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Voices Of Courage

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By CLOE CABRERA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2008

TAMPA - Benjamin E. Mays shares his disgust at the way blacks in Tampa were treated during the Jim Crow era.

Miriam Anderson remembers the thick smoke and flames that ravaged her Central Avenue neighborhood.

Nolin Johnson describes the discrimination black laborers endured in the 1930s.

You can read about black history in books. Teachers and scholars can explain the events to you. But until you actually hear the words from someone who lived through those times, you can't fully appreciate the stories. Their remembrances add flesh and sinew to textbooks and historical timelines; they provide the emotional glue that binds pieces of the past together.

In 1978, Otis Anthony created the Black History Research Project of Tampa, based at the old Hillsborough County Museum (which later evolved into the Museum of Science & Industry). With a federal grant and some tape recorders, he and eight college graduates with a love of history set out to collect and preserve the history of blacks in Tampa.

Over a two-year period, the researchers met, befriended and interviewed more than 75 residents. They hoped to capture their experiences as well as the emotions — joy, fear, tenderness and bravery — their subjects' voices conveyed.

"These are people who were willing to empower themselves," says Anthony, now senior director of the office of diversity management for Polk County Schools. "They weren't just spectators to life, they were makers of history. And it's in their own words; that's the richness of it."

"Were it not pathetic, it would have been laughable that out of 800 or 900 seats reserved for white people, only 68 were present, including little children. Excluding the seats to the sides, which were eventually occupied by Negroes, there were 576 seats in the orchestra or main auditorium reserved for white friends. There is no denying the fact that these are the best seats in the house. To be mathematically exact, 508 of the best orchestra seats were all vacant during the pageant, and Negroes could not sit in them."

— the late Benjamin E. Mays, mentor to civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who came to the city from Atlanta in 1926 to head the Tampa Urban League, protesting the treatment of blacks at a play he attended

"We tried to talk to various citizens, the most active, those involved in civic affairs, churches and community groups; people that would have something rich to say," recalls Anthony. "Former mayors, politicians, educators, preachers, people who had an influence in shaping the lives and public policy that affected African-Americans in Tampa."

After the project was completed in 1980, the audiotapes wound up in the special collections department at the University of South Florida, where they were transcribed by students. Anyone interested in viewing the transcripts can visit the department during regular working hours.

The original cassettes, which are old and fragile, will be converted to a digital format later this year. The interviews will be made available on the Internet, said Mark Greenberg, director of special collections at USF.

As part of the project, Anthony wrote "Black Tampa: The Roots of a People," a 16-page history guide that includes some of the oral history participants. The booklet, published in 1979 by the the former Hillsborough County Museum, is available at city and country public libraries.

"There were many threatening telephone calls and, in many instances, one picked up the telephone and the language that came over it was quite profane. 'You black this, you better do this, that and the other.' This kind of thing that's more to worry you and keep you from sleeping. Fortunately, I was never harmed."

— the late Rev. Leon Lowry on reaction to his sit-ins in Tampa in a tape dated March 23, 1978

James T. Hargrett Jr., wasn't aware until recently that his father, Hargrett Sr., took part in the oral history project. But he wasn't surprised to learn he was involved.

Hargrett Sr. helped pioneer the operation of black-owned supermarkets in South Florida. He had the state's first black-owned IGA supermarket, at Lake Avenue and Potter Street in Tampa. And he was a founder of the Tampa Negro Chamber of Commerce.

"He was quite a courageous individual," said Hargrett Jr., a former state senator who is chairman of the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority. "I have probably heard his stories all my life, but it's important stuff for people to know about and hear about. He was involved at a time when things were more difficult than they are today."

Hargrett says he finds consolation in the knowledge that though his father is no longer with him, his stories will live on. The elder Hargrett died in 1985.

"I think it's a wonderful thing," said Hargrett Jr., 65. "I'll be looking forward to hearing that myself."

Rubin Padgett was recorded for the project on July 10, 1978. Padgett, the first elected black county commissioner and the first to chair the board, is glad for the opportunity to tell his story.

"I'm proud of that, really proud of that," said Padgett, 77, Tampa housing commissioner. "We are all role models to people. … And we should be conscious of that. I think some of the people he [Anthony] talked to have passed away. But their feelings, thoughts and experiences will always be preserved."

"I could see the flames from the back door and then, as I sat out here, I could hear the mob moving up Nebraska and the smashing as they went along, and then they moved them into the Ybor City section and, by morning, I remember seeing the helicopter. I went out to the garbage can and there was a helicopter. I guess it was a week or more before I went through Central to see the damage."

— the late Miriam Anderson, recalling the Central Avenue riots of the 1960s

Paul Camp, a librarian in the special collections department at USF, said oral histories are an important tool because they have the potential to inspire future generations.

"They're fascinating," Camp said. "These are black people who experienced life in Tampa, many before the civil rights movement. The stories are about daily life, education, the civil rights movement, teachers' struggle for equal treatment. It's a treasure-trove of information that otherwise would have been lost."

"I was in Kress [5-and-10-cent store] and I didn't pay attention to the sign, and she [an employee]said you can't drink that water. She said you're supposed to drink that water over there. I said my mama always told me to drink clear water. I can't drink that. And I went on and drank my water. … I never did drink that colored water."

— the late Sandra Collins, about her refusal to drink from a water fountain designated for blacks during Jim Crow

When Anthony and the students embarked on the oral history project, there was little information available about black history in Tampa, Camp said.

"You could read about the black history of Florida and not even know there were any black people or women in the city," he said. "There wasn't a whole lot [written] about blacks in Tampa. No articles to speak of, no books, nothing. I view this project as a landmark. It was the first encounter I had with people trying to systematically research African-American history in Tampa."

Keyword: Black History, to watch a slideshow about Tampa's black history and see an interactive map of places significant to black history in the Bay area.

Reporter Cloe Cabrera can be reached at (813) 259-7656 or ccabrera@tampatrib.com.

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