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Ten Florida Destinations That Teach About Black History

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

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.

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 

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

• 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.

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

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.

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

FAMU.edu

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.