News

BY RAVEN JOY SHONEL | Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG – The Woodson African American Museum of Florida pulled out all the stops to celebrate Women’s History Month. The March 23 event marks the 10th anniversary of honoring local First Ladies in African American History.

From humble beginnings in the Legacy Garden of the Woodson Museum to the posh James Museum of Western Art in downtown St. Pete, more than 50 pioneering women of color, whose stories are often overlooked and seldom celebrated, have been honored for shattering the color barrier and making history.

Women honored as First Ladies in African American History are extraordinary trailblazers who exemplify excellence and have achieved the status of “first” in their respective fields. Historically, women of every race, class and ethnic background served as leaders at the forefront of major progressive social change movements, and their contributions often remain unrecorded.

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BY FRANK DROUZAS | Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — The Woodson African American Museum of Florida’s prestigious scholarship fundraiser — The Woodson Warriors — is a testament to its commitment to supporting deserving Black high school graduates and college scholars.

Held at the historic Coliseum on Sunday, Feb. 4, the fundraiser is more than a financial endeavor; it’s a journey toward bright futures. The Woodson aims to empower 50 scholars with each dollar raised, acknowledging their exceptional academic achievement and impactful community service. This year’s fundraiser yielded more than $300,000.

Terri Lipsey Scott, executive director of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, explained that the scholarship fund’s success is owed to nationally recognized artist Jane Bunker, who got the ball rolling, and husband and wife duo Jeanne and Kevin Milkey of the Milkey Family Foundation, who pledged $50,000 annually for the next 10 years.

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ST. PETERSBURG — Dr. Cody Clark stopped by the Woodson African American Museum of Florida on Feb. 10 to discuss his exhibit, “Resilience & Revolution: An Immersion of Black Americana,” co-curated by Montague Collection, an exhibition company dedicated to illuminating the richness and complexity of African American history through visual arts.

Clark was the program counselor for Gibbs High School’s Pinellas County Center for the Arts for more than 35 years and has been building his collection for over two decades.

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BY RAVEN JOY SHONEL | Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG – The City of St. Petersburg celebrates Black History Month yearly with a flag-raising ceremony, paying homage to the father of Black history – Dr. Carter G. Woodson. One question loomed at the ninth annual ceremony on Thursday morning at City Hall: Will this be the last flag raised over City Hall in St. Pete to honor Black History Month?

A bill proposed by a Florida legislator, HB 901, states that any flag depicting a “racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint” would be banned from any state or local government building, including public schools and universities.”

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Article by Kathryn Varn

Ray McLendon likes painting reflections best. He can play with them, blurring the lines and colors of a luminescent moon shining down on a bay, or a deep-orange sunset bleeding onto a lagoon.

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A brand-new, state-of-the art Carter G. Woodson African American Museum will be part of the Tropicana Field/historic Gas Plant District redevelopment. That much is certain.

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The celebration of Black women in history is often overlooked and rarely acknowledged. However, following the Woodson African American Museum of Florida’s mission, the museum not only celebrates but has elevated the accomplishments of Black women annually since 2014 when hosting the inaugural First Ladies in African American History event.

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The community came out to celebrate a new mural in front of The Woodson African American Museum of Florida on Juneteenth, Monday, June 19.

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A new mural honoring Black history now sits outside of the Woodson African American Museum in St. Pete.

The mural reads “Black History Matters” and spans a block of 9th Avenue South. The artwork replaces the previous mural designed in 2020 that read “Black Lives Matter.”

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A new, reimagined mural was unveiled in front of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida on Monday’s Juneteenth holiday.

It reads “Black History Matters” and is painted in the middle of 9th Ave.

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A Black Lives Matter mural painted on the street in front of The Woodson African American Museum of Florida is being reimagined, and the new mural will be unveiled Monday.

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The Black Lives Matter street mural outside the Woodson African American Museum in St. Pete represented the collective efforts of dozens of artists here in the Tampa Bay region. This Juneteenth, the federal U.S. holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, in partnership with the City of St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, is leading a community effort to reimagine the Black Lives Matter mural, located at 2240 9th Ave. S.

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ST. PETERSBURG — The Woodson African American Museum of Florida hosted a special viewing on Feb. 7 of WTSP-10 Tampa Bay’s Black History Month mini-documentary that explores the rich Black history in the Bay area.

The documentary first explained the origins of Black History Month. In 1915 historian Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, a group dedicated to preserving and promoting Black excellence.

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Members of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida, community leaders and elected officials took a stand outside St. Petersburg City Hall on Feb. 1 to protest recent state legislation that aims to regulate how educators can teach Black history.

DeSantis’s latest swipe at Black people limits what schools can teach about racism and other aspects of history, including banning books to keep whites from feeling uncomfortable about the treatment of African Americans since the inception of this country.

Terri Lipsey Scott, executive director of the Woodson, pointed out that the men, women, and children who were brought to this country in slave ships were not comfortable. When these same individuals were “enslaved, tortured, beaten and considered three-fifths human, as they worked tirelessly to create the legacy of this nation,” they were not comfortable.

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The Woodson African American Museum of Florida will commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Carter G. Woodson during a celebration of Black history on Wednesday.

Woodson, “the father of Black History,” was a scholar and author who founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. He established “Negro History Week,” which soon evolved into Black History Month.

A number of community leaders will stand on the steps of St. Petersburg City Hall to reflect on Woodson’s life and the impact he had on history.

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Being “woke” was a theme for Scott, the executive director of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, as she and other community leaders spoke Wednesday, the first day of Black History Month, at a flag-raising ceremony. They targeted Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial Individual Freedom Act, also known as Florida’s Stop Woke act, and decisions to ban books in public schools, such as the Pinellas County school district banning Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” from its high schools last week.

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“Our home is that of a public housing center,” said Lipsey Scott, the Woodson’s executive director since 2018. “And I continue to scream, we’re better than that.”

The museum one day could be. A new Woodson is envisioned in both of what are considered the two leading proposals to redevelop the Historic Gas Plant District, home to Tropicana Field and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Either would transform the Woodson from a museum in hand-me-down space to the first in Florida built expressly to display African American history, art and culture. It would serve as the heart of a generational, billion-dollar effort to redevelop a part of downtown once home to Black businesses and neighborhoods before it was torn down to make way for the Trop.

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A benefactor with a huge collection of Black history artifacts has promised to make more than 8,000 pieces available for viewing over the next several years at St. Petersburg’s Woodson African American Museum of Florida.

Clinton Byrd, a financial investor who lives in Tallahassee, started a sideline as a historian in 2012 after he obtained a collection amassed by Nathaniel “The Magnificent” Montague, a Black radio pioneer. Montague, now 94, dreamed of opening an African American history museum of his own in Los Angeles. He spent nearly 50 years collecting artifacts such as letters from Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass, recordings of opera singer Marian Anderson and books by the museum’s namesake, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, considered the father of Black history.

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The Woodson Museum has received some major grants that will greatly help in the ongoing initiatives of the museum.

$1 million | African American Cultural Heritage Grant

$1 million | City of St. Petersburg

St. Pete completes $1 million pledge to Woodson African American Museum

$500K | State of Florida

Top lawmakers passed DeSantis’ priorities.

$250k | Federal Museum & Library Services

Crist Announces $250,000 for the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum

In its fourth year, the Woodson Warriors Scholarship donations have grown exponentially. Created to absorb some of the expenses parents incur while sending their children to college, this year’s fundraiser yielded $325,000 for 40 African-American scholars.

Read the full article and more photos at The Weekly Challenger

Join Us On a Journey
“Invest in Black History”

“The Value & Future of The Woodson”

According to a museum media release, this was part of The Woodson’s Invest in Black History Month Campaign, which challenges the community to join the commitment to raise $27 million to build and operate a new 30,000-square-foot facility on more than 5 acres of city-donated land along 22nd Street S in the St. Petersburg neighborhood known as The Deuces.

$1 million | Milkey Family Foundation

Tampa Bay Times | The Woodson African American Museum of Florida gets a $1 million donation

$325,000 | Duke Energy

i Love the Burg | Duke Energy makes $325,000 contribution to Woodson African American Museum

Flanked by donors, sponsors, supporters and members of the City Council, Terri Lipsey Scott, director of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, announced a capital campaign, “Invest in Black History.”

It will require $27 million, said Scott, to build the proposed state-of-the-art facility on five acres of city-donated land in the Deuces area. And although significant progress has been made, including a $1 million donation from the City of St. Petersburg, and another $1 million from the Milkey Family Foundation, there is much to be done.

Catalyst | Woodson Museum launches capital campaign at City Hall

ABC Action News | Woodson African American Museum plans to expand, pushing for donations

MSN | Woodson African American Museum plans to expand, pushing for donations

St. Petersburg, FL – Earlier today, The Woodson, alongside significant donors, including corporations, held a press conference to unveil the “Invest in Black History” campaign and to challenge the community to join their commitment. This was followed by the raising of The Woodson Flag at St. Petersburg City Hall to celebrate the start of Black History Month.

The Woodson also proudly announces the largest private investment in the capital campaign to expand the museum – a $1 million gift by the Milkey Family Foundation. The Milkey Family Foundation was started by Kevin and Jeanne Milkey to further their charitable giving to the community.

The donation by Milkey Family Foundation is the largest private gift received to date. This comes in addition to $1.2 million given by the City of St. Petersburg, which has also pledged to provide land for the new museum, with the land deal still working toward finalization. In addition to these significant gifts, many other donors and corporations have stepped forward to support the expansion of The Woodson.

While museums are often viewed as a place to store history and artifacts, The Woodson brings alive African American History for our community. Recently, the museum was the host of a special virtual swearing-in ceremony, celebrating the first Black mayor elected to lead the City of St. Petersburg, Florida. The Woodson demonstrates how we can learn from history, experience history, and make history.

The presentation, celebration, and experience of African American history is a year-round commitment for The Woodson and its supporters. The community is stepping forward to help with the expansion to the new museum, but it will take a complete community effort to invest in this effort. Individuals, sororities, fraternities, companies, and governments are invited to celebrate Black History Month committing to the importance of Black History by investing in The Woodson. To provide support, visit https://woodsonmuseum.org.

Due to the growth in importance and popularity of The Woodson, its mission has outgrown its current single- story 4,000 square foot facility. Plans and fundraising for a new museum building, which is planned for 30,000 square feet, are underway. This museum expansion is the result of many focus groups, community discussions, and one-on-one engagements with stakeholders held by the museum’s leadership. The community’s involvement helped guide the project plans, ensuring it is rooted in history and culture while preparing to meet the needs of future generations. The new museum will be the first newly constructed landmark museum in the State of Florida dedicated to celebrating African American history, art, and culture.

The Woodson’s mission to preserve, present, and interpret African American history and culture has garnered a broad audience, including community partners, members, volunteers, and friends. The Woodson brings individuals together from all walks of life, serving as a bridge and gateway for safe, constructive, and meaningful discussions regarding history, culture, race, equity, and empowerment. The museum inspires and enlightens people who seek to learn more about the rich untold or rarely celebrated stories and contributions of African Americans.
In addition to the annual flag-raising ceremony and kick-off of the Invest in Black History Campaign, The Woodson will also celebrate Black History Month with the unveiling of a newly commissioned portrait of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the museum’s namesake, and the father of African American History. This special commission was made possible by a donor with a matching gift from her company.

The Woodson’s acclaimed REVERBERATIONS: Black Artists on Racism and Resilience continues its tour this month at the Hillsborough Community College Gallery 221, after being hosted by both The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art and the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery at the University of Tampa. The community is invited to invest in Black History, through visiting The Woodson’s exhibitions and programming like REVERBERATIONS and the upcoming Hero of a Thousand Faces: Showcasing the Stories and Contributions of Black Men. Investment in the significant expansion of the museum will soon allow the museum the opportunity to host such world-class exhibits in its own space.

The Woodson
Since its opening in 2006, The Woodson has maximized its modest 4,000 square foot space, providing some of the most robust African American history programming in the Southeast United States. Before the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, The Woodson was named one of the 17 “must-see” museums in the nation. Today, the museum serves as a bridge and gateway for safe, constructive, and meaningful discussions regarding history, culture, race, equity, and empowerment, bringing individuals together from all walks of life. The new and expanded location for The Woodson will serve as an anchor for the revitalization of St. Petersburg’s 22nd Street, the area dubbed “The Deuces” after its double 2s, the heart of a vibrant and prosperous African American community during the time of segregation, a hub of Black businesses, homes, and entertainment on St. Pete’s South Side.

Press Conference, B-roll, images, and a copy of this release are available at:
https://bit.ly/investinblackhistory

PDF Press Release for Download

Duke Energy donation helps support campaign for new museum in St. Petersburg, Fla.

To ensure success for the St. Petersburg museum, in 2015, Duke Energy Foundation paid for board members of the Woodson to visit the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte to see how the Gantt is run. The Woodson is now housed in a former public housing community center. A $27 million capital campaign is underway to build what Lipsey Scott hopes will become one of America’s finest museums, showcasing the history of African Americans not only in Florida but across the United States. Duke Energy this year is donating $325,000 to support the new museum.

“Growing up as a little Black girl in Savannah (in the 1960s), images of celebrated and successful Black people and their stories weren’t before me,” Lipsey Scott said. “I never dreamed I could become an aviator like Bessie Coleman, or a NASA mathematician like Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan, or a journalist like Dorothy Butler Gilliam because their stories were never represented in my history books – I didn’t know opportunities like theirs existed for a little Black girl like me. I don’t want children today to miss images and stories they can embrace and be inspired by.”

Read the full story.

The Woodson’s mission to preserve, present, interpret and celebrate African American history and its culture can only be achieved through the generous support of donors. As we look to 2022 we hope that we can count on you.

When making your resolutions, please consider adding The Woodson to your list. The option to make a weekly, monthly our annual donation can easily be achieved to help sustain the work of museum. Click on the link below and you will not have to worry about remembering to keep your promise.

Happy New Year!

Toys will benefit local charities. Drop-off at the museum. Event culminates at the Holiday Open House on December 11.

 The history center formerly known as the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum has a shorter name and a new partner in its effort to build an upgraded facility.

Now known as The Woodson African American Museum of Florida, they announced on Tuesday that the Pinellas Community Foundation will help raise $27 million needed to build and operate a 30,000-square-foot facility.

Read more at the Tampa Bay Times

Our hearts mourn the loss of the Woodson’s longest serving board officer and “First Lady in African American History” Thelma McCloud.

Words could never describe the pain and dismay associated with this sudden and tragic departure from our Woodson family and community. We will forever honor Thelma’s contributions, dedication and commitment.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to her favorite charity, The Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, 2240 Ninth Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL. 33712.

As board members and staff pay tribute to the life of Mrs. McCloud, the Woodson will be closed Friday, August 6 in recognition of a life well lived while celebrating what would have been Thelma’s 75th birthday.

PDF Version

REVERBERATIONS is about the hight and lows of the Black experience in America, with themes of family, community, marginalization and prejudice.

This exhibition offers a looking-glass into the stories The Carter G. Woodson African American Museum will tell with its new museum.

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The nation is looking to learn from this pivotal moment in the Black Lives Matter movement and the African American History Museum in St. Petersburg is helping provide some context through its programming, but the museum faces an ongoing funding disparity at a time when Bay Area residents need it most.

As the spotlight shines on black lives, one place that preserves the stories of those lives is the Dr. Carter Woodson African American History Museum in St. Pete.

View the Fox 13 video.

Winnie Foster Lifetime Achievement Award

Melissa Seixas
President of Duke Energy Florida

2021 First Ladies in African American History

Michele Alexandre, Esq.
First African American
Dean of Stetson Law

Latasha Barnes
First African American
CFO Bayfront Medical

Deborah Figgs-Sanders                              
First African American
City Council Member of
Elected District 5

Kimberly Jackson, Esq.
First African American
Director of Institute for Strategic
Policy Solutions

Michele Rayner, Esq.                                            
First African American Female
Elected State Representative
District 70

Erin Savage
First African American
Principal and Alumnae of
Lakewood High School

Happy Easter from our family to yours. We will be closed tomorrow Good Friday.

We are proud of the African American History Ryan represents as the ONLY “starting” team member of the Bucs representing an HBCU.

Go Bucs! Go Ryan!

Renderings for a new Woodson African American Museum were revealed today.
Share our pride and enthusiasm as we move closer to the reality of constructing a proper African American Museum in our City.

View Full Museum Design Presentation

A Capital Campaign will soon be underway. Plan now to invest in Black History.
Thank you Mayor, Deputy Mayor, City Council, City staff and members of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum board and friends for this huge step toward equity and inclusion.

Happy Black History Month!

The funding will go toward a new facility celebrating the history, art and culture of the city’s African American neighborhoods.

 The City Council on Thursday unanimously approved $700,000 in funding for the planned new location of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum on 22nd Street S.

“We are so excited for the opportunity to engage and present to our community a first-class African American museum,” said Terri Lipsey Scott, executive director of the museum.

The funding is part of an ongoing project started in 2019 when Mayor Rick Kriseman announced the “Deuces Rising” initiative, which committed $1 million and a parcel of city land towards the design and development of a new facility for the Woodson.

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