Gadsden: “The Negro Fort “

Fort Gadsden is perhaps Florida’s least accessible historic site. The Battle of the Negro Fort was the only time in American history in which the United States military destroyed a community of escaped slaves in another country, then Spanish Florida.

What had been a fugitive slave community in Florida so scared slaveholders in the American South that the U.S. government sent soldiers led by General Andrew Jackson to destroy it.

The Negro Fort is now the Fort Gadsden National Historic Site. 

The fort was a British garrison built after the War of 1812. The British offered freedom to slaves from nearby Georgia and other southern states who would live in and protect the fort strategically located on the Apalachicola River.

The British ceded the post to Spain, which kept the freedom offer intact. Besides a growing number of Black inhabitants, the British also left enough arms and ammunition to discourage American slaveowners from attacking.

In 1816, the U.S. government sent troops into Spanish Florida to destroy the fort. A red-hot cannonball struck the fort’s gunpowder magazine, killing 300 inhabitants in an explosion heard in Pensacola, 100 miles away.

In 1818, a new fort was built and named Fort Gadsden, after the lieutenant who oversaw its construction. Three years later, the United States took possession of the Florida territory. 

The park now consists of the remains of two forts: the first built built by the British in 1814 and the second built and designed by Lieutenant James Gadsden. There’s not much actual fort left. A malaria outbreak forced Confederate troops to abandon the fort for good. 

What does remain is a historical marker, a picnic area and a hiking trail with interpretative kiosks that explains the story of the two forts. The trail leads visitors to the Apalachicola River and the site of the original fortress and the “Renegade Cemetery,” where many of the fort’s Black inhabitants who died in the explosion are buried.

In a nearby clearing, there’s a marker and a burial vault that commemorates those who died defending their freedom and their respect for the British who gave them refuge. 

The site sits on Prospect Bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River in the Apalachicola National Forest.

It’s a pretty remote place, perfect for hiking or camping and hunting in the nearby national forest. The park itself should interest anyone who likes the great outdoors and won’t mind seeing the words ‘No Service’ on their cellphones.

Unfortunately, the park is located in a such a remote area, it doesn’t attract enough visitors who would appreciate the site’s significance as a symbol of freedom and a testament to the resistance of American slavery.

Read more: Prospect Bluffs: Fort Gadsden

The state marker is the only sign of the area’s historical significance. Blink as you cruise past open fields along this stretch of State Road 24 approaching Cedar Key, and you just might miss it.

What now passes as idyllic, open road scenery was once the scene of a racial massacre.

Until January 1923, the village of Rosewood was a quiet, self-sufficient, racially segregated, community of Black residents in rural Levy County. The town got its name from the reddish color of the cedar wood that was once cut and processed there.

The community consisted of more than a dozen two-story wooden plank homes, three churches, a school, a Masonic Hall, two mills, two stores and a baseball team — the Rosewood Stars.

All that changed when word spread throughout the county that a white woman had been assaulted by a Black drifter.

What came next was swift and deadly.

A mob of several hundred whites combed the countryside, hunting Black people and torching the village, prompting residents to flee and hide in nearby swamps for days.

At least six Blacks and two others were killed, although eyewitness accounts suggest the death toll was much higher. Shamed and scared, the survivors, their descendants and the perpetrators stayed silent about the massacre for years. 

The story of Rosewood resurfaced in the early 1980s as journalists became interested in the massacre. The renewed attention prompted a group of survivors and their descendants to sue the state for failing to protect Rosewood.

In 1993, the Florida Legislature commissioned a study, which led to the state ultimately compensating the survivors for damages from the riot. In 2004, the state designated the site of Rosewood as a Florida Heritage Landmark.

The historical marker is pretty much all that is left. Go another nine miles south on State Road 24 to the island community of Cedar Key, Florida’s second oldest town (after St. Augustine).

Read more: End of the world: Pack the RV for Cedar Key

More stories about Florida black history…

• Discover Florida’s Black history by following the signs
• State park honors civil rights leaders ‘ “Saltwater Railroad “
• America’s first free Black settlement was in Florida
• Kingsley Plantation: A Florida story of slavery
• Once the ‘colored beach,’ state park honors civil rights leaders
• Legend of Black Caesar haunts the Florida Keys
• A low point in Florida History: The Rosewood massacre

Douglas C. Lyons is a contributing writer with a deep interest in the influence of African-Americans on Florida’s development and history. An explorer, a veteran journalist and editorial writer, Doug has lived in Florida for nearly 25 years.

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Mike Hughes

Monday 7th of February 2022

I like history. I don't put colors on my history.

Kathy Rayson

Monday 1st of February 2021

Great story. Thank you.

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Black Miami Matters

Black Miami Matters Tour combines the most scenic and historic places in Miami.  It brings back Spanish Florida’s black history when the King of Spain declared Florida a “Slave Sanctuary” in the 1600’s, lasting until Andrew Jackson annexed Florida and tried to send Native Americans to Oklahoma and recapture the thousands of Africans living in Florida.  

Meaning the Underground Railroad went south thru Florida before it ever went north, provoking a 40 year war against the Seminoles, Miccosukee and Black Seminoles.  

The tour focuses heavily on Miami’s under appreciated role in the 1950’s and 60’s civil rights movement, with the Hampton Hotel the highlight of the tour.  Plus this crazy mix of cultures scattered thru Dade County.  

For groups > 13 you need your own bus.  Academy has a great driver, Ben, that i work well with as a step on guide. 2-3 stops per 4 hour tour.

Black Miami neighborhoods covered are:

Stops to choose from:

Coconut Grove

• Liberty City
• Little Haiti

Brownsville

• Hampton House  
• Black Police Precinct
• Lyric Theater (if open)
• Haitian Heritage Museum
• Key Biscayne Lighthouse
• Virginia Key Beach

Brownsville’s Historic Hampton House is where “One Night in Miami” was filmed.  The guides make this the highlight of the day.  Nearby is  Georgette’s Tea room and the Lincoln Cemetery.  

Liberty City, Lemon City, Little Haiti, Little River.  Even locals don’t know where one ends and the other begins.

Recommended time 30-60 minutes.  

The 1980 McDuffie Riots left a scar still visible today.  A decorated Marine popped a wheelie on his motorcycle and wound up beaten to death by police.  An all white jury found the police not guilty and all hell broke loose.  

Overtown was the heart and soul of Miami’s black community before construction of the I-95 highway nearly destroyed it. Overtown is enjoying a kind of renaissance with new residence buildings, restaurants and spillover from Wynwood’s growth. The Black Police Precinct, the Lyric Theater, Dana Dorsey’s house, Dorsey field and all the1890’s churches all highlight Overtown rich history.

• Bahamian Coconut Grove (West Grove) – Home to many 4th and 5th generation Grove families, Shotgun homes, Father Gibson’s church,  GW Carver k-12, Stirrup House, an apartheid wall, and the cemetery where Thriller was filmed.  
• Recommended time is 30-45 minutes between the West Grove and Black Gables

Black Coral Gables

A black neigborhood in Coral Gables?  Wasn’t that illegal?  Yes, Coral Gables was a Restricted neighborhood, and kind of still is. However, George Merrick left two areas on the other side of US1 for his Bahamian workers.  Anywhere you see the white stone street sign on the ground you are in the Gables. Few shotgun homes are left.

Wynwood is one of the best stops on any tour.  The graffiti capital of the world.  Once the Puerto Rican barrio, Roberto Clemente was the leader of the first all black Pittsburgh Pirates that won a World Series.  Roberto Clemente park lies in the shadows of the ultra chic Edgewater condos facing Biscayne Bay.

To enter Wynwood Walls now requires pre-registration and a fee, killing that special pre pandemic vibe Wynwood Walls had.  

The Museum of Graffiti next door is a also a nice stop.  

Recommended time in Wynwood is 20 minutes without a stop.  An hour with a stop.

Key Biscayne

• Bill Baggs Lighthouse – A National Underground Railroad Monument.  Hours open can be tricky.
• The Lighthouse overlooks Stiltsville and the beautiful reefs of Biscayne National Park.  This was where Africans and Native Americans fled on boats to the Bahamas and Cuba to avoid being returned to their slave owner or sent on the Trail of Tears to a reservation in Oklahoma.
• Recommended time 45-60 minutes, maybe more if combined with Virginia Key beach

Bahamian born Father Gibson was an iconic civil rights leader with churches in Coconut Grove and Overtown. 

Athalie Range was born in Key West to Bahamian parents, another iconic civil rights leader that was in President Carter’s limo when the the limo was pelted w rocks right after the McDuffie riots.  

Virginia Key

Pictured on the left is Dr. John Brown, another iconic civil rights leader.  His wife still maintains the church they built, Church of the Open Door, in the heart of Liberty CIty.  

Virginia Beach was created in August 1945 after Rev Mundi and a dozen other WWII veterans went swimming at Haulover Beach, an all white beach.  The white people went crazy.  A week later the city created Virginia Key beach.  Usually this tour just passes by the beach, but a stop can be requested. 

• In the heart of Liberty City is Pork and Beans aka Liberty Square, now deserted (pictured left), replaced by lovely apartments (pictured right). 
• I want to know what the Related Group got in return for their beautiful work on Liberty Square.  Related projects are scattered all over Liberty City and Brownsville.

Why does the Black Miami Matters tour obsess over Muhammad Ali? 

In Miami we say Cassius Clay was born in Louisville, Muhammad Ali was born in Miami.   

Miami is where Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston in the most famous fight in boxing history.  The F.B.I. was so scared of Clay’s new friendship with Malcolm X and Clay’s joining the Nation of Islam, the FBI considered  canceling the fight at the Miami Beach Convention Center.  

I always pass by Muhammad Ali’s home passing from Brownsville to Liberty City on the Black Miami Matters tour.  A very simple house.  

Spanish Florida began Black history in the United States in 1513 with Juan Garrido, a native of the Congo, who accompanied conquistador Ponce de Leon to help claim La Florida for the King of Spain.  

Spanish Florida was declared a “Slave Sanctuary” in 1693.  Any  slave escaping British America could live in freedom in Florida if they converted to Catholicism, baptised their children, and defended Florida against British attacks.  Not that they didn’t have slavery (see picture on left).  

St. Augustine was founded in 1565 w mostly native and African population.  A mix of escaped slaves, refugees from other Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, and a few Spanish. 

A black township named Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé was built a mile north of the city to defend the city from a British invasion. Today called Fort Mosé.  A visit to this state park will turn the history of Florida upside down from what Tallahassee teaches us.

The 300 years of Spanish Florida history has largely been erased by Tallahassee despite our long Native American and African history.   Led by General Andrew Jackson, America’s first ethnic cleanser, the United States attacked and stole both East and West Florida from Spain, leading to 50 years of war with the Black Seminoles, called the Seminole Wars bc Jackson could never admit his real motive was to recapture slaves for his slaveowner buddies.  Northern states would never have funded a Black Seminole war to recover slaves bc Northern states did not have slaves.  So Jackson lied, saying he had to pacify the savage natives.  

Africans mixed with multiple tribes, Upper Creeks, Lower Creeks, Red Stick Creeks, Miccosukee that were chased into Florida fighting the US Army,  the first war Americans never won.  

Our rich Native American and African history has had bleach poured all over it by Tallahassee.  If you are driving down the state to Miami, you especially need to stop at St. Augustine to push reset on everything you learned about Black history in America.  

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In 1990, the Florida legislature created the Study Commission on African-American History in Florida to increase public awareness of African Americans contributions to the state. The commission was asked to recommend methods to establish a "Heritage Trail" to identify sites, buildings and other points of interest in black history that should be preserved and promoted as tourist attractions.

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Released in May 2007, this third edition of the Florida Black Heritage Trail was produced by VISIT FLORIDA, the Florida Department of State and the Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network. It features 64 colorful pages highlighting historic African-American sites from Pensacola to Key West and like the previous editions includes profiles and biographical sketches of many distinguished and accomplished African-American Floridians.

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Black History

St. Augustine proves why the African American story is one of our nation’s greatest strengths.

Tour of Fort Mose Established in 1738, this was the first free black settlement in the United States. Slaves from the British colonies up north followed the original “Underground Railroad,” which headed not to the north, but south, to the Spanish colony of Florida and Fort Mose . The settlement of Garcia Real de Santa Theresa de Mose, also referred to as Mose, was inhabited by former slaves, many of West African origin, who escaped from Georgia and the Carolinas between 1738 and 1763. Take a self-guided Black History Walking Tour of St. Augustine to learn about Historic Civil Rights and Black Heritage. The ACCORD Freedom Trail Project consists of 31 historic markers located at various sites significant to the St. Augustine Civil rights movement. A cell phone audio tour is available by calling 904-335-3002.

For more information on black heritage in St. Augustine, click here .

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‘Greatest honor of my life:’ President Biden drops reelection bid, endorses VP Harris

10 places to learn more about central florida’s black history, museums, historical houses offer insight on prominent figures.

Brooke Savage , Producer

Through the years, leaders in the community have stepped up to create museums or save historical houses belonging to prominent figures in Central Florida’s African American history.

Their main goal: to preserve their stories and to educate the community.

Whether it’s Black History Month or any month of the year, we’ve put together a list of places to visit where you can learn more about the people who have broken barriers and served their communities.

1. Mary McLeod Bethune House, Daytona Beach

This is the house where Bethune lived in the early 1900s. It was purchased in 1913 and she lived there until her passing in 1955. She was a civil rights leader known for advising presidents and fellow educators. At her home, which she also called “The Retreat,” you will be able to see her personal library, and artifacts and pictures from Bethune-Cookman University.

2. Wells’ Buillt Museum of African-American History and Culture, Orlando

Dr. William Monroe Wells was one of the first black doctors in Orlando and is known for having delivered more than 5,000 babies in the City Beautiful. He moved to the area in 1917, and in 1921, he built a hotel for African Americans barred from Florida’s segregated hotels. Bo Diddley, B.B. King and Ella Fitzgerald were among the performers who stayed here. The hotel has been restored and now serves as a tribute to notable local and national African Americans.

3. Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, Eatonville

This museum celebrates Zora Neale Hurston, a Harlem Renaissance author best known for her novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” published in 1937. Better known as “The Hurston,” the museum specializes in art by individuals of African descent. It’s located in Eatonville, the first incorporated all-black city in the nation. Every year, the city goes all out for its annual “Zora!” festival in late January. Technically, visitors can celebrate the global icon year-round by visiting this museum and exploring her “native village” of Eatonville.

4. Jackie Robinson Ballpark, Daytona Beach

Here you can relive history at the minor league baseball park where ground-breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson became the first African American to join an all-white team. He scored a homerun in the first integrated Major League Baseball spring training game in 1946. While at the ballpark, you can also check out a statue of Robinson, historical markers and a museum.

5. Orange County Regional History Center, Orlando

Built in 1927 and located in the heart of downtown, this museum used to be the old Orange County courthouse. In 2000, it opened up as the history center. It features many exhibits honoring the past, exploring the present and shaping the future. This includes an exhibit on the history of the African American community in Central Florida. Not only does it touch on prominent figures who made a difference, but it also allows you to expand your understanding of the triumphs and tragedies of people who lived in the area. The exhibit includes paintings from Florida Highwaymen, a group of 26 African American artists who used vivid and bright colors to display the beautiful untouched Florida landscape in the early 1950s through the 1980s.

6. Mary S. Harrell Black History Museum, New Smyrna Beach

This museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving African American culture and history. The museum displays a collection of photos, oral histories, memorabilia and artifacts to educate the community about the history of race relations in small town Florida over the course of the 20th century. You can find the museum in the old Sacred Heart/St. Rita church building, constructed in 1899. The museum was named after its founder in 2012. It also hosts an annual three-day black heritage festival that features an education day for students, a community talent show and gospel music.

7. Howard Thurman Historical Home, Daytona Beach

On Fridays and Saturdays, you can visit the three-bedroom home where Dr. Howard Thurman lived from birth in 1899 until he left for high school. Thurman is the author of more than 20 books and provided spiritual guidance to prominent civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. He shared many memories of his childhood home and often recounted the uplifting spiritual experience he got from sitting under the big oak tree in the house’s backyard.

8. African American Museum of the Arts, DeLand

Founded in 1994, this museum features a revolving display of art, and over 150 African-related artifacts. It is also the only museum in the area devoted primarily to African American cultures and art. The museum was founded by Irene D. Johnson and her husband, Maxwell. They wanted to have a place where African American artists could display their artwork year-round and they also wanted to create a space that would shape the minds of young African Americans in a positive way.

9. Goldsboro Museum, Sanford

This museum works to preserve the history of the former Seminole County town. William Clark, brother of Joe Clark who was one of the founders of Eatonville, sought to find another town for African American citizens living west of Sanford. In 1891, Goldsboro became the second all-black incorporated township within the United States, but it lost its charter in 1911. In 2009, Frances Oliver spearheaded The Goldsboro West Side Community Historical Association, Inc. to celebrate and preserve the history of Goldsboro. This eventually lead to the opening of the museum, which is now managed by Oliver’s niece, Pasha Baker. Oliver collected the town’s history including pictures, artifacts and documents for more than 40 years. The community even donated items they have kept in their families for generations and helped to financially contribute to the museum.

10. Harry T. & Hariette V. Moore Cultural Complex, Mims

The husband and wife were both educators and civil rights activists. Harry T. Moore established the first branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Brevard County in 1934. The couple died in 1951, when their house was bombed on Christmas night. The murder case was investigated, but never prosecuted. A state investigation in 2005 and 2006 resulted in naming the likely perpetrators as four Ku Klux Klan members, all dead by that time. The couple are the only husband and wife to be killed for the Civil Rights movement. This museum has created a replica home on the same site where they died. The museum says its goal is to make sure their stories are told over and over again.

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About the Author

Brooke savage.

Brooke is a news producer and has been with News 6 since January 2018. She grew up in Coral Springs and graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. Before she came back to Central Florida, she worked in Fort Myers.

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African American Heritage

Amelia Island celebrates Black History Month as an opportunity to take a look back and experience the depth of African-American history and heritage on our storied coast. From Old Town Fernandina where the Middle Passage was a stage in the route slave ships took from Africa to America, to American Beach where businessman A.L. Lewis created a safe haven for people of color to experience a judgement-free beach vacation, there are dedicated tours, historical sites and museums that tell this story to visitors of our island. Come with us as we learn, celebrate and memorialize African American history on Amelia Island.

Check in to the  Amelia Island Williams House  your home away from home for the next 3 days as you meander through history. Now an award-winning bed & breakfast in historic downtown Fernandina Beach, the Williams House was built in 1856 and named for Marcellus A. Williams, a wealthy surveyor. During the Civil War when Union troops occupied Fernandina and took over his residence, Williams took his family and fled until it was safe to return — upon which he became active in the Underground Railroad. It is said that Williams opened his home as a safe house for fleeing slaves and hid them there.

‘Cue For You

Save a big appetite for lunch! Your first stop is a long-standing Amelia Island eatery that has been serving up the finest barbeque and good ol southern cooking for over 30 years. Honoring the centuries-old art of cooking meat over an open fire pit,  Island BBQ  is a family-owned restaurant and a “go to” for locals and visitors alike. If you’re looking for a small town diner — big with flavor — this is your spot.

Historic Downtown Fernandina and the Holy Gospel

Make your way downtown for a day of shopping and sightseeing. The old  Train Depot/ Visitor’s Center  at the foot of Centre Street harbors a wealth of knowledge about our island and it’s history. Stop in and visit with the friendly staff who will send you on your way with tour information and all the “must see and do’s”. With a historic district of 50-plus blocks, you’ll find yourself transported back in time. Downtown Fernandina Beach features 400-plus historic structures on the National Register of Historic Places. Walk by Victorian homes, commercial buildings and churches like  New Zion Missionary Baptist Church , the second oldest and largest Black Missionary Baptist Church on Amelia Island, the lovely  Macedonia AME Church , founded in 1872 by Samuel Irving, and  Trinity United Methodist Church  which was erected in 1891 and served the African-American population of Amelia Island during the time of segregation in the south.

Biking on Water

Are you ready for a fun sightseeing excursion?  Amelia River Cycle  offers you a different perspective of the island — by water! Hydro Bikes give you a real biking experience in the wide open Amelia River along with the freedom to explore nature and marine life with family and friends. They are easy to ride and come complete with blue tooth speakers so you can listen to your favorite tunes while making memories on the water.

INSIDER TIP: If you’re not sure about pedaling by yourself, rent a tandem hydro bike and pedal with a friend.

Love is All You Need

For good vibes, good beer and really good pizza, stop at  First Love Brewing  to end the day. With over 20 rotating taps, First Love offers a mix of porters, IPA’s and ales that pair terrifically with their house-made artisan pizzas, wings or truffle fries. Dine/drink at the bar or grab a table indoors or outdoors for more privacy. The best part is it’s right across the street from The Williams House!

Breakfast with the Chickens

Enjoy a great cup of coffee and southern home-cookin’ at  Bantam & Biddy  located on the south end of the island. They serve breakfast all day so there’s no rush — but get there early any way, the Fried Chicken and Cheddar Waffle is waiting for you. Add the homemade bourbon-pecan syrup to it. Trust me.

American Beach, the Beach Lady & Coast One Tours

Take a journey through time with  Coast One Tours  of American Beach where your tour guide, Ron Miller (pictured above), has made it his mission (and passion) to educate and share the history of how and why American Beach and nearby Franklintown were founded. An oasis for Black beach-goers in a time when segregation and Jim Crow laws prevented them from sharing beaches, American Beach, founded by African-American businessman  A.L. Lewis , was home to a number of restaurants, hotels, night clubs, shops and more. The resort town thrived until 1964, when Hurricane Dora devastated the area. Today, visitors can enjoy the beach, see famed NaNa dune (this dune system is the tallest in all of Florida and is amazing to see) and visit the  A. L. Lewis Museum  to learn more about the African-Americans who found triumph over segregation and disenfranchisement. One such person is  MaVynee Betsch , better known to all as “The Beach Lady”. So much amazing history here.

Lunch at KP’s Restaurant

Grab lunch at  KP’s Restaurant  serving up homemade deliciousnesss including salads, their signature Swahili wings, mouth-watering sandwiches, steaks, seafood, and desserts to die for!

INSIDER TIP: Their famous Wild Turkey Sandwich is made with sliced baked turkey breast, banana peppers, cheddar and cream cheese — baked and served open faced.

Kingsley Plantation

Located about 20 minutes south of American Beach, in Duval County,  Kingsley Plantation  is one of the only examples of a plantation system in Florida today, where visitors can explore the slave quarters, kitchen house and interpretive gardens. The plantation was built in 1798 and named for early owner Zephaniah Kingsley, who lived there with his family until 1837. But the Kingsley story doesn’t end there. Kingsley’s wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was a slave purchased from Senegal, West Africa. Zephaniah and Anna would become the grandparents of A.L. Lewis who would later purchase and develop American Beach!

Dinner at Cucina South

Cucina South  offers fresh, authentic Italian-style cuisine featuring pasta, pizza, seafood, and an extensive beer and wine list. “Years of experience culminated with a passion for food, wine and love for people!” Literally everything here is good but try the Osso Buco for a mouth full of happiness. Located in Palmetto Walk Shopping Plaza on the south end of Amelia Island.

Aloha Bagel & Deli

The bagels at  Aloha Bagel & Deli  are so good if you close your eyes you’ll think you’re at your favorite NYC deli. Committed to serving only the freshest most delicious bagels, Aloha Bagel & Deli claims to be the “best little bagel shop on Amelia Island” and I’m pretty sure they are. Try the Nova Bagel, toasted with plain cream cheese, Nova salmon, tomatoes, capers, and onions. You won’t be disappointed.

Old Town & the Middle Passage

As a port city, Amelia Island’s history is full of stories of conquerors, pirates, merchants, and travelers. And, unfortunately, some of those stories include the dark history of human trade routes.  The Middle Passage  was a stage in the route slave ships took from Africa to America, forcibly transporting millions of Africans to the New World. In  Old Town Fernandina , where the original town of Fernandina is located, a Middle Passage port marker now stands commemorating those who died in the crossing and the legacy of those who survived, along with their descendants. The Gullah Geechee people, descendants of Africans brought in through the Middle Passage, recognize Fernandina Beach as the southernmost island in the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage corridor.

1928 – A Very Good Year

Make your way back downtown for a delightful lunch at  1928 Cuban Bistro . From mouthwatering roasted pork to perfectly fried tostones, every dish at 1928 Cuban Bistro is a testament to the rich traditions that shaped the owners. It’s all authentic Cuban cuisine, Cuban espresso, sandwiches, soups, salads, rice plates, and desserts.

Museum Tours and Shrimping Legends

Dedicated to the art of storytelling, the  Amelia Island Museum of History  is the first spoken history museum in Florida. The museum focuses on local Nassau County history and the evolution of tourism, industry, and the African-American life and influence here. Each year a group of local high school students make an exhibit at the museum and this year’s student exhibit features the history of local African-American schools in Nassau County — one of which is Peck High School. Learn about William H. Peck (of whom the school was named), a Howard University graduate who served as principal from 1888 until 1931 and made a huge difference in our community. The museum also mentions Amelia Island as the “birthplace of the modern shrimping industry in America.” Watch the clip below on one of our local shrimping heroes, Raymond Wilson.

On your last night on Amelia Island, make reservations to dine at  España . With flavors that hail from Spain and Portugal, España never disappoints. Enjoy each other’s company (also the paella and sangria) in the cozy main dining room, on the enclosed patio or in the lush outdoor garden. Either way, Chef Roberto will make sure you leave with a full stomach and a happy heart.

These suggestions are just a sneak peek of all Amelia Island has to offer as you plan your Historic Getaway. Discover more and plan your perfect trip on  www.AmeliaIsland.com for a complete list of places to stay, eat and play. We’re looking forward to seeing you back here for years to come.

Black History Month: 8 stops on Florida’s Black Heritage Trail

Learn about fort mose in st. augustine, daniel “chappie” james in pensacola, the institute of black culture in gainesville and more as you blend florida travel with florida’s black history..

From the  Highwaymen who painted the Florida landscape  and sold their art from town to town to Fort Mose in St. Augustine, which was the earliest settlement of free blacks in America, to the famous Ray Charles who moved to Jacksonville to start his career at nightclubs around the area, Florida has a rich cultural history.

While February is Black History Month, the celebration doesn’t have to be a one-month affair. Year-round, we should strive to pay respects to the black trailblazers who used adversity as fuel to make the world a better place for people of color. And for those of us in the Sunshine State,  Florida’s Black Heritage Trail  is a good place to start.

In 1990, the Florida legislature created the Study Commission on African-American History in Florida to increase public awareness of African Americans’ contributions to the Sunshine State. The first edition of the Florida Black Heritage Trail, which was published in 1991, was a result of the commission, the Florida Division of Historical Resources and citizens who helped develop the book, which showcases a roundup of more than 140 places that reflect the state’s most prominent historic Black sites.

Today, the  Florida Black Heritage Trail  serves as a historic hub of black landmarks and legacies that can be found across the state. You can contact the Florida Division of Historical Resources at 800-847-7278 to order a copy of the Florida Black Heritage Trail guidebook.

What follows is a mere snapshot of sites and stops memorializing Florida’s black history and based on the Black Heritage Trail guidebook. There is so much more. So whether you’re a  history buff , a lover of good stories or want to learn more about Florida’s black pioneers, you’ll want to add these time-traveling day trip spots to your 2020 Florida bucket list.

1. Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose’ (Ft. Mose’)

ITT Saratoga Boulevard two miles north of St. Augustine off U.S. 1

St. Augustine is known as the United States’ oldest city , but did you know it’s also home to Ft. Mose’ where, more than 250 years ago, African-born slaves risked their lives to escape English plantations in Carolina to find freedom in St. Augustine?

Aligning with the Spanish, they formed the first Underground Railroad, the first black militia and the first free black settlement in what is today’s United States.

In 1693, King Charles II of Spain decreed runaway slaves were to be given sanctuary in his colonies. Black fugitives from the British Colonies migrated south and fought against a British retaliatory attack on St. Augustine, according to the Fort Mose’ Historical Society. In 1728, the territorial governor abolished the slave market and freed the remaining soldiers who were slaves. Ten years later, Governor Montiano established Fort Mose’ as the first free black settlement in North America.

Now, Fort Mose Historic State Park, a 40-acre waterfront historic site, offers picnic areas, an observation and birding boardwalk, a kayak launch boardwalk and visitor center.

Planning to visit on the weekend? Get involved by checking out the park’s Saturday Musket Training, which is offered every first Saturday of the month from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon at Fort Mose’.

► For more information, visit:   http://bit.ly/2ua3LfA  

2. Daniel “Chappie” James Birthplace

1606 North Alcaniz St., Pensacola

Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr. 1920-1978, a Military Officer and Pensacola native, became the first black four-star general in American military history in 1976. His respected career included 101 combat missions as a fighter pilot in Korea and 78 in Vietnam. Chappie was decorated for valor and air tactics.

He successfully confronted dictator, Moammar Khadafy, at the front gate while wearing a 45 automatic under his belt and forced Khadafy’s withdrawal as the commanding officer of the U.S. Air Force base in Libya. In the late 1970s, Chappie was looked at as a potential candidate for lieutenant governor of Florida but died of a heart attack a few weeks after his retirement.

The birthplace of Chappie James is also where his mother, Lillie A. James, ran a school for black children. On Martin Luther King Boulevard in Pensacola, there’s a Memorial Garden, which features a marker in Chappie James’ honor.

►  For more information, visit:  www.chappiejamesmuseum.org/

3. Institute of Black Culture

1510 W University Ave., Gainesville

Established in 1971 at the University of Florida by the Black Student Union (BSU), the Institute of Black Culture was built to create, sustain, promote and affirm Black scholarship, culture, history and leadership after BSU leaders took a stand stating that black students were “excluded from meaningful social and cultural endeavors on this campus.”

When the UF administration failed to acknowledge the students’ pleas for support, protests and demonstrations were held. These led up to the occupation of the President’s office on April 15, 1971. The date was labeled “Black Thursday,” after around 67 students were arrested or suspended for occupying the UF President’s office.

After pardon requests for the student protesters were denied, the BSU held a rally on April 27, 1971. The days following involved more than 100 black students and their supporters withdrawing from the University of Florida. Ultimately, the UF administration was forced to act, and the  Institute of Black Culture (IBC) was born.

At the IBC, you’ll find historical artifacts and resources related to the African and African American students who have enrolled at the school.

4. Pleasant Street Historic District

Bound by Main Street, NW 8th Avenue, NW 2nd Avenue and NW 6th Street (Depot Avenue) in Gainesville

As the oldest and largest continuously-inhabited black residential area in Gainesville, the Pleasant Street Historic District is a gem bursting with a religious and social center for black entertainment, commerce and educational life.

Built by 255 African-Americans, the area consists of historic buildings in the post-Civil War era and the early 20th Century. When emancipated blacks moved to Gainesville after the Civil War, many settled in the historic district, where they could purchase land and create churches and schools.

A map and complete listing of the five districts of the Pleasant Street Historic District can be found at  http://bit.ly/2OqXVNH  

5. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU)

1601 S Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Tallahassee

FAMU , initially established in 1887 as the Florida State Normal College for Colored Students, is the oldest historically black public university in Florida. In 2015, the U.S. News & World Report listed FAMU as the top public historically black college or university in the nation.

To experience the exuberance and charm of FAMU, head to Orlando in November for the annual Florida Blue Florida Classic, where FAMU and Bethune Cookman face-off. It’s more than just a football game and a Sunshine State rivalry dating back nearly a century. The celebration of sports, family, music and culture is also the largest football game between two historically Black Colleges in America.

Since its inception in 1978, more than two million spectators have attended the game. Ever heard of the famous Florida Classic half-time shows? Prepare to put on your dancing shoes and get funky because it’s the best part.

► For more information, visit:   http://www.famu.edu/

6. Kingsley Plantation State Historic Site

11676 Palmetto Ave., on Fort George Island, Jacksonville

Found on historic Fort George Island, within the 46,000 acres of  Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve , the Kingsley Plantation State Historic Site holds the oldest standing plantation house in Florida and the remains of original slave cabins.

Zephaniah Kingsley settled on Fort George Island  in 1803, where he smuggled slaves to slaveholders across the Georgia border. The slaves were forced to grow Sea Island cotton, citrus, sugar cane and corn as well produce indigo. Their work was supervised by Kinglsey, who married one of his slaves, 13-year-old Anna Madgigine Jai.

Remnants of  Florida’s turbulent history at this site  include slave cabins and service structures, which are on public display at the state’s oldest remaining 18th-century cotton and sugarcane plantation.

Pro-tip: Bringing the kiddos for a history lesson? Sign them up to be Junior Rangers. You can print their very own Junior Ranger booklets to work on while touring the historic plantation. Booklets for children 8 and up can be  found here  and  click here  for brochures for kids 7 and under.

► For more information, visit:   https://www.timucuanparks.org/kingsley-plantation/

7. Bethune-Cookman College/Mary McLeod Bethune Home

640 Second Ave., Daytona Beach

Located on the campus of  Bethune-Cookman University , the house belonged to Mary McLeod Bethune , an educator, presidential adviser, civil rights leader and administrator. Bethune’s parents were formerly enslaved and were not allowed to learn to read or write; however, from an early age, she realized the power of education and how it can transform people’s lives.

Bethune  opened the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in a community of black railroad construction workers. At the time, she only had $1.50 and a few packing cases for chairs. The school merged with the Cookman Institute for Boys of Jacksonville in 1923, changing its name to Bethune-Cookman College eight years later.

Photos:   B-CU founder Mary McLeod Bethune’s Home Inside and Out

In February 2007, the college was officially renamed Bethune-Cookman University. Many historic buildings and sites remain on the grounds, including White Hall, a two-story Georgian Revival-style building that was constructed in 1916. While visiting, check out the Rosewood Exhibit, which gives history seekers a glimpse into how past life was in the community of Rosewood, Fla., in 1845.

► For more information, visit:   www.bethune.cookman.edu

8. Zora Neale Hurston House

1734 School Court St., Fort Pierce

If you’ve ever read the novel or watched the movie adaptation of “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” you’ll love visiting Zora Neale Hurston’s home. The historic house was occupied by the anthropologist, novelist and social commentator Zora Neale Hurston who was born in 1903 in Eatonville, Fla. The town celebrates her life with an annual festival.

While living in the 28-square-foot-concrete home Fort Pierce in the 1950s, she worked as a reporter for the Fort Pierce Chronicle, a black weekly publication, and worked on a book, Herod the Great. Sadly, she died three years later, nearly bankrupt, after the manuscript was rejected. The Zora Exhibit at Agape Senior Recreation Center (809 North 9th Street, Fort Pierce), honors her and the last year of her life as she lived at the center, formerly called St. Lucie County Welfare Home.

Several other Fort Pierce sites celebrate Hurston’s legacy, such as the Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail and the Zora Neale Hurston Branch Library (3008 Ave D, Fort Pierce). The library serves as the starting point of the Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail.

Three kiosks, eight trail markers, an exhibit and visitor information center capture Hurston’s legendary works in Fort Pierce and highlight her travels through Florida and the Caribbean.

To take a virtual tour of the Dust Tracks Heritage Trail, visit  http://bit.ly/36S4D5G  

NEW in Films/Media Tab: Dr. Dunn article in the Toronto Star

Florida was not always the “Sunshine State”. This was a reinvention of the 1950s to attract tourists. Before that, Florida was a racist southern state just like all the others, and, in some ways, worse. A black person in Florida stood a greater chance of being lynched than a black person in Mississippi or Alabama. But almost all of Florida’s painful racial past has been whitewashed, marginalized, or buried intentionally. But I was born here. I know Florida’s flowers and her warts. For four decades my work has taken me from Key West to Pensacola and many places in between. Florida’s black history well is deep. Drink here often.

This page is supported by the Miami Center for Racial Justice  and funded with assistance from George S. Blumenthal.

Published Works

His book, Black Miami in the Twentieth Century , explores the highs and lows of black history in South Florida from black migration to Miami, through the Civil Rights movement, racist incidents such as the McDuffie riots and the recent immigration of black populations from Latin America and the Caribbean. A documentary based on the book, called The Black Miami , stars Prof. Dunn and is available for viewing on Amazon Prime.

Dr. Dunn’s second definitive book is A History of Florida: Through Black Eyes . This book relates the untold stories of African-Americans, placing them at the center of the story instead of as backdrops to white history. A chapter from this book serves as the focal point for this website, telling the tale of the Rosewood massacre through thorough research and eyewitness accounts.

About Dr. Marvin Dunn

A former naval officer, Marvin Dunn is a Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology at Florida International University, retiring as chairperson of the department in 2006. He has published numerous articles in leading newspapers on race and ethnic relations including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Orlando Sentinel and the Miami Herald. He is the author of the following books:  The History of Florida: Through Black Eyes , CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2016),  Black Miami in the Twentieth Century , University Press of Florida (1997).  He is the coauthor of  This Land is Our Land, California :  University of California Press. (2003) and  The Miami Riot of 1980: Crossing the Bounds , Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath (1984).

He has  produced three documentary films including, “Rosewood Uncovered,” documenting the Rosewood Massacre of 1923, “Murder on the Suwanee: The Willie James Howard Story,” the story of the lynching of a fifteen year old black child in Live Oak, Florida in 1944 and “Black Seminoles in the Bahamas: The Red Bays story” which documents the flight of slaves from Florida escaping to the Bahama Islands in the 1800s and “The Black Miami” based upon his book,  Black Miami in the Twentieth Century . He was born and raised in Florida and currently lives in Miami, Florida.

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Dunn and other community advocates for racial justice founded the Miami Center for Racial Justice. According to Dunn, “ The Miami Center for Racial Justice will be a beacon in our community. We seek to foster a safe space for dialogue on racial issues, to promote unity, and allow for frank confrontation of the history of racial terror through the examination and preservation of stories of racial terror in Florida.”

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• African American Museums

AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUMS & HISTORIC SITES IN FLORIDA

By   Mike Miller  March 27, 2023

From the early arrival of Africans in Spanish Florida in the 1500s until today, African Americans have played an integral role in shaping the state's culture and economy.

Visiting a Florida African American museum or historic site is an excellent way to learn about this history and gain a deeper understanding of the African American experience in the state.

Visitors can expect to learn about the contributions and struggles of African Americans throughout Florida's history at these museums and historic sites,

Exhibits and collections often cover a range of topics, including slavery, race relations, civil rights, cultural traditions, and contemporary issues facing black people.

Museums often feature exhibits of African American art, literature, music, and dance, showcasing the rich cultural traditions and diversity of the community including oral histories.

Visitors can also participate in educational programs, tours, and events such as Black History Month that provide deeper insights into African American history and culture.

Here is a list of 20 Africian American museums and historic sites in the state of Florida along with their website address. 

1. African American Museum of the Arts in DeLand, Florida, is a unique museum that showcases the artistic talent of African American artists. The museum has a collection of over 1500 pieces of art, including paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Visitors can also attend various cultural events, workshops, and performances.  Website

2. African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a unique library and research center dedicated to the preservation and celebration of African American culture and history. The library has an extensive collection of books, manuscripts, and artifacts that document the African American experience. Visitors can also attend various cultural events, educational programs, and exhibits.  Website

3. Carnegie Library at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, is a historic library that was built in 1908 with funds provided by Andrew Carnegie. The library was an important center for African American education and culture during the Jim Crow era. Today, the library has been restored and is open for tours and special events.  Website

4. Old Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a historic school building that was once the only public high school for African Americans in the area. The school was an important center for African American education and culture during the Jim Crow era. Today, the building has been restored and is home to a museum and cultural center.   Website

5. Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum of Florida in the Cityof St. Petersburg, Florida, is a museum that celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the "Father of Black History." The museum also highlights the achievements and contributions of African Americans throughout history. Visitors can view exhibits, attend cultural events in Pinellas County, and participate in educational programs.  Website

6. Ely Educational Museum in Pompano Beach , Florida, is a museum that celebrates the legacy and history of Blanche Ely High School, which was the first public high school for African Americans in Pompano Beach. The museum has exhibits on various topics, including the history of the school, its alumni, and the African American experience in South Florida. Visitors can also attend various cultural events, educational programs, and exhibits.  Website

7. Family Heritage House Museum in Bradenton, Florida, is a museum that celebrates the cultural heritage of the local black community. The museum has exhibits on various topics, including the history of African Americans in Manatee County, the contributions of local African American leaders, and the African American experience in the United States. Visitors can also attend various cultural events, workshops, and performances. Website

8. Fort Mose in St. Augustine , Florida, is a historic site that was once a settlement for escaped African slaves. The settlement was established in 1738 and was the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what is now the United States. Today, visitors can visit the site and learn about the history of Fort Mose and the African American experience in early Florida.  Website

9. Prospect Bluff Historic Sites in Franklin County, Florida, are the remains of a fort that was occupied by a community of escaped slaves and Native Americans during the early 19th century. The community was known as the "Negro Fort" and was destroyed by American forces in 1816. Today, visitors can visit the site and learn about the history of the fort and the African American experience in early Florida.

10. Hannibal Square Heritage Center in Winter Park, Florida, is a museum that celebrates the history and culture of the local African American community. The museum has exhibits on various topics, including the history of African Americans in Winter Park, the contributions of local African American leaders, and the African American experience in the United States. Visitors can also attend various cultural events, workshops, and performances. Website

11. Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center - St. Augustine: The Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center in St. Augustine, Florida, is one of several black history museums that celebrates the history and culture of the local African American community. The museum has exhibits on various topics, including the history of African Americans in St. Augustine, the contributions of local African American leaders, and the African American experience in the United States. Visitors can also attend cultural events and performances.

12. Mary McLeod Bethune Home in Daytona Beach, Florida, was the residence of Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American educator, and civil rights leader.

The home has been restored to its original 1920s appearance and is now a National Historic Landmark.

Visitors can take tours and learn about Bethune's life and legacy.  Website

13. John Gilmore Riley House in Tallahassee, Florida, is a historic home that was once owned by John G. Riley, an African American businessman and community leader. The home has been restored to its original 19th-century appearance and is now a museum sometimes known as the J.G. Riley Center that showcases the history and culture of the local African American community. Visitors can take guided tours and learn about the history of the Riley family and their contributions to the African American community.  Website

14. Well'sbuilt Hotel in Orlando, Florida, is a historic hotel that was once a popular destination for African American tourists during the era of segregation. The hotel was founded in 1926 and was one of the few hotels in Orlando that welcomed African American guests. Today, the building has been restored and is home to a museum and cultural center.  Website

15. Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts in Eatonville, Florida, is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston, an African American writer and anthropologist.

The museum has a collection of Hurston's personal items, photographs, historical material and artwork.

Visitors can also attend various cultural events and exhibitions.  Website

16. Historic Hampton House in Miami, Florida, is a former hotel that was a gathering place for African American celebrities during the Jim Crow era. The hotel was also an important site for civil rights activism in Miami. The building has been restored and is open for guided tours.

17. Florida Civil Rights Museum in Tallahassee, Florida, is a museum dedicated to the history of the civil rights movement in Florida. The museum has exhibits including segregation, Voting Rights Act, and Freedom Rides. Visitors can also attend educational programs and events.  Website

18. Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater Cultural Arts Complex in Miami, Florida, is a cultural center that celebrates the history and culture of African Americans in Miami. The complex includes a museum, art gallery, and performance space. Visitors can attend various cultural events, exhibitions, and performances.  Website

19. Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Cultural Center in Mims, Florida, is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore, two civil rights activists who were killed in a bombing in 1951. The museum has exhibits on various topics, including the Moore's activism and the civil rights movement in Florida. Visitors can also attend educational programs and special events.  Website

20. Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach, Florida, is a museum that celebrates the cultural heritage of the local African American community. The museum has exhibits on various topics, including the history of African Americans in South Florida, the contributions of local African American leaders, and the African American experience in the United States. Visitors can also attend various cultural events, workshops, and performances.  Website

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by Stacy Nicolau

Group shot of railroad employees on the steps of the Naples Depot’s loading dock. Collier County Museums 06.17.60

1.  Fort Myers Mural Society Murals at McCollum Hall. NE corner of Cranford and MLK, Jr. Blvd Fort Myers, FL 33916.

Courtesy Fortmyersmuralsociety.com

Fort Myers Mural Socieity

McCollum Hall was a commercial center in the Dunbar Community. The second story held a large dance hall with a raised stage for live performances by Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and others. During World War II, the second-floor facility served as a USO for African American troops stationed at Page and Buckingham Fields. White residents and soldiers attended when big bands performed at McCollum Hall. The Fort Myers Mural Society has repainted vibrant murals around the building depicting famous figures from Black history. Artists: Erik Schlake, J.P. Almonacid, and Roland Ruocco. Learn more and get a sneak peek at the mural panels here.

Fort Mose Historic State Park

2. Fort Mose Historic State Park.  "African-American Community of Freedom." 15 Fort Mose Trail, St. Augustine, FL

• Fort Mose is the southern destination of the Underground Railroad to Freedom

• Site of the first legally sanctioned Black community in what is now the United States and a safe haven for slaves who escaped the English colonies.

• The state park has a museum, visitor center, and interpretive exhibits throughout the grounds.

3.  Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center

"If you haven't been to the Lincolnville Museum, then you haven't been to St. Augustine," the elderly Black museum guide stated at the door of this very impressive collection of artifacts and information about the history of Black Americans.

Immerse yourself in over 450 years of history at the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center. Located in the heart of the Lincolnville Historic District, which was settled by freedmen in the wake of the Civil War, the LMCC tells the story of St. Augustine's black history stretching from the empires of West Africa and the early black presence in colonial Florida to the 20th century. 

From the free and enslaved men and women of the Spanish colonial period to the steadfast activists of the Civil Rights era, explore how the contributions of black people shaped the state and the nation. You'll see jars of sediment and soil preserved from beneath the lynchings of innocent Black men, an actual Woolworth's lunch counter where a sit-in was staged, and the actual fingerprints of Martin Luther King, Jr after he was arrested in St. Augustine during a peace protest.

The museum is housed in the historic Excelsior School Building, which served as the first public Black high school in Saint Johns County in 1925.

Lincolnville Historic District. St. Augustine, FL

• Founded in 1866 by former slaves

• Known for the growth of Black-owned businesses created in response to segregation

• Focal point of the Civil Rights Movement 

Kingsley plantation

4. Kingsley Plantation.  12713 Fort Caroline Rd., Jacksonville, FL

 Historic plantation where you can see the preserved buildings and slave quarters and learn about the lives of the people who lived there for over 100 years.

The Kingsley Plantation, administered by the National Park Service, is located on Fort George Island and includes the plantation house, a kitchen house, a barn, and the ruins of 25 of the original slave cabins. The island's history spans over 1000 years, beginning with the Timucuan Indians. The structures at the site, however, date to the plantation era of the island. The Kingsley Plantation was named after one of several plantation owners, Zephaniah Kingsley, who operated the property from 1813-1839. Kingsley operated under a "task" system, which allowed slaves to work at a craft or tend their gardens once the day's specified task was completed. Proceeds from the sale of produce or craft items were usually kept by the slaves. Purchased as a slave, Kingsley's wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was freed in 1811. She was active in plantation management and became a successful businesswoman woman, owning her own property. As an American territory, Florida passed laws that discriminated against free blacks and placed harsh restrictions on African slaves. This prompted Kingsley to move his family, impacted by these laws, to Haiti, now the Dominican Republic, where descendants of Anna and Zephaniah live today.

5.  Wells' Built Museum. 511 W. South St., Orlando, FL

Wells Built Museum

• Originally a hotel and entertainment venue for Black visitors who were not otherwise allowed in other establishments due to segregation, built by one of Orlando's first practicing Black physicians.

• Bo Diddly, Ella Fitzgerald, and B.B. King performed and stayed there

• Contains Civil Rights memorabilia, art, and artifacts

6. African-American Museum of the Arts, and the Deland Black Heritage Trail.   325, South Clara Ave. Deland, FL.

• Over 150 African-related artifacts, and a rotating exhibition space for Black artists.

• The DeLand Black Heritage Trail offers self-guided cycling or walking routes to connect local Black heritage sites, including the Museum and its Dr. Noble “Thin Man” Watts amphitheater and Moses Sun Mural celebrating the joy of jazz. The mural was painted by Moses Sun, artist-in-residence with the Stetson University Creative Arts Department.

• Internships available.

• The museum recently has received a $1 million grant to renovate the venue, so please check for updates before visiting.

The Moses Sun mural in Deland, FL. Courtesy of Facebook.

7.  John G. Riley Center & Museum for African American History  and Smokey Hollow Commemorative Site

419 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301

850-891-3560

Riley House Museum

The Riley House was constructed circa 1890 on the fringe of a community called Smokey Hollow. Its owner was a former enslaved man, John Gilmore Riley, who rose to prominence as an educator and civic leader. Riley was among the few African Americans in Tallahassee to own property at the turn of the century. He acquired seven major downtown parcels of land, among them the property on which he built his home, the Department of Natural Resource and Bryant Building site, and the Florida State University Law School parking lot. The Riley House remains a legacy of the African American middle class that emerged during his lifetime.

Located adjacent to the Riley historic home, the Smokey Hollow Commemorative site tells the story of the community of homes owned by Black families surrounding the Riley home. Residents were forced to relocate in the 1950s with the expansion of the Apalachee Parkway. The Commemorative site and park include three “Spirit Homes”, frames of shotgun-style houses, typical of the Smokey Hollow community. Each Spirit Home is accompanied by maps, photos, and historical information about the area. The site also features a community garden, a remembrance fountain, and a variety of fruit and vegetable trees. Tours of the site are also included in admission.

The John G. Riley Center & Museum welcomes people of all ages to journey back in time through the antebellum period, the Civil War, reconstruction, and the Civil Rights Era from the often untold perspective of African Americans. Engage with the Riley Museum through tours, events, programs, history trails throughout Tallahassee, and so much more.

Rosewood sign

8. Rosewood, Florida.   Less than an hour west of Gainesville, near Cedar Key, lies a town that was burned to the ground during a racial massacre in 1923. After a white woman accused a Black man of attacking her and escaping, the town of Rosewood hunted all Black people, lynching several, and the rest fled to nearby towns, never to return. The town, including all of the Black-owned homes and businesses, was burned and destroyed, and the land was unlawfully sold or given away to the remaining white families. There is nothing to see there now except for a sign marking the historical site erected over 70 years later. Read more here and here.   A movie about the massacre was released in 1997. See Rosewood on Amazon Prime video.

9. The #1 HBCU in the United States: FAMU 

Rated #1 HBCU by U.S. News & World Report for four years straight, out of 103 HBCUS.

Founded October 3, 1887, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) is a public, historically Black university located in Tallahassee, Florida. What distinguishes FAMU from other universities is its legacy of providing access to high-quality, affordable education with programs and services that guide students toward successfully achieving their dreams. FAMU is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. In addition to the main Tallahassee campus, FAMU has several satellite campuses across Florida. These include the College of Law in Orlando, the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the Institute of Public Health, which has sites in Crestview, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami.

1601 S. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Tallahassee, FL  32307

10. COMING SOON at the Naples Depot and the Collier County Museums :  Naples Depot and the Naples Depot Black History Baggage Car.

Naples Depot Museum, Collier County Museums. 1051 5th Ave S, Naples, FL 34102.

The Naples Depot baggage car was built in the 1920s and carried mail, passenger suitcases, and trunks. Always associated with southern train routes, the car was purchased from the Atlantic Coast Line by Southern Railway who donated it to Southwest Heritage, Inc. Thanks to Southwest Heritage, the Depot was refurbished and used for a variety of fundraising purposes, including as a home to antiques and collectibles vendors. The Depot remained a popular venue with the residents and visitors to Naples. In 2004, Southwest Heritage Inc. and the Collier County Government agreed that the Depot and attendant train cars would be valuable additions to the Collier County Museum System. The Naples Depot Museum opened on January 7, 2011. Set in Naples’

restored Seaboard Air Line Railway passenger station, the Naples Depot Museum welcomes visitors back to the railroading boom days of the Roaring Twenties and explains how generations of Southwest Floridians used technology and transportation to conquer a vast and seemingly impenetrable frontier. The venue attracts 16,000 visitors annually.

The Naples Depot Museum is an appropriate place for Collier County’s first space dedicated to its Black history because the Tenth Street/Goodlette Road corridor was traditionally home to Naples’s early Black communities because the railroads were a significant employer and source of social mobility for African Americans both in Collier County and nationally.

The Black History Baggage Car at the Naples Depot will tell the stories of these and other African Americans whose contributions were essential to the development of Collier County in the very same neighborhood that many of Naples’s Black residents have called home for over a century. 

Juneteenth 2024

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African American Heritage 

Share The Heritage Trail - A guide to African American cultural and historical sites in Volusia County .  View the Map  or download the  Brochure .

-The home and gravesite of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune present fascinating memorabilia and artifacts from this leader’s high-profile career. This National Historic Landmark is situated on the grounds of Bethune-Cookman University and offers guided tours. The daughter of former slaves, Dr. Bethune, became a renowned educator, civil rights leader and advisor to five U.S. presidents. For most of her life, she resided in Daytona Beach, where in 1904, she founded the Daytona Literary and Industrial School for the Training of Negro Girls with little more than $1.50 in cash, faith in God, and five little girls for students. The school eventually became a co-ed high school and later merged with Cookman Institute of Jacksonville. In 2007, it became Bethune-Cookman University, as it is known today.

-  Jackie Robinson Ballpark is where baseball legend Jackie Robinson broke the ‘color barrier’ in professional sports when he played in his first spring training game in 1946. A bronze statue of Robinson is on permanent display at the park’s entrance. Schedule a tour and explore the numerous historical markers inside the park, which detail the facility’s amazing history. Or take in a game and root for the home team, the Cincinnati Reds-affiliated Daytona Tortugas.

-The Smithsonian-affiliated Museum of Arts & Sciences is home to one of the finest African art collections in the Southeast. This permanent collection of tribal and ceremonial objects includes masks, sculpted figures, and ceremonial and everyday objects.

In 1866, a large colony of freedmen (free slaves) was established by  Esther Hill and John Milton Hawks  in an area just south of Daytona Beach, now known as the towns of Ponce Inlet and Port Orange.

Hawks and his wife, both physicians, were staunch abolitionists who spent the Civil War years caring for Black Union soldiers. It was primarily these soldiers and their families, numbering as many as 1,500, who settled in this area following the Civil War.

Among the 26 individuals who voted to incorporate Daytona Beach in 1876 were two Black men,  Thaddeus Goodin and John Tolliver . Tolliver played an important role in the town's early years, building much of the original Ridgewood Avenue (U.S. Highway 1). Henry Tolliver, Thaddeus’ father, was an ex-Union soldier who came to Florida with Hawk. Henry had a homestead in the northeast corner of Port Orange, the center of a Black hamlet known as Freemanville . Originally populated by freedmen from the nearby Hawks' colony, Freemanville grew rapidly during the 1880s as African-American workers poured into the area to work on the East Coast Railroad.

More information about these and other people -- such as James Huger, Sr., Dr. Richard Moore, Dr. Oswald P. Bronson, Yvonne Scarlett-Golden, and Vince Carter -- who have contributed to our community's culture can be found in the Share The Heritage brochure  or  explore the many cultural and historical sites found along the Share The Heritage Trail .

Check out the Ultimate Daytona Beach Trail Guide , which features Hiking and Biking Trails, Motorsports Trail , Mural Trail , Iconic Trail , Ale Trail , and the Statues and Monuments Trail .  To watch a brief video overview of Daytona Beach area trails and tours, click here .

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Black Heritage Trail (AUDIO TOUR)

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For the comfort of our guests, and due to extreme heat during the summer months in Tallahassee, we do not offer tours in July and August.

Tours will resume in september, and we look forward to seeing you then, tallahassee black history tour.

Join us as we visit sites in the downtown area that help to tell the story of the contribution of African-Americans to the establishment and continued betterment of Florida’s Capital City. We will visit antebellum homes built by a freed black man, discuss Emancipation Day, Jim Crow laws, segregation in Tallahassee, and learn about Tallahassee’s bus boycott.

This tour is limited to a small walking area in and around downtown Tallahassee.  Black history in Tallahassee and Leon County runs deeper and stretches farther than the limits of this tour.  Enslaved black people literally built many of the original buildings in early Tallahassee.  Black men and women worked the land surrounding Tallahassee before and after statehood.  They worked in the homes of “prominent white leaders” before and after the Civil War.  African-Americans in Tallahassee established vibrant communities and organizations, perservering through the highs and lows of Tallahassee history. Due to the fact that much of our history has been preserved by white Tallahasseeans and historians, many stories and contributions of the African American communities have been lost.  This tour recognizes its limitations in both space and in knowledge, and hopes to give voice and visibility to the all too often overlooked history of the African-American contribution.

Comfortable shoes and a water bottle are recommended. This tour lasts approximately 2 hours without restrooms available.

St. Petersburg

Black history tours.

BIKE TOUR DATES

9/28, 10/26, 11/9, 12/7

WALKING TOUR DATES

9/21, 11/2, 12/14

Josette Green, Founder and Historian of the St. Petersburg (FL) Black History Bike Tour.

The St. Petersburg Black History Bike Tour is an immersive experience attendees have described as “eye-opening” and “life-changing.” Led by Historian Josette Green, it takes participants to the locations where history began for St. Pete’s African American residents. The history reveals an understanding of the systemic racism in our city today and provides action items for creating positive change going forward. The donation-based public tour is available on limited dates September to May.

Learn more about the bike tour.

Introducing Hidden, His toric Campbell Park

We’re delighted to announce a new walking tour, starting in February 2024. Hidden, Historic Campbell Park, the culmination of three years of research, unveils the rich history of the first “Negro park” in the city of St. Pete. On an easy 1.5-mile walk, Josette shares intriguing, little-known stories of Black history that occurred in this now thriving park. Attendees leave with actionable ideas to advance racial equity.

Learn more about the walking tour.

SCENES FROM THE BIKE TOUR

Tour reviews, we learned so much about the history of st. petersburg. josette is truly an experienced historian who has a passion for her work. i highly recommend it, upcoming events.

Reservations are required. Please complete a separate RSVP for each person in your group. Thanks!

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Where To Go For Black History in Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale offers a more relaxed vibe compared to Miami. I visited Fort Lauderdale for the first time due to the Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference I attended. As a part of the tour there e were tours that allowed us to become more familiar with Fort Lauderdale. Angella from The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (#HelloSunny) picked us up. We were starving so our first stop that wasn’t scheduled was to Tom Jenkins BBQ restaurant.

Tom Jenkins BBQ Restaurant

1236 S Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Tom Jenkins is a Black-Owned Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.  Great soul food with bbq sauce that makes you want to break out in song.  Thanks, Bam Bam for getting us in and out as quickly as possible. The food was so good that I got a plate on my way to the airport.

Old Dillard Museum

1009 NW 4th St, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311

We then went to Old Dillard School Museum , a Black History Museum in Fort Lauderdale. Our tour was curated Derek Davis led us on a tour of the first school developed for Black kids in Fort Lauderdale. We learned about the history of education in the area and there was a lovely exhibit of the Black Trail Blazers of Broward County. We also had a chance to see former classrooms, a Jazz room, and an African playroom. The museum hosts various exhibits, lectures, and events. Derek did an excellent job and we later learned he is instrumental in the success of Black history in Broward County.

African American Research Library

Our next stop was the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center which houses a large collection of black history books and books written by Black authors. There is also an art gallery with art from local artists and an auditorium for special events and plays. I was amazed at the sections of the special collection which included original pieces from Alex Haley and Esther Rolle. The community can come in and receive help and use the area for research.

Urban League of Broward County

560 NW 27th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 3331

The last stop was the Urban League of Broward County it’s mission is, “To assist African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups in the achievement of social and economic equality.” Community Manager Mark Reyes led us on a tour of the beautiful facility. They have a computer lab to assist with resume and career development. They have various meeting rooms for training for the community and events. There is also art available for purchase. They offer programs in Health, Education, Housing.

I learned a lot about the Black History of Fort Lauderdale and I was so glad to have stumbled upon the tour. I am very appreciative to all involved in the tour.  I’ve only been to Fort Lauderdale to board a cruise. It was great to see that this city is more than a port location. It was a nice change from my traditional south beach trips.

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Historic Black communities often overlooked before and after disaster strikes

Weather watchers everywhere were astounded to see Hurricane Beryl ramp up in just two days from tropical storm strength to a Category 5 behemoth packing wind speeds of 165 mph.

Its July 1 emergence as a Category 4 storm and growth the next day to Cat 5 strength were the earliest in recorded history that a storm had reached either of those benchmarks, and Beryl carved a path of destruction west across the Caribbean islands then north and east into Texas and as far Vermont.

It seems as safe a bet as can be made that Beryl will not be the last major storm of 2024. Forecasters are predicting as many as 25 named storms and Nov. 1 seems a very long way away.

Ian one year later: How long will it take for Fort Myers Beach, SW Forida to fully recover?

That storm damage will occur in Florida this year is already a given; South Florida was swamped in mid-June by flash flooding caused by torrential rains nobody even figured into the hurricane season equation.

There is another aspect of hurricane season that, unfortunately, has also become something of a given, the disparate treatment of disadvantaged populations and communities of color when it comes to receiving aid after the storm and assistance in recovery.

Hurricane Ian and Harlem Heights

Richard Ryles had seen similar scenarios play out so many times before that when it became certain Hurricane Ian was going to cut a wide path of destruction through Lee and Collier counties in September, 2022 there was no question in his mind where disaster assistance would initially be deployed.

“Stevie Wonder wearing Ray Charles’ glasses could see what the reaction from the state was going to be,” he said.

And he was right. Following the storm that devastated Southwest Florida, aid stations were set up in the wealthy white coastal enclaves of Sanibel, Captiva Island, Fort Myers Beach and Naples and the poor, mostly Black, residents of communities like Dunbar and Harlem Heights were left to figure out a way to get to those areas to find relief.

“We knew they would be the last helped," Ryles said, "Based on the history of the treatment of African Americans in this state and across the country.”

Harlem Heights, a historically Black community in Fort Myers, had grown up when segregation was the way of the world. It is built in a low lying area susceptible to flooding. After Ian, Ryles said, it seemed the whole community was underwater.

Ryles, a West Palm Beach attorney, mobilized a group of fraternity brothers, who in turn reached out to others, including representatives from the Thomas Leroy Jefferson Medical Society. They gathered up food, necessities like feminine products and sanitary wipes and the medical supplies needed to assist people needing immediate treatment for ailments like diabetes and high blood pressure and set up shop at a Harlem Heights Community Center.

In a two-week span they would feed some 350 people and provide medicine and necessities to 600 more, but Ryles said when they arrived they were overwhelmed by what they saw.

"We didn't realize the extent of the problem," he said.

He said the desperation of the situation really hit home as he and others were setting up a grill to cook for residents of the community when an 11-year-old boy pulled up on a bicycle and told them that he was hungry and he and his grandmother hadn't eaten in two days.

"That kind of story was recounted multiple times," he said.

Hurricane Michael and North Port St. Joe

Tales of the misery inflicted by tropical storms are hardly uncommon in Florida, which has been hit by four major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher in just the last 10 years.

One of the saddest sagas is that of North Port St. Joe , where, according to Dannie Bolden, there are still homes bearing the scars of a savage beating from 2018's Hurricane Michael . Some of those residences have since begun literally sinking into the ground.

"This community, as its name implies, lies north of the small Gulf Coast town of Port St. Joe and is comprised mostly of African Americans. It grew up in the late 1800s and early 1900s on the other side of a series of railroad tracks separating it from the "white" side of town. Many of the homes in North Port St. Joe were built before the 1960s in the shadow of the St. Joe Paper Company mill that opened in 1934 and a nearby chemical plant, Bolden said.

'How far we've come': Looking back on Hurricane Michael 5 years after it hit Bay County

The St. Joe Paper Company had a landfill of sorts in North Port St. Joe where its workers deposited wood chips and other potentially hazardous factory debris in nearby woods and wetlands. The dumping grounds were later leveled off, parceled out and sold in the disadvantaged community for home construction.

North Port St. Joe is situated on the highest point in Port St. Joe, so its residents didn't suffer the flooding from Hurricane Michael that its neighbors to the south had, but Bolden said there was no shortage of downed trees that damaged homes and left many without power and water.

Bolden said one woman stayed in her badly damaged home because she had nowhere else to go and the mold there got so bad he had to send the local health department to the residence to talk her into leaving.

"They got her into a hotel," he said. "But shortly after she died."

Bolden lives in Columbus, Ga., but he still focuses much of his energy and attention on being active on behalf of his hometown of North Port St. Joe.

At the time he was interviewed for this article Bolden was in the community working with a professor from the Pensacola-based University of West Florida. The men have collaborated to study ways to come up with transformational scenarios to address systemic racism within the healthcare system in North Port St. Joe.

In the immediate aftermath of Michael, Boldin learned that community residents were required to board buses to more affluent areas in order to find distribution centers where they could get food and other necessities. The people of North Port St. Joe had become so acclimated to being slighted, he said, they didn’t even complain.

Boldin, though, took it upon himself to set up a location to provide aid in North Port St. Joe. FEMA would ultimately recognize it as one of the best run in the entire Panhandle.

"It was unbelievable the way he embedded himself in that community in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael and the way that community came together under his direction," said FEMA official TJ Dargan. "It was just phenomenal."

Following Hurricane Michael a whole new element of historical racism emerged for the people of North Port St. Joe. Homes in the area had been "redlined" by insurance companies, Bolden said.

Redlining is a term used to define a historically racist business practice in which red lined maps were used to identify areas, typically in neighborhoods occupied by African Americans, where property values were likely to fall and therefore deemed too risky to insure.

"In North Port St. Joe many of these homes had been there a long time and after the storm required quite a bit of repair. But the insurance, the way the insurance was rated, in this low-wealth community with high levels of poverty in an area that had been redlined, people can't afford the cost of insurance," Bolden said.

Now, six years after Hurricane Michael, homes built over the abandoned landfill have begun sinking. Bolden believes that Hurricane Michael raised the water table.

"I think Michael, with the storm surge, had a significant impact on those homes," he said.

Legal action taken over the years has forced the St. Joe Paper Company — now known as the St. Joe Company — which closed its mill in 1999, to take some responsibility for the environmental damage it has inflicted over the years on North Port St. Joe. The company, now among the largest landowners in Florida, still hasn't acknowledged any role it might have had in creating the conditions existing now, Bolden said.

Likewise, he said the Port St. Joe City Commission has "mostly ignored the community."

“Part of it is it’s not a priority, the people are not going to the city and complaining, they’re not complaining and not getting the help," he said. "To see it now, the rebuild on the south side of town and the north side are like being in two different worlds. If you ever want to know about a city, look at its budget and see where the dollars are going."

There's never been any research to study whether the St. Joe Paper Company Mill, adjoining chemical plant and abandoned landfill have had long-term health effects on the North Port St. Joe community. Bolden said he has tried to get the area designated a Brownfield, which would bring down federal dollars for an accounting and clean up.

Local elected officials have not been willing partners in that effort.

“The city has been dragging its feet. It’s like they don’t want the information known," he said. "We had a group, the International City/County Management Association, come in from New Jersey to look at the situation and explain the brownfield designation to the city commission. They told the gentlemen from New Jersey 'If I lived in North Port St. Joe I wouldn’t want my community designated a brownfield.' "

Boldin sees the city hiding behind lame excuses to keep from doing the right thing.

“The system allows people who have animus or a lack of sympathy for communities like North Port St. Joe to hide behind it," he said. "Their concern is they haven’t done what they were supposed to do and don’t want to be held accountable."

Port St. Joe City Manager Jim Anderson did not return phone calls seeking comment for this article.

Grassroots efforts to right the many wrongs

North Point St. Joe is hardly an exception, not just in Florida but across the United States. Equality activists say accountability has been hard to come by when it comes to those in power owning up to the sins of the past where communities of color are concerned.

And the continuing selective assistance seen following storms of today could have even more far-reaching effects in a future where climate change threatens to make everyday life increasingly unpleasant.

If there is good news out there it is that steps are being taken to build awareness and to assist communities of color in building resilience to coming storms and climate change.

Robert Bullard is widely viewed as the father of environmental justice, a philosophy that recognizes that historic injustices often are brought to light in the aftermath of natural disasters and that preparation for future disasters must go hand in hand with fixing the abuses − like redlining in North Port St. Joe − of the past.

"Racial disparities exist in disaster response, clean up, rebuilding, reconstruction and recovery," Bullard wrote in a novel he titled "Race, Place, and Environmental Justice After Hurricane Katrina."

"Race plays out on natural disaster survivors' ability to rebuild, replace infrastructure, obtain loans and locate temporary and permanent housing," Bullard observed. "People of color spend more time in temporary housing and are more vulnerable to permanent displacement."

It may well have been Hurricane Katrina and its impact on the city of New Orleans that finally opened the eyes of the world to the disparate treatment afforded to minorities following a major natural disaster.

The iconic Superdome in downtown New Orleans, was opened as a "refuge of last resort" for those unable to escape the oncoming Katrina. It was estimated that 14,000 people entered the building the night before the storm, but, USA Today reported in an article done 10 years later that the number swelled to 30,000 as levies failed and areas of the city flooded.

The world watched as the arena and its occupants suffered through five days of hell in nightmarish conditions. A portion of the Superdome roof blew off, and the building's main generator died early on, leaving the structure reliant on a back up generator that couldn't power the air conditioning system or keep the refrigeration on to prevent "massive amounts of food from spoiling."

A promise from Mayor Ray Nagin to furnish FEMA supplies was never fulfilled, USA Today reported, and the city's police department pulled its contingent from the Dome the day after Katrina hit, based on the ultimately false premise that flood waters were going to continue to rise.

Bathrooms backed up and the stench became unbearable, the small contingent of National Guard troops became targets as people became more frustrated and desperate, according to USA Today's reporting. Three people would die, at least two, including a young girl, were sexually assaulted and many people lost to theft what little household belongings they had managed to salvage from their now uninhabitable homes.

More than 1,800 would lose their lives to Hurricane Katrina, and later assessments found injustices that included equal access to health care and healthy food choices. Many who survived the storm itself were forced to wade through waters polluted by the residue of industrial plants close to the neighborhoods in which they lived.

"In communities of color and poor communities, there tend to be more warehouses or plants that store hazardous materials," said Bruce McClue, a technical training manager for the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. "Many also lie along railroad tracks utilized by trains carrying hazardous materials."

When interviewed for this article McClue was in the company of Pensacola-based environmental justice advocate Calvin Avant. The two were traveling through Florida providing emergency response preparedness training.

"There is a problem," McClue said. "Most people don't have the money to pay clean up crews to come in, and after a disaster there's a lot of work, a lot of the initial work, that they have to do themselves."

A wide array of potential hazards exist within a typical household, he said. In many cases residents will be called upon to clean the mud and muck out of a damaged home, prevent mold from becoming a health concern and be alert to the potential for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Many who seek the training provided don't have the funds to pay for personal protective equipment, but McClue said the training insures that those seeking it learn how to decontaminate themselves following exposure to potentially harmful substances and basics like safe ways to clean and store work boots.

McClue said the training being provided extends to making people aware of potential animal threats poised by everything from poisonous snakes carried in on flood waters or fire ants. Even plant hazards like poison ivy are covered.

The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice is working primarily with minority groups and through faith-based groups like Avant's Unity In the Family Ministry.

"We're moving around, more people are being made aware of the hazards that can exist," McClue said. "We're making inroads, people are getting educated and people realize what can truly happen to them. There's still a lot of work to do."

American Red Cross and NAACP team up to assess continuing needs

Cynthia Slater grew up and still resides in an area of Daytona Beach known as Midtown . It is a historically segregated Black community she calls "almost like New Orleans."

"We sit in a low zone. The whole community is a flood zone," she said. "This is where we were pushed."

Slater's own home has flooded four times over the last 20 years, but those floods are becoming more frequent, she said.

"It's getting worse. I never remember it being like this, houses across the entire community are being flooded, and there's not a lot of money being spent to improve the infrastructure at all."

Following Hurricane Ian, the American Red Cross, realizing the need to help people who had been passed over for emergency assistance, reached out to the NAACP in hopes of developing a pilot program to better assess needs.

Slater, as the president of the Volusia County Branch of the NAACP, was asked to head up the program in heavily populated Orange and Volusia counties.

"They asked us to partner with them and identify families and homes still in need of services," Slater said. "I commend them for reaching out to say 'we know we've missed some people' mostly in the Black and brown communities who have been disenfranchised and need some help."

Interviewed in May, Slater summed up the magnitude of the endeavor upon which she and her team had embarked. By the end of April the NAACP had identified 2,714 homesteads for which they saw the need to refer requests for services to agencies that could provide assistance.

"We still have not even touched all of the people in those counties," she said.

The data has been broken down to identify the most pressing needs such as home and property repairs, she said.

Some are still in need of assistance affording food, while others need rental assistance or housing placement. There are some who need help to pay utility bills, recover lost wages, and others who might require medical and/or mental health services, or assistance finding employment or help replacing a vehicle lost in the storm.

Another segment of the program is turning over the data to government agencies to obtain assistance for residents for such things as flood mitigation and hurricane preparedness.

"We can have all of this data, but if the infrastructure is not there it's just a Band-aid on a wound. We have to have a conversation with city, county and state government. You can go through a storm and lose a house, do everything you have to to rebuild it, but the storm's going to come again," she said. "How do you stop flooding? How do you as a county address issues related to these bigger problems?"

'We started fighting water' Flood-prone Rubonia community deals with surge concerns.

Officials have tried to alleviate flooding issues in the Rubonia community for decades, but it was those very improvements that allowed floodwaters to slither into the community during Hurricane Idalia.

Mary Brown, 84, has lived in and out of the Rubonia all of her life, but had never seen floodwaters inside of her home until Idalia.

She was among many residents of the flood-prone Rubonia community in Manatee County who woke up during the early hours of the morning on Aug. 30, 2023 to find rising floodwaters infiltrating homes throughout the neighborhood.

The hurricane made landfall about 220 miles north on Keaton Beach, but caused heavy storm surge along much of Florida's western coast as it traveled up the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

“We started fighting water,” Brown said. “When it got to the point that I just couldn’t see myself getting out of there I called 9-1-1. The fire department came and they could not drive up my street. So two tall firemen came and walked me out two blocks, and then they walked my brother out. That was Idalia. That’s an experience I do not want to have again.”

Rubonia, a historically Black community, has always had issues with flooding. Manatee County has worked to address those woes for years, and recently installed a new drainage system to help stop stormwater from accumulating in the community.

From the archive: Hurricane Idalia exposes storm surge concerns in Manatee County, residents fear for homes

But it was not the rain that flooded Rubonia this time. The community is located on the eastern Terra Ceia Bay — which feeds straight into Tampa Bay — and is also nestled along the northern shore of McMullen Creek. When Idalia passed nearby it caused a heavy storm surge, and the water rose straight up through the new drainage system and into the neighborhood.

“The county put a whole bunch of money into a stormwater system out there for them, which works beautifully,” Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said. “Falling water gone, not a problem anymore.”

“However, the same stormwater system that the county put in to ensure rainwater flows out easily has also created a problem,” he said. “That’s that rising saltwater flows the opposite direction equally as easily. So they have flooding that is originating at their stormwater outlets because they are becoming inlets, if you will.”

Van Ostenbridge, who represents the community, said the county plans to install flaps on the outlets to prevent sea water from flowing through them into the community during a storm. He said the county could potentially consider installation of a levee to protect the community, but that the option comes with a slew of issues such as a high cost, need for funding partners, and concerns over the potential for litigation should it fail.

Another resident, Louis Goff, said he does not think there is much that can be done. He serves as chairman of the Rubonia Community Association.

“The county has really tried to help out with the situation, but there is really not much you can do about it at this point because the water is there,” Goff said. “There is just nothing you can do. We are real low and the water is going to rise. All we can do is just be hopeful.”

“There were maybe 35 or 40 homes affected,” Goff said. “The water was only there a day, it happened real fast. But people are still trying to deal with insurance companies, and some didn’t have insurance.”

Brown said she is among the uninsured. A lien was placed on her home after her mother died and she learned that the hurricane insurance was canceled during the process only after she finished repaying the debt only a month before Idalia.

“I am still trying to recover, I have not gotten the doors on my house,” Brown said. “We’ve been waiting for help. People have called from different areas, but I don’t have the money to pay them.”

“So that is what I am in now,” she said. “I am trying to get the house in shape to where I can get it inspected again so that I can get insurance. I will get flood insurance before I get anything else.”

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida hurricanes: Black communities often overlooked in disasters

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Jacksonville has been a go-to destination for Vice President Kamala Harris .

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Harris toured a COVID-19 vaccination site on March 22, 2021 to see U.S. Navy personnel prepare shots at Gateway Town Center and also went to Feeding Northeast Florida where she heard about how the pandemic had made hunger an even more serious problem.

"The work you all have been doing is extraordinary," Harris said. "I'm certain that history is going to show that this was a moment of extreme crisis that challenged us, and there were the heroes that just showed up."

Her stop in Jacksonville was part of a "Help is Here" message for a $1.9 trillion federal relief package that Biden won support for in his  administration's first major legislative victory.

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"You know, when it's your turn, go get it," Harris said told reporters when she arrived in Jacksonville on a flight from Washington.

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In a quickly organized trip, Harris picked Jacksonville for a July 21, 2023, speech delivering a rebuttal  to new state standards for school curriculums she said “replace history with lies.”

“I do believe this is not only about the state of Florida. There is a national agenda afoot,” Harris told about 400 people packed into the Ritz Theatre and Museum.

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What's in Florida's new Black history standards? Read the approved curriculum here

Last week, the Florida Board of Education unanimously approved a controversial new curriculum for African American history for students in the state.

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Some of the key complaints are that the curriculum leaves out Florida's role in slavery and the oppression of African Americans, identifies racism and prejudice without going into depth who was promoting it, victim-blames Black communities, uses outdated language, and requires teaching that some enslaved people learned valuable skills that were useful after they were freed.

At a press conference Friday , Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the curriculum as "factual," telling a CNN reporter, "They're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into, into doing things later in life."

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Here are the complete revised social studies academic standards for Florida. The document has been edited to display only the African American history section, the entire document can be found here .

Are Florida's new Black history standards as bad as critics claim? What the new rules say

Florida has been on the receiving end of national ire after the state Department of Education approved new, controversial academic standards that outline how Black history will be taught in its schools.

Florida has been required to teach students about the history, culture, experiences and contributions of Black Americans since the Florida Legislature created the African History Task Force in 1994.

The new rules, which passed without discussion following public input, reshape Florida’s academic standards for social studies and how school districts will teach Black history.

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Critics have come out in droves saying that the new curriculum doesn’t mention Florida’s role in the enslavement and oppression of Black Americans, victim blames Black communities, uses outdated language and, more egregiously, instructs teachers to educate students about how enslaved people developed skills which could be applied for their personal “benefit.”

At  a press conference Friday , Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the curriculum as "factual," telling a CNN reporter, "They're probably going to show some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into, into doing things later in life."

“Everything is there,” said education board member and DeSantis appointee MaryLynn Magar. “The darkest parts of our history are addressed, and I’m very proud of the task force. I can confidently say that the DOE and the task force believe that Black history is American history, and that’s represented in those standards.”

Here’s a closer look at the claims critics have made against Florida’s new Black history curriculum. And readers can see what these new rules are by visiting the FDOE’s website , which lays out course descriptions , key concepts and more.

Is Florida attempting to hide Florida’s role in slavery?

Based on the information provided by the state, this is a valid concern. The FDOE has 21 pages of new Academic Standards regarding social studies that apply directly to Black history.

In the 21-page document, Florida is referenced just 19 times — and 18 times if we remove the first reference in the document’s title. Many of the references to the state regard identifying positive and key contributions of Black Americans when the U.S. owned Florida, while references to Florida when it was owned by Spain cite how Spain “attracted escaping slaves with the promise of freedom” and the effects of asylum granted to those enslaved people.

It’s important to note that this document does not provide a full, comprehensive look at lesson plans but the document’s title, “Florida’s State Academic Standards — Social Studies, 2023,” indicates that these are the key concepts the FDOE expects students to know.

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The document does provide some specific examples of key moments in African history, even including events like the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, the 1919 Washington D.C. Race Riot, the 1920 Ocoee Massacre, the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the 1923 Rosewood Massacre. But, as critics point out, these events are prefaced with incendiary language such as “(i)nstruction includes acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

Further, the document does gloss over many of the U.S. and Florida’s contributions to the advancement of slavery in the country.

For example, an overview posted on the National Park Service’s website regarding Black history in St. Augustine, Florida, outlines some key ways Florida and the federal government contributed to slavery:

• U.S. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson pressured Spain to end religious sanctuary for freedom seekers
• The U.S. passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which required the return of all enslaved people.
• Basic civil and human rights recognized by the Spanish government were eliminated after Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821.
• New laws were passed impacting freedmen by limiting their right to assemble, carry firearms, serve on juries and testify against white Americans.
• They were unfairly taxed and subjected to curfews.
• They could be whipped for misdemeanors, impressed for manual labor and even forced back into slavery to satisfy debts or fines.
• Interracial marriage was prohibited and children of interracial marriages could not inherit their parents’ estates.
• When Florida became a state in 1845, nearly  half of its population were enslaved people .

Critics also note that elementary and middle school students are not required to learn about Black history past reconstruction.

Does Florida’s new Black history standards teach that enslaved people learned valuable skills?

Yes. One of the Black history concepts taught will include analyzing events that involved and affected Black people up until Reconstruction.

One of the concepts under this strand includes examining the various duties and trades performed by enslaved people. Underneath this brief description, a benchmark clarification reads: “Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

Florida OKs new Black history standards: Florida board OKs Black history standards, rejects concerns about omitting 'key' facts

Do Florida’s new Black history standards victim-blame Black communities?

This criticism stems from language used in the document to describe how educators should approach teaching students about violent events in Black history.

One of the Black history strands includes identifying significant events, figures and contributions that shaped the lives of Black Americans between 1865 and 1954. In another benchmark clarification, the document states: “Instruction includes acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans but is not limited to 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, 1919 Washington, D.C. Race Riot, 1920 Ocoee Massacre, 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the 1923 Rosewood Massacre.”

Critics like Sen. Geraldine Thompson - D, Orlando, who is listed as an emerita board member on the task force’s website, say that this language suggests that these events were sparked by violence from Black Americans.

Does Florida’s new Black history standards use outdated language?

Yes. In the document, enslaved people are referred to as “slaves.” While there is debate on how enslaved people should be referenced, the term “slave” associates a person’s circumstance with their identity. Others argue that the term can be used to underline a person’s circumstance.

Read Florida's new Black history standards

You can read the revised social studies academic standards for Florida here. This document has been edited to display only the African American history section. You can find the full document here .

Florida's new Black history curriculum: 'Slaves developed skills' for 'personal benefit'

Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting Florida today to address the state's newly approved standards for teaching Black history in schools , which opponents say fail to paint the most accurate picture.

Those who have spoken out against the new social studies standards on African American history for kindergarten through 12th grade say the curriculum uses outdated language, victim blames Black communities and fails to address Florida's role in slavery and oppression.

Black communities say Gov. Ron DeSantis is targeting them and other groups by restricting discussions on race with legislation such as the " Stop WOKE Act ."

Harris' visit to Jacksonville on Friday follows her visit to Indianapolis where she criticized states that are banning books in schools to prevent students "from learning our true history."

"Book bans in this year of our Lord, 2023!" Harris said.

The vice president called out Florida directly.

"They decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery," Harris said. "They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us and we will not stand for it!"

Groups accuse Florida Board of Education of rewriting or omitting 'key historical facts'

A letter sent to state Board of Education member Ben Gibson from a group of 11 organizations, including the NAACP and the Florida Education Association, says students deserve an accurate picture of the Black experience.

"We owe the next generation of scholars the opportunity to know the full unvarnished history of this state and country and all who contributed to it — good and bad," the letter states.

Florida board OKs curriculum: Critics say Black history standards are lacking and omit key facts

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Impact on elementary and middle school students

Students in kindergarten through 8th grade are not required to learn Black history past Reconstruction.

Reconstruction is the 12-year period after the Civil War that saw the United States struggle with reintegrating states that had seceded from the Union and determining the legal status of African Americans.

The middle school curriculum also includes a clarification: "Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."

Impact on high school students

The new curriculum for students in grades 9 through 12, mentions learning about Reconstruction and beyond and includes studying, according to the first benchmark clarification, "the ramifications of prejudice, racism and stereotyping on individual freedoms (e.g., the Civil Rights Cases, Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, lynchings, Columbian Exposition of 1893)."

Critics such as Genesis Robinson, political director for advocacy group Equal Ground, said the curriculum only identifies and recognizes racism and prejudice and does not go into depth about how or who promoted the violence and disenfranchisement of Black people in the United States.

The second clarification states that instruction "includes acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans but is not limited to 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, 1919 Washington, D.C. Race Riot, 1920 Ocoee Massacre, 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the 1923 Rosewood Massacre."

The Ocoee Massacre is considered the largest incidence of voting-day violence in U.S. history, according to the Orange County Regional History Center.