“Tampa’s Black History Museum”

• What North African sailed to Tampa Bay with an expedition of hundreds in 1528 and became the first non-native American to discover Arizona and New Mexico?
• What world-renowned entertainer once lived two blocks away from Tampa’s upcoming Black History Museum in the late 1940s?
• What future Black law school graduate finished high school in Tampa at the age of 12 in 1902 and graduated from college at the age of 16?
• What Black high school football player from Tampa was a special teams captain on the 1972 National Football League undefeated Miami Dolphins Super Bowl Championship Team — the only team with a perfect record  in the NFL’s modern era?

Guest Speaker -Fred Hearn

Fred Hearns was born in the Bronx, New York. He grew up in Tampa’s Belmont Heights community in East Tampa. Hearns graduated from George S. Middleton High School and from the University of South Florida (USF) in 1970. In 1975 he returned to his hometown to begin a 32-year career with the City of Tampa. Hearns retired as director of the city’s Department of Community Affairs in 2007 and founded Fred Hearns Tours LLC. For the next thirteen years Fred led over 200 bus and walking tours of Tampa’s most historic Black communities. He also found time to earn two masters’ degrees, in Human Services from Springfield College and in Africana Studies from USF and write three books. In 2021 Fred was named Curator of Black History for the Tampa Bay History Center, a position he still holds. He is responsible for leading walking tours for the History Center, giving talks about local Black History to interested groups and helping guide the opening in 2027 of Tampa’s Black History Museum. Fred and his wife, Gloria, are the parents of six adult children, twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild. He and his wife live in the same East Tampa community they both were raised in.

Worship Associate – Alex Furnari

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