Tampa African American History Resources
It has been said that journalism is the first rough draft of history.
If that is true, The Weekly Challenger is writing a first draft about the history of St. Petersburg's African American community.
Here is a link to an INDEX of story subjects from The Weekly Challenger digital newspaper ARCHIVE.
This digital archive is part of the USF Libraries African American Experience in Florida (AAE) online portal.
Following are links to resources about Tampa African American history.
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TAMPA AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY RESOURCES
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USF TAMPA CAMPUS LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
University of South Florida-Tampa Special Collections. (African American History Resources)
USF Libraries African American Experience in Florida (AAE) online portal.
USF Libraries Digital Collections.
As an example, search "African-American."
"Celebrating Black History Month with a Portrait of Blanche Armwood."
By LeEtta Schmidt, Digital Dialogs, USF Libraries, February 9, 2021.
Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Web Exhibition.
History Seminar Project. Special & Digital Collections, USF Tampa campus Library, 2016.
USF Libraries Digital Exhibits.
Special & Digital Collections, USF Tampa campus Library, 2016.
Enslaved People in the Southeast.
This digital exhibit, which includes scans from the USF Tampa Library, was created and curated by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) Special Collections Interest Group, 2021.
DIGITAL HERITAGE AND HUMANITIES COLLECTIONS, USF LIBRARIES (DHHC)
3D Model: Jackson Rooming House in downtown Tampa
and
Video: Jackson Rooming House in downtown Tampa
"The Jackson Rooming House in downtown Tampa, Florida is the last of an era of homes used as segregated boarding structures for African Americans before the 1965 Civil Rights Act. The Jackson house is/was located close to the thriving Black business district and nightlife areas in Tampa, and was adjacent to the Union Station. Many famous performers like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Ella Fitzgerald are said to have stayed at the house....This 3D pointcloud is from a terrestrial laser scanner and drone heritage survey project, was undertaken by the DHHC USF Libraries and the Tampa Bay History Center."
"The Jackson Rooming House Remembered and Re-envisioned."
The history and future of the last-remaining African American boarding house in Tampa.
By Eric Koenig, MA, Graduate Student Researcher, Digital Heritage and Humanities Collections (DHHC) and Lori Collins, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor and Co-Director, DHHC, Feb. 19, 2021.
Tampa Though Time.
"The DHHC is in the midst of creating Tampa Through Time, an ongoing project with the Tampa Bay History Center. It’s an immersive virtual presentation that allows visitors to explore Tampa from its early foundation through modern development."
TAMPA HISTORICAL: USF STUDENT & FACULTY WEB EXHIBIT
"Dobyville: The forgotten Black Tampa community."
By Harley Sharpton.
"Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza: A Testament to Change."
By Kaley Dovale, Kent Sandow and Meghan Pommier.
"Ernest Boger: The first African-American student at USF."
By Asahi Hossain, Casey Thieryung and Chip Cox.
USF TAMPA MASS COMMUNICATION STUDENTS
"83 Degrees, USF Mass Comm launch East Tampa storytelling project."
By Wayne Garcia, 83 Degrees, September 21, 2021.
USF INSTITUTE ON BLACK LIFE
USF Institute on Black Life.
University of South Florida.
The African American Neighborhood Project.
Institute on Black Life, University of South Florida.
"In 2012, with support from USF’s Office of Community Engagement, IBL initiated a project that explores diverse perspectives on Tampa’s African American neighborhoods."
Anti-Racist Resources.
Institute on Black Life, University of South Florida.
SEE ALSO:
Diversity and Inclusion at USF Libraries.
FLORIDA SENTINEL-BULLETIN NEWSPAPER
Newspaper: Florida Sentinel-Bulletin.
Newspaper Archive (USF-Tampa): Florida Sentinel-Bulletin.
Newspaper Microfilm (USF-Tampa): Florida Sentinel-Bulletin.
Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection: C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library, Tampa.
"New digitally produced sculpture celebrates African American history in Tampa Bay."
University of South Florida, September 16, 2020.
Excerpt:
"The location and timing of the project are significant to the artist. Located within Tampa’s College Hill neighborhood, a historically African American community, the C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library is named after the former owner-publisher of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin, a pioneering publication dedicated to informing and uplifting African American communities across the Tampa Bay region and the state."
TAMPA-HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORICAL RESOURCES
"Our Lives, Our Legacies: The Hillsborough Black Experience."
Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.
Hillsborough Remembers Oral History Collection.
Memories of Central Avenue.
Tampa African-American History Photographs.
Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection.
Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.
TAMPA BAY HISTORY CENTER
"We’ve been here before: A brief history of race relations in Tampa."
By Rodney Kite-Powell, 83 Degrees Media, June 9, 2020.
Video: Blanche Armwood.
TBHC docent and walking tour guide, Ersula Odom, talks about Blanche Armwood, a pioneer in the history of Florida African American history.
Tampa Bay History Center, February 2021.
Video: Tampa's Central Avenue and "The Scrub."
"Dr. Cheryl Rodriguez discusses the history and resiliancy of Tampa's Black business district along Central Avenue, and 'The Scrub' neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa."
Tampa Bay History Center, April 2021.
Video: "Remembering Robert W. Saunders, Sr."
Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library, June 2021.
TAMPA BAY TIMES
"At the Crossroads of Freedom & Equality: Florida’s Journey from Separate toward Equal."
Tampa Bay Times newspaper in education program (NIE), 2012.
"From The Scrub to The Twist: Perry Harvey, Sr. Park: A Journey into Tampa’s History."
Tampa Bay Times newspaper in education program (NIE), 2016.
"Zion Cemetery: The Forgotten." (Part of: "In Search of Lost Cemeteries")
By reporter Paul Guzzo and photographer James Borchuck, Tampa Bay Times, 2019.
In 1901 Tampa's Zion Cemetery became the first African-American cemetery recognized by the city of Tampa. The Tampa Bay Times reports on its history and the forgotten people buried at the cemetery.
WUSF
Audio: WUSF Public Media Stories about Black Lives Matter.
WUSF Public Media.
Audio: WUSF Public Media Stories about Local African-American History.
(Archive Page One)
WUSF Public Media.
Audio: WUSF Public Media Stories about Local African-American History.
(Archive Page Two)
WUSF Public Media.
VIDEOS, AUDIO & ONLINE EXHIBITS
Video: Tampa Black History Walking Tour.
Fred Hearns Tours, Tampa Organization of Black Affairs, City of Tampa, 2020.
Video: "A Soulful Taste: Exploring Tampa Bay's Black-Owned Food Scene."
Documentary by food writer Alexandria Jones, 2020.
Video: "Tampa historians reflect on decades of change brought about by protests."
Fox 13, 2020.
Video: "Legacy of Tampa's lost neighborhoods endure."
WTSP-TV, 2019.
Video: Tampa's Black History Tour.
Zimmerman School Digital Network at USF, 2018.
Video: Documentary on Tampa's Central Avenue.
WEDU, 2007.
Online Exhibit: “Beaches, Benches, and Boycotts: The Civil Rights Movement in Tampa Bay,” Florida Holocaust Museum, 2020.
Tampa history
St. Petersburg history
Sarasota history
RELATED RESOURCES
"Ceremony, Marker Celebrate Civil Rights-era Sit-In."
(African-American students took seats at segregated lunch counter in Hillsborough County in February 1960.)
Hillsborough County government website, 2018.
Tampa Chapter of the Links, Incorporated
"The Tampa Chapter is comprised of a dedicated, respected, and civically engaged group of professional women. We are committed to enriching, sustaining, and ensuring the cultural and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African American ancestry."
REACHUP, Inc.
The mission of Tampa, Florida's REACHUP, Inc. (Respond, Educate, Advocate, & Collaborate for Health in Underserved Populations) is to advocate for and mobilize resources to help communities achieve equality in healthcare and positive health for families.
Organizational Vision: The vision of REACHUP, Inc. is to be known as a nationally recognized center of excellence, assisting in creating a community where there is equality in healthcare and health for all families.
Community Vision: Everybody being healthy. Everyone having the opportunity to achieve good health.
BOOKS
Brady, Rowena Ferrell. Things Remembered: An Album of African Americans in Tampa.
Tampa: University of Tampa Press, 1997.
Brown, Canter. African Americans on the Tampa Bay Frontier.
Tampa: Tampa Bay History Center, 1997.
----. Genealogical Records of the African American Pioneers of Tampa and Hillsborough County.
Tampa: Tampa Bay History Center, 2000.
Mitchell, Mozella G. African American Religious History in Tampa Bay.
Tampa: National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1992.
Odom, Ersula Knox. African Americans of Tampa.
Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2014.
Saunders, Robert W., Sr. Bridging the Gap: Continuing the Florida NAACP Legacy of Harry T. Moore, 1952-1966.
Tampa: University of Tampa Press, 2000.