Panama City, Sarasota and St. Johns County have made it into the elite eight of sites that remain in competition to be the home of the future Florida Museum of Black History.
A task force appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature has been meeting since September to develop a plan for the building and programming of what will be the first ever state-run Black history museum.
Twelve localities had expressed interest in hosting what could be 100,000 square feet of exhibition space spread over the size of a city block dedicated to, in part, the history of slavery and segregation in Florida, and to highlight the accomplishments of African American Floridians.
The museum was created in a bill (HB 1441) that DeSantis signed in May after the Department of Education released new history standards that teach some people learned valuable skills while enslaved.
At a Monday meeting, Alissa Lotane, director of the Florida Division of Historical Resources, said four communities no longer had active bids. The nine-member task force then voted to have members score the eight remaining bids separately before an April meeting, and to invite the top four to a Tallahassee meeting in May for further vetting.
The group is working towards a June deadline to recommend a single site to DeSantis and lawmakers.
Here are the eight contenders vying to host the Florida Museum of Black History
- Eatonville
- Panama City
- Seminole County
- Sarasota
- Opa Locka
- St. Johns County
- Nassau County
- Jackson County
The task force reviewed results from an online poll of Floridians conducted by the Department of State. More than 4,000 Floridians answered questions about why they went to museums and what kind of experiences a Black history museum should offer. Of those, 3,000 elaborated with handwritten responses.
An overwhelming majority – more than 80% – said the museum should be a gathering place where Floridians can talk about issues, said John Brundage, the consultant who designed the survey. About the same number also said the museum should have a section dedicated to the contributions from the African diaspora that includes those from the Caribbean and Latin America.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents said the museum should serve as a hub for archival and genealogical research. And more than half recommended the site include gardens and green spaces.
More than 50% of respondents were over the age of 55 and about 10% identified themselves as between 18-30 and as students.
Task force members expressed concern that the survey may have tilted towards an older group but Dr. Nashid Madyun, executive director of Florida Humanities in St. Petersburg, said he was comfortable with it.
“These are the people who generally attend museums. The younger demographic has less discretionary income, and they don’t necessarily take day trips,” said Madyun, appointed by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples.
The task force’s next meeting is April 19.
For more information
Background, membership and other information on the Black History Museum Task Force is here.
More:Communities big and small vying to be home of Florida Museum of Black History
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee
