The segregated-era Havana Northside High School campus could become the home of Florida’s first state-funded black history museum.
The proposal to use five acres on the school’s campus 32 miles west of Tallahassee was one of nine proposals approved at the state’s December meeting. Special Committee Created to Establish Florida Black History Museum.
This project is to create an invoice (HB1441) Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May after the Department of Education announced new history standards that teach some enslaved people learned valuable skills during captivity.
The measure would create a nine-member, all-white Republican task force appointed by Mr. DeSantis, House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo to recommend how the museum should be established and its mission. Became.
The study will examine whether museum grounds should incorporate amenities such as green spaces and gardens, whether it is important to have space for the performing arts, and whether museums should serve as places to engage in civil discussion about history. You will be asked whether
Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando, sponsored the museum bill. He envisions a site the size of a city block. That means 100,000 square feet of exhibition space spread across 10 halls, documenting the history of slavery and racism, and highlighting the achievements of African Americans.
The bill lists seven specific themes to guide the collection of artifacts and stories, including the “inherent value and dignity of human life” and “prevention of genocide.”
The bill also includes a provision mandating the creation of a hall dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen and all African American veterans who served the United States, as well as a memorial hall dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen and all African American veterans who served the United States. – Includes provisions requiring Dr. McLeod Bethune and historically black colleges and universities in the state to also establish halls.
After the proposal passed unanimously in Congress and was signed by DeSantis, Anton gave Renner a 17-page outline that included a 10,000-square-foot entrance hall with a life-size statue and interactive exhibits. submitted.
“Black people don’t want to have small museums,” Antone told the Florida Politics news site in September. “We need something to be proud of.”
Currently, nine communities are aiming to host museums. they are:
- amelia island
- daytona beach
- Havana
- jackson county
- Opa-locka
- panama city
- st johns county
- St. Petersburg
- Sarasota
Each touted its connection to Florida’s African American story.
Panama City’s proposal highlighted how the Bay County community was the only northwest Florida city on the path of the U.S. civil rights movement.
Sarasota boosters pointed out that it is home to the Florida Black Heritage Trail, which includes Newton, America’s oldest incorporated black town.
The proposal from St. Johns County touted the northeastern part of the county as a world-class African American heritage destination with landmarks from the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.
The Havana Community Development Corporation (CDC) is proposing to build the museum on a five-acre site that was once a black-only high school until 1970. Northside he closed in 1972.
According to the 1860 census, Havana was a slave region in pre-Civil War Florida, where the majority of residents in its six counties were slave laborers.
Harold Knowles, CEO of the CDC, said the nonprofit organization aims to create a unique blend of African American and old Confederate history that is “objective, free of historical emotional overlap, and He envisions a museum that will exhibit “in an atmosphere of academic rigor.”
The proposal includes space for Confederate statues and monuments that have been removed from public view in recent years.
He told the Select Committee that he recognized the proposal would be controversial.
Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, chairs the task force and said the proposal comes from an interesting point of view, but seems to create confusion about the museum’s purpose. Look,” she said.
Meanwhile, the task force is asking the public for help in developing recommendations on how to proceed.
they are in command Online surveys will be accepted until February 29th. What museums should be like, exhibition content, exhibition methods, programs, etc.
The task force must then submit its recommendations to the governor’s office and the Legislature by July 1 at the latest.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK Florida Capital Bureau. You can contact him at: jcall@tallahassee.com and on the X: @Tallahassee.