SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida has a wealthy and lengthy historical past involving contributions from its Black residents. There are areas throughout the state highlighting these struggles and efforts. A few of these key moments are displayed on the Robert W Saunders, Sr Public Library in Tampa. Nevertheless, there is a push at a bigger scale for a central spot to honor and find out about Florida’s Black historical past.
Republican Tom Leek, out of the Jacksonville space, has filed Senate Invoice 466 to have The Florida Museum of Black Historical past in-built St. Johns County, which is the state’s first Black settlement again within the 1700s.
“One of many nice issues about St. Augustine is its whole vacationer tradition is constructed round historical past. So, once we add museums to Florida, you need a spot that it may be viable,” Leek stated.
In Might 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a invoice into regulation making a job drive to seek out places. Then, the governor together with the then-state senate and home leaders made appointments to that job drive.
“What my invoice does is definitely codifies what the duty drive determined after which places the construction round what the museum will likely be,” Leek stated.
Democratic state Rep. Bruce Antone, out of the Orlando space, is the lawmaker who filed the measure to create that job drive. Now, needs a special final result. He plans to introduce a invoice for a museum in Eatonville, north of Orlando, America’s oldest integrated Black neighborhood.
“Within the midst of Orange County, Florida, which has 1.5 million of us. Their museum is in a spot that inaccessible, at the very least I consider it is inaccessible,” Antone stated.
Antone additionally stated his thought of a museum may even focus extra on the positives from Florida’s Black residents and communities. He additionally feels his deliberate museum would get extra foot visitors because it’s so near the theme parks and is essential of the duty drive’s choice.
“A metropolis of 15,000, 700 Black of us. It is at the very least an hour away from Jacksonville,” Antone stated.
Antone plans to promote his thought to lawmakers by saying there’s room for 2 museums within the state. Though, it’s possible the Republican-led legislature will solely transfer ahead with the plan for St. Augustine. The following step, if handed, is for the muse to begin fundraising. Officers within the proposed space have already assured funding for the museum as effectively.
State paperwork present Marian Anderson Place in Sarasota was a proposed website. Metropolis officers needed the town chosen as a result of it’s identified for serving to combine public seashores and it’s a spot the place lots of of escaped slaves settled.
