Weekly Challenger African American Digital Newspaper Archive and Research Guide

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, Feb. 6. 2014.
Excerpt:
"Dr. Gilbert Henry Leggett is remembered fondly as an African-American dental pioneer in St. Petersburg.
A native of Key West, Dr. Leggett graduated from Nashville’s Meharry Medical and Dental College in 1924. The school was the first dental school in the South for African Americans.
After briefly practicing in Jacksonville, Dr. Leggett opened his practice in St. Petersburg in 1925. His first office was across the street from the Webb’s City furniture store on Second Avenue South. In 1959, he moved his office to 2154 9th Ave. S. That site will be remembered on the heritage trail currently being developed by the African American Heritage Association."

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, Feb. 20, 2014.
Excerpt:
“In its day, the Ambassadors Club was among St. Petersburg’s most influential groups in terms of civil rights advocacy and community leadership. Comprising many of the city’s most prominent African American men, the Ambassadors also provided milk and lunches for school children, organized fundraisers to benefit the community and cracked a segregation barrier when they placed a float in the annual Festival of States Parade.”

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, Feb. 27, 2014.
Excerpt:
"A Mecca for baseball’s spring training since 1914, St. Petersburg in 1961 became a focal point in the battle to end discrimination in the lodging of black and white players....Doctors Ralph Wimbish and Robert Swain were civil rights leaders who also housed African American players. At about the same time, they decided to take on baseball’s housing segregation. Wimbish had helped desegregate the city’s lunch counters, and said he couldn’t square his activism in other areas if he didn’t make a stand for the players."

The Weekly Challenger, Mar. 27, 2014.
Excerpt:
"The Inaugural First Ladies in African American History awards ceremony was held Sun., March 23 at the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum. It was an event to pay tribute to women of color who have blazed new trails and lighted the pathway for others to follow by their perseverance, sacrifice, dedication and hard work.
'These women have crossed not one, but two hurdles to triumphantly win a race first,' said Terri Lipsey Scott, chair of the Woodson museum. 'The first hurdle is prominently being a woman and their second hurdle is being an African American.'"

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, April 17, 2014.
(Story appears in April 24, 2014 print edition.)
Excerpt:
"Many old-timers in the community, and some not so old, recall living, perhaps growing up in the original Jordan Park housing development. The development dates before World War II.
In 1937, the St. Petersburg City Council authorized a housing authority, which went to work on a badly needed public housing project. The idea was not without opposition. At times, it seemed to be the most controversial issue in the city."

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, May 1, 2014.
Excerpt:
"Campbell Park has been an important community recreation asset since 1928, when a one-story building was constructed on 16th Street South between Sixth and Seventh Avenues Diamond Mutual Progressive Club."

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, May 1, 2014.
Excerpt:
"The community gathered to say goodbye to long time 22nd Street resident Paul Barco Sat., April 26 at the Carter G. Woodson African American Museum. Rev. Dr. Wayne Thompson spoke to a standing room only crowd. The community has truly lost a treasure trove of history and wisdom with the passing of Mr. Barco on April 8. He was 97.
Mr. Barco, whose parents came to St. Petersburg in the very early 1900s, witnessed strict segregation that made 22nd Street a major community thoroughfare and integration that changed the street and its neighborhood."

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger. May 22, 2014.
Excerpt:
"This year brings the 50th anniversary of the federal Civil Rights Act, a landmark law intended to end discrimination on the basis of race in many areas: voting, the workplace, schools and other facilities open to the public, for example. St. Petersburg rights activists long had pursued, sometimes successfully, many of the provisions the Act reinforced with federal muscle.This week, we’ll take a look at some of St. Petersburg’s civil rights advances until 1962. Next week, we’ll review the frequently tumultuous later ’60s and early 1970s."

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, May 29, 2014.
Excerpt:
“Several important strides took place during this time period, but the event that garnered the most attention was the strike of city sanitation workers in 1968. Tossing garbage in the hot, Florida sun was one of the toughest jobs a man could undertake, and in May of ’68, the workers began striking. They were led by hymn-singing, cigar-chomping Joe Savage.
Better pay, working conditions and benefits were the issues. Eventually, more than 200 men walked out in what would become a 116-day strike. A young lawyer named James Sanderlin counseled the man and often marched with them.”

By Holly Kestenis, The Weekly Challenger, June 12, 2014.
Excerpt:
“Elder Jordan is known for erecting, along with his sons, the Jordan dance hall, which is now known as the Manhattan Casino. He was also responsible for the construction of houses and establishing a bus line and a beach for African Americans during the time of segregation here in St. Petersburg.”

By Jon Wilson, The Weekly Challenger, June 19, 2014.
Excerpt:
"From 1888 on, African Americans played huge roles in building St. Petersburg. Doing their part to put an obscure village on the map, black workers graded beds and laid the tracks when the Orange Belt Railway pushed through forest that one day would be replaced by a modern city."

By Holly Kestenis, The Weekly Challenger, Sep. 11, 2014.
Excerpt:
"She was only six when women began to be counted as equals to men, gaining the right to vote. Just 16 when the Great Depression hit so many families and 50 years old when the Civil Rights Act was established in 1964.
Events that transpired more than a lifetime ago for most, but for Doris Lucille Williams Johnson these markers of American history are not just something she learned about reading a textbook or through word-of-mouth, she lived them.
September 1, 2014 marked the birthday of Johnson, and at 100 it was evident she had accumulated a caring extended family and quite a number of friends."

By Holly Kestenis, The Weekly Challenger, Oct. 16, 2014.
Excerpt:
"The three-day celebration of St. Petersburg’s new African American Heritage Trail kicked off Friday at the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, located at 2240 9th Ave. S.
For the past two years community members have been diligently working to provide St. Petersburg with a history of the local African American community.
'Many of us are not aware of the rich history in this community,' said Gwen Reese, president of the African American Heritage Association. 'Many of us are not aware of the sacrifices and the contributions African Americans have made.'
....The markers highlight former businesses and shops that used to be in the area during the time of segregation. Complete with period photos, they serve as a reminder of how it was for those who lived along 22nd Street South when St. Petersburg’s history wasn’t so rosy and as a time machine to the past for those too young to remember the rich history of those who came before them."

The Weekly Challenger, November 26, 2014.
Excerpt:
"Many came Sun., Nov. 17, from far and near to pack the house of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church to celebrate and commemorate the 120th anniversary of this Zion. Bethel AME, a designated historic site, was established in the month of November in the year of 1894. Since its founding, Bethel has experienced the growing stages of three buildings on the land, located at 912 3rd Ave. N., with 30 pastors contributing to its development. The Rev. Kenneth Irby is the newest pastor and along with wife Karen answered the call to come to Bethel at the most recent annual conference of the AME 11th Episcopal District."