Local Civil Rights Activists and History Celebrated in Hillsborough County Library Exhibit

Did you know that Ella Fitzgerald wrote the popular 1930s song "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" while a guest at the Jackson House in Tampa? Perhaps you'll also be surprised to learn that about 100 years ago, Tampa had over 40 Black churches.

Hillsborough County's Black history and the region's role in the Civil Rights movement is on permanent display at the Robert W. Saunders Sr. Public Library. Through photographs, text, oral histories, and music, visitors can learn about the area's Black heritage and the fight to end segregation and discrimination. The display covers a range of topics, including local athletics, entertainers, businesses, neighborhoods, prominent activists, and other cultural contributions to the county.

The Harlem of the South

From the 1900 to 1970s Tampa was known as "The Harlem of the South." The Central Avenue Business District hosted several musical legends, including Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. Ray Charles also spent time in the area and recorded his song "I Found My Baby There: St. Pete Florida Blues" in Tampa.

Hank Ballard was also stirred to creativity while visiting the region and wrote and recorded "The Twist" after watching young people do the dance on Central Avenue in 1958. Two years later, in 1960, Chubby Checker would go on to record and perform the song for Dick Clark on "American Bandstand."

Such sounds of the past are brought to life through one of several touchscreen kiosks. The interactive display in the music section of the exhibit allows visitors to select and hear different snippets of locally inspired songs.

The Scrub

The exhibit also highlights the Scrub, one of Tampa's earliest Black communities. The neighborhood, established in the Reconstruction era, was between downtown Tampa and Ybor City. With time and growth, this section of the city once faced massive overcrowding and poor living conditions as more people populated the area.

The Scrub was demolished and replaced by Central Park Village in the 1950s. Around 2010, the area was razed again, and the Encore neighborhood was built.

To help visitors better understand what life was like 70 years ago in this community, a collection of oral histories is incorporated into the exhibit. Over a dozen recordings are available for listeners to hear firsthand how this historic area changed with time.

Robert William Saunders Sr., inspiring activist

Another feature of the permanent display is a section commemorating the library's namesake activist and community leader, Robert William Saunders Sr. Though he had a rich career that took him across the country, he eventually returned to Hillsborough County to lead local and state civil rights efforts.

Saunders was born in 1921 in the area of West Tampa known as Roberts City. He graduated from Middleton High School in 1940 and later attended Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach. Following military service in the Army Air Corp, he completed a BA degree at the Detroit Institute of Technology before entering the University of Detroit Law School.

In January of 1952, Saunders shelved his legal studies to become a Florida field director for the NAACP. He assumed the position after the state's first field director, Harry T. Moore, was killed, along with his wife, from a Ku Klux Klan bombing of their home on Christmas Day, 1951.

During the decades that followed, Saunders served numerous leadership roles in which he advocated for school desegregation, equal pay for workers, and the integration of housing and public beaches.

From 1966 to 1976, Saunders served as Chief of the Office of Civil Rights and Chief of the Office of Human Rights for the Office of Equal Opportunity in Atlanta. When he returned to Tampa in 1976, he became the Director of the Hillsborough County Equal Opportunity Office. During his tenure, he developed the Civil Rights Program, the Fair Housing Program, and the Minority Business Project.

Prior to passing in 2003, Saunders guided Hillsborough County, and all of Florida, through several challenging decades of evolution and progress. Even after retiring, he continued his efforts to enact social change.

Saunders understood that his life's work, like that of so many others, were steps toward progress in an ongoing journey. The library exhibit highlights this point by displaying his quote "We made a difference. Do not be fooled, though, into thinking that the fight is over."

About Robert W. Saunders Sr. Public Library

In addition to the local history exhibit, the Saunders Library features the only Black-focused genealogy reference collection in the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Libraries.

The research library on the second floor is also worth a visit. It's home to books on Black life, heritage, and culture, as well as local history binders of photos, maps, blueprints of historic neighborhoods, and photographs from the Burgert Brothers collection.

The Saunders Library, exhibit, and genealogy reference collection is free and open to the public. Visit the Robert W. Saunders Sr Public Library webpage or call (813) 273-3652 for more information.