Tampa's Black History shared just steps from AMALIE Arena

Just steps from the southeast corner of AMALIE, across Water Street, sits the Tampa Bay History Center. The museum focuses on Tampa Bay's place within 12,000 years of Florida history. Visitors can learn about the state's first settlers, the area's involvement in American wars, Ybor City's rich Cuban heritage and everything in between.
Tampa Bay's local sports teams are prominently featured, as well.
Remember when the University of Tampa had a football program? The History Center prominently displays a game-worn Freddie Solomon jersey. Sure, Leroy Selmon was a stud on the field for the Buccaneers, but did you also know the incredible impact he made at the University of South Florida and on the area as a whole? The Lightning have their place, too, with information on the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship team.
With February 1st marking the start of Black History Month, the History Center is also a great resource to learn about Tampa Bay's place in our nation's sometimes difficult conversations about race.
Working to share that story is Fred Hearns, the Tampa Bay History Center's Curator of Black History.

Hearns takes a two-pronged approach in his position. First, he heads out into the community, providing outreach through walking tours and speaking engagements. Additionally, Hearns works to make sure Tampa Bay's black history is prominently displayed in the museum's permanent exhibits.

"As Curator of Black History, a lot of what I do is outreach," Hearns said. "I go out and I speak to community groups, to different organizations, church groups, senior citizen groups. Anywhere there is a group of people who want to know about Tampa history and specifically African and African American history."
You'd be hard pressed to find someone with a better knowledge of that history. Hearns has spent most of his life integrally serving the community, working for over 32 years for the City of Tampa to enforce the Human Rights Ordinance within the city limits.He retired from that position to work on a pair of masters degrees and was on his way to a PhD in Anthropology when the History Center called about his current position and their desire for him to join the team.
Leading walking tours is what gets Hearns most excited and he's leading two during Black History Month. "We visit sites that people drive or walk past all the time and maybe because they don't really know the history of that area, they don't understand the significance of it to the city," Hearns said. "But our history is there, our stories are there."
The first is scheduled for February 6 and takes participants through what used to be known as Central Avenue, Tampa's former district for black businesses and entertainment. After leaving there, the tour heads two blocks east to Oaklawn Cemetery, where the city fathers and mothers, along with formally enslaved individuals, are buried.
The second tour stops at Perry Harvey Sr. Park, which also sits on what used to be Central Avenue. The park's namesake worked to provide better conditions for the African Americans working Tampa's docks in the middle of the 20th century. That tour is scheduled for February 26.
The walking tours get underway after the History Center hosts its inaugural Black History Month Reception on February 4. Civil rights attorney, Ben Crump will deliver the keynote address and the History Center will celebrate the first Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. Award for the Preservation of Black History and Heritage.

Beyond the walking tours and the reception, Hearns is working on a project to bring more Black History to the History Center's third floor exhibits. The area will be completely different a year from now and, after some construction, will feature more displays with artifacts of Tampa's African American history.
"I think this is going to enable us to tell more of the stories that we need to tell to people who visit the History Center," Hearns said. "The stories will be built around the items and the photographs that we were able to procure. We're still putting out the word for people who maybe have items up in their attic or tucked away in the top of a closet somewhere that their grandparents or their great grandparents might have owned. If they relate to the history of Tampa, we're asking for those items."