Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak knew fellow representative Gwendolyn Henderson as “16.” It was a nickname referring to the fact that Henderson was the 16th woman to serve on the council.
In turn, Henderson called Hurtak “15,” sharing the nickname that stuck throughout their time on the council together.
“It was just very true to who she was, which was remembering history and making sure that we knew our place in history,” Hurtak said Tuesday, hours after Henderson died suddenly.
ALSO READ: Tampa teacher, council member and bookstore owner Gwen Henderson dies at age 60
They met on the campaign trail two years ago and the first thing Hurtak noticed about Henderson was her energy.
Henderson devoted that energy to passion projects and defending forgotten communities in Tampa.
“It’s going to be a giant hole in who we are,” Hurtak said.
Henderson and Hurtak were both former teachers and shared similar views on the issues they dealt with. But Hurtak said that bond was also special because they were the only women currently on the council.
“At the time, I also hadn't really considered the gravity of that and the history that comes with only being the 15th and 16th women [on the council] in over 100 years of Tampa city history,” Hurtak said.
“She exhibited just a passion for the community, a passion for the neighborhoods and a passion for students.”Tampa City Councilman Alan Clendenin
Henderson's legacy in the Black community
That historical and reflective approach is something Henderson led with when addressing issues facing the city, Hurtak said. Some of her passion projects centered around Black communities that were often overlooked.
One of those was the Yellow Jackets Little League team, a free youth baseball organization that lost its home in a redevelopment project.
Henderson advocated for the team to keep their historic field during council meetings last year.
“Across the city, the spaces that belonged to Black people are gone,” Henderson said. “I don’t want our presence to only exist in the form of historical markers.”
Yellow Jackets representatives did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
From fiction to reality: Henderson's bookstore
But when she wasn’t working with the city council, Henderson was running her bookstore in Tampa Heights – Black English Bookstore, which she named after writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin.
ALSO READ: A conversation with Tampa City Council member Gwen Henderson about books, politics and education
When Henderson was teaching an entrepreneurship class, she created the fake company as an example for her students of how to produce a business proposal, Hurtak said.
Seeing her passion for the fictional company, her students encouraged her to actually launch it. She opened the homey, colorful bookstore that included local artwork in 2023 with her daughter, Ariel Amirah.
Kim Biehl, the manager of The Recovery Room, a wellness studio next door to the bookstore, said Henderson was an “extremely kind and powerful” woman.
“I know she has a reputation as someone who gets things done, and does not take no as an answer, and cares very passionately about her community,” Biehl said.
Black English Bookstore was closed Tuesday, but people laid flowers at the doorstep.
Biehl also reflected on a time her mother visited the bookstore and Henderson made her feel at home.
To her, Henderson was a warm spirit who could talk with everyone. She said she knows many who are devastated by her passing.
Biehl also said Henderson designed a specific scent for her shop that reminds guests of books.
“When you walk into the store, you notice immediately it smells really good, but really interesting,” she said. “It makes you think of books. It just smells like a bookstore. It smells amazing.”
A life of passion
Councilman Alan Clendenin said Henderson’s bookstore was a passion project.
He added that she was influenced by her experiences as a Tampa native, as well as an alumna and a former teacher at Jefferson High School.
“She exhibited just a passion for the community, a passion for the neighborhoods and a passion for students,” Clendenin said.
He said she also brought this passion to meetings, advocating for the community she got to know through hosting events and staying involved.
“She lived, worked and played in the city of Tampa,” he said. “She was involved in so many different levels.”
That involvement included hosting a send-off party for Tampa high school graduates headed to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, an event she led last week, and being an active member of her college sorority, Delta Sigma Theta.
Clendenin and Hurtak said they did not get to know Henderson that well outside of work to avoid violating the Sunshine Law, but they did know she had a very strong relationship with her family, including her daughter.
In a social media post announcing Henderson’s death, Amirah called her a fierce leader.
“My mother was a fierce leader for the City of Tampa and especially for District 5,” she wrote. “There are no words to express the pain of this loss.”
Remembered by other lawmakers
U.S. Representative Kathy Castor said the bookstore “preserved Black history for future generations.”
“Gwen was a devoted public servant, a passionate advocate for Tampa’s neighborhoods and a fierce voice for Tampa families,” Castor said in a statement.
Henderson was the only Black member on the Tampa City Council, but did more than just speak for Black communities.
“She didn’t just represent Black citizens,” Clendenin said. “She represented a diverse group of folks.”
Henderson’s district included downtown Tampa, Channelside, Ybor City and parts of Seminole Heights.
“She came to the dais every Thursday and fought for the people in all of those districts,” he said.
Clendenin said one of the ways she did this was ensuring there was a “community benefit agreement” when the council invested in the Straz Center expansion.
“You want [your representatives] to go in and swing the bat for the issues that are important to you and that’s what Councilwoman Henderson did — she swung the bat. She always swung the bat,” he said.
Councilman Bill Carson said in an email to WUSF that Henderson should be remembered for her service to the community.
“She also served the community through her bookstore and as a fierce advocate for women and her students,” he said. “On stage she loved to debate but off stage she was smart, witty and kind."
Hurtak said during lively council debates, Henderson lightened the mood.
“If something was heated, she would laugh about it or say something that just kind of helped bring the temperature down,” Hurtak said. “She was good at that.”
Hurtak said, moving forward without Henderson, it will fall on the other six council members to carry on her legacy.
The fight for inclusion continues
She said Henderson fought for inclusion and making sure everyone has an opportunity.
“Those were things that we have to be talking about as a city and I am thankful that she was here to leave us this legacy,” Hurtak said.
Clendenin added the council shares some of the same goals as Henderson, so they plan to advocate for the issues she would have.
“We’ll be bringing her voice in her absence,” he said. “Her voice will still be reflected in our decisions.”
The city will need to hold a special election to fill Henderson's seat since there were more than 15 months left in her term, which was set to expire in April 2027.
