Jacksonville, Florida
WTVJ-TV, Miami’s first television station, aired its first broadcast at noon on this date in 1949. It was the first television station in Florida and only the sixteenth in the entire country. The station was originally owned by Wometco Enterprises and carried all four major Read More …
Yellow House invites you o their latest exhibition. “Join us on March 7th for the opening of ‘Magic, Mirth, and Mortality: Musings on Black Motherhood’ between 6-8pm. Be a part of the conversation and help us lift up the lived experiences and art of writer Read More …
Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, and Spanish minister, Luis de Onís, signed the Adams-Onís Treaty, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, on this date in 1819, ceding the Floridas to the United States. After the end of the American Revolution, Spain received the Florida Read More …
It was 120 years ago that Jacksonville brothers James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson created and performed the anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.” Lift Every Voice and Sing – often called “The Black National Anthem” – was written as a poem by NAACP Read More …
In honor of Black History Month, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office shared a picture of the first black officers to protect the city of Jacksonville. On July 16, 1950, the first black officers were hired. They included Officer Henry Harley, Officer Edward Hickson, Officer Alvin James, Read More …
Manhattan Beach was Florida’s first beach community for African Americans during segregation. Manhattan Beach was established by Henry Flagler and his Florida East Coast Railroad company around 1900, for the African American workers they employed. The park flourished for many years. At its height the Read More …
The Great Fire of 1901 occurred in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 3, 1901. It was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the third largest urban fire in the U.S., next to the Great Chicago Fire, and the 1906 San Francisco fire In Read More …
As part of #BlackHistoryMonth2020 at theJacksonville Public Library you are invited to meet some of the people and learn about the histories, cultures and locations of Jacksonville’s unique and surviving Gullah Geechee communities. Join JPL Saturday, February 8th from 10:30am to Noon at the Regency Read More …
The South Florida Fair and Gasparilla Carnival opened in Tampa on this date in 1921. In July of 1904 the South Florida Fair Association was formed, and plans for a new exhibition hall, a stadium, a coliseum, and stock stalls were developed. After a few Read More …
This episode of Florida Community College (now Florida State College) at Jacksonville’s Jacksonville: The Inside Story offers a look at the complicated and frequently overlapping systems of city and county government that existed before Jacksonville and Duval County consolidated in 1968, and the process Read More …
John Robert Edward Lee Sr. was born into slavery in Seguin, Texas, on this date in 1864. J. R. E. Lee served as the third president of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University from 1924 to 1944. Prior to his time at Florida A&M, Lee graduated Read More …
The Oversea Railroad, the final link in the Florida East Coast Railway, was completed on this date in 1912. The culmination of the decades-long vision of wealthy investor Henry M. Flagler, the Overseas Railroad stretched over 100 miles out into the open ocean, connecting Key Read More …
Ossian B. Hart, Florida’s first native-born governor, was born in Jacksonville on this date in 1821. His father, Isaiah Hart, was one of the founders of the city of Jacksonville and the family lived on a plantation on the banks of the St. Johns River. Read More …
Congratulations to Jacksonville’s own Harold Carmichael on his selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2020. The William M. Raines High School graduate from the class of 1967 played 14 seasons in the NFL, 12 with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was selected Read More …
Clay County, Florida’s thirty-seventh, was created on this date in 1858 by carving out part of Duval County in northeast Florida. Named after American statesman Henry Clay, the U.S. senator from Kentucky and secretary of state under President John Quincy Adams, its county seat is Read More …
December 31, 1862 the people of the United States waited through the night to see if President Abraham Lincoln would issue the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the states of rebellion. Lincoln had first shared a draft of his Emancipation Proclamation with his Cabinet early Read More …
The home of John Ringling opened to the public on this date in 1946. Ringling was one of five brothers who owned and operated the Ringling Brothers Circus, known at the time as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” John Ringling became one of the wealthiest Read More …
Tune into ABC on Wednesday, November 27 at 8 p.m. EST to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. In the Thanksgiving Day special, Charlie Brown hosts the first recorded Friendsgiving with Snoopy, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, Franklin and the rest of the gang. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Read More …