Dr. King's visit marked period of Civil Rights changes around Tampa Bay

How the Civil Rights Movement changed Tampa

The curator for Black history at the Tampa Bay History Center gives a look at how the Civil Rights Movement changed Tampa, and Dr. martin Luther King Jr.'s historic visit to the area during that time.

TAMPA, Fla. - The 1960s marked a time of change in the Civil Rights Movement. Fred Hearns, the curator of Black history at the Tampa Bay History Center, said there are notable chapters that unfolded in Tampa.

"One of the big events we can look at was the sit in movement that began in F.W. Woolworth department store on Franklin Street in downtown Tampa and that was February of 1960," said Hearns.

The following year, on November 19, 1961, Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paid a visit to the area.

Historical marker commemorates the Civil Rights sit-in at the former F.W. Woolworth Store

"[He] spoke at what was then the Fort Hesterly Armory on Howard Avenue in West Tampa. It's now the Jewish Community Center. At that time there was actually a bomb threat called in at the armory. There were several people inside the building they had to evacuate. Authorities searched the building. Fortunately they never found any explosive device. There were over 3,000 people who attended that meeting when Dr. King spoke at a fundraiser and this was to benefit the Civil Rights movement in Tampa and the state of Florida," said Hearns.

Sarasota's first Black community goes back to its roots

Sarasota's first Black community is honoring Black history with new murals across the landscape.

Seven years later, in 1968, came the Fair Housing Act.

"So housing discrimination was outlawed. So Black people were allowed to live in neighborhoods, wherever they could afford to live. And of course job discrimination was outlawed with the 1964 Civil Rights Act" said Hearns.

Then came the desegregation of public schools in 1971.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute performance

The celebrations of Civil Rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continues Monday evening in Sarasota.

"The two high schools that were designated for Black students for many years, George S. Middleton High School and Howard W. Blake High School were desegregated. So a lot of changes happened beginning in the 1960s and of course, Tampa is still changing today," said Hearns.

The Tampa Bay History Center will be hosting a Black History Month Reception on Friday, February 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 9. The event will feature keynote speaker former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Derrick Brooks. It will include special programming and a preview of a new exhibit about the local Black history exhibit opening this summer at the History Center.

For information, visit https://tampabayhistorycenter.org/black-history-month.