For Fred Hearns, the first curator of Black history at the Tampa Bay History Center, Juneteenth is more than a holiday observed each June. It is a reminder of a history that continues to shape communities across Florida and one that he works to preserve every day.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed more than 250,000 enslaved people that they were free. While the holiday is often associated with Texas, Hearns said the story of emancipation in Florida unfolded on a slightly different timeline, with freedom arriving in various parts of the state before Juneteenth became a nationally recognized symbol of emancipation.
On "Florida Matters Live & Local," Hearns reflected on what freedom may have looked like for formerly enslaved Floridians in the weeks following emancipation. Many, he said, focused on reconnecting with family members after years of separation caused by slavery. Others chose to remain in the communities where they had lived and worked, building new lives despite the challenges that came with freedom.
In Tampa, many formerly enslaved people settled in an area known as the “Scrub," a neighborhood located near what is now Tampa Heights and the former Central Avenue district.
"Almost half of the black people living in what we now know as the city of Tampa lived in that area that formerly had been called the scrub or the Central Avenue district," Hearns said.
As Tampa prepares to open its first Black history museum on Juneteenth 2027, Hearns believes the new space will provide opportunities to preserve stories, celebrate achievements and educate future generations about the experiences of African Americans in Florida.
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The museum, he said, will serve as a year-round home for community events, historical education and the preservation of oral and material history — a mission that reflects Hearns’ own approach to Black history.
The interview below has been edited for clarity and brevity.
What did freedom look like in those first few weeks in Florida?
Well, the first thing that the adults did was to try to find their family members. Many of them had no real idea where their family members had been sold off to. As a matter of fact, that was where the idea of family reunions actually became very popular during that time.
It started when freedom came in 1864 and 1865. Some of the formerly enslaved, for the first time could legally marry, so men who had been common law husbands and women who had been common law wives became legally married, because the enslaved could not legally marry as long as they were property.
And then again, you had some people who decided that they were going to make the best of things where they were already located, they were familiar with Florida, maybe they had worked doing different things in the area. They knew how to work, they knew how to earn a living, even though their wages were very low, and so it just kind of depended on what you wanted to do. In Tampa, when the U.S. Army invaded, along with the U.S. Navy, when those Navy ships left Tampa, many of the formerly enslaved were on those ships headed north.
You have many artifacts at the history center. Is there one item you can think of that tells a powerful story about this time in Florida's history?
We don't have many physical artifacts you can pick up and say this item was taken from a formerly enslaved household. I will say that we manage a property in Brooksville, Chinsegut Hill, and we know that there were enslaved people who lived there, and we have excavated and found the location of their cabins. Those are very rare, but you know, we cherish the ones that we do have.
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That's why museums are so important, because they focus on those things that we may take for granted. For example, there are some things that we use every day, not realizing that 100 years from now they'll be extremely valuable to tell the story of who we were, where we were, and how we lived, so we don't have many items, but we cherish the ones that we do.
Where did newly freed people settle in Tampa?
Many of them pretty much remained in the area where they had been living, an area called the "scrub," named for a small palmetto-type bush; there were hundreds of these bushes between downtown Tampa and Ybor City, and an area we now call Tampa Heights. That's where the "scrub" was, and a lot of the Black people had lived there during enslavement.
Almost half of the Black people living in what we now know as the city of Tampa lived in that area that formerly had been called the scrub or the Central Avenue district, walking distance from downtown Tampa.
Do you feel like public awareness of this history feels different this year?
I think it's more important now than it's ever been, because there are some barriers to teaching Black history that we're all aware of. We at the Tampa Bay History Center are pleased to have many partners who work with us to make sure that we tell these stories and have these celebrations, and teach this history to children.
Tampa will be opening its first Black history museum on Juneteenth 2027, and we are so happy that we'll have a place where we can come celebrate year-round, tell these stories year-round. Juneteenth is very important, but we celebrate Black history 365 days a year at the Tampa Bay History Center. When Tampa's Black History Museum opens, we will have a place where we can do things we've never been able to do.
What does Juneteenth mean to you personally?
I pretty much live this history. I may take the shirt off, and I may take the badge off, but I'm still a historian everywhere I go, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. I'm affiliated with the Association for the Study of African American Life & History, and it's been around since 1915, founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson.
We have a Tampa Bay branch of ASALH. I'm the president emeritus, and we conduct all kinds of celebrations throughout the year. Last year, we started a Kwanzaa celebration in December. We're looking forward to having the 2026 Kwanzaa celebration at Tampa's Black History Museum.
I'm always involved in activities like that, as well as the USF Black Alumni Association. The Black Alumni Association is going to be celebrating in September of this year, and we have activities year-round. So this is my life, I may take the hat off or the shirt off, but I'm always promoting Black history.
This story was compiled from interviews conducted by Matthew Peddie for "Florida Matters Live & Local." You can listen to the full interview with Fred Hearns in the player above.
