Jacksonville, Florida
Wendell Scott raced into history on Dec. 1, 1963 at Speedway Park on the west-side of Jacksonville. That was the day he became the first black man to win a NASCAR race in the Grand National Series. Richard Petty was the favorite to win the Read More …
James Weldon Johnson, African American author, composer, lawyer, teacher, and civil rights activist, was born in Jacksonville on this date in 1871. In his early years in Jacksonville, Johnson was educated first by his mother, but later graduated from the Edwin M. Stanton School, where Read More …
Mayor Lenny Curry held a press conference on the steps of City Hall this morning, hours after city workers removed a Confederate monument from Hemming Park. “Yesterday there was Confederate monument in this park. It’s gone. And the others in this city will be removed Read More …
City work crews advanced on Hemming Park before sunrise. They caught the last Confederate within the park by surprise. The Confederate Monument that has stood since 1898, a sentinel to a heritage of hate and racism has fallen. The monument was donated to the State Read More …
Despite what you may have seen or heard from multiple media outlets, the Saturday afternoon protest in downtown Jacksonville did not “turn violent”. Then why the inaccurate headlines and commentary from some media outlets? They are cut from the same cloth as the media that Read More …
Mitch Hemann, Senior Archivist with the Jacksonville Historical Society would like you to join the Jacksonville Historical Society in preserving Jacksonville History during the Covid-19 Pandemic. A little more than a century ago, Jacksonville citizens faced loss in many ways from a series of events Read More …
In observance of National Historic Preservation Month, May 2020, the Jacksonville Historical Society has released its annual list of Jacksonville’s Most Endangered Buildings. Due to health and life safety concerns, the 2020 List of Endangered Historic Properties – as selected by the Society’s Historic Sites Committee – Read More …
The current Yellow House exhibition of Magic, Mirth, and Mortality: Musings on Black Motherhood, pierces the heart and stirs the soul. With the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and Mother’s Day as bookends, one of sorrow, one of joy, the exhibition becomes all the more significant. Read More …
“A Bold Ship for the Bold City!” The USS Orleck fired more rounds than any other ship during the Vietnam War to become the “Top Gun” during that time. Already previously operating as a museum ship in Louisiana, she will become the centerpiece of the Jacksonville 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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …