Florida Museum Of Black History Sparks Heated Debate Over Ideal Location

One of the cities that has emerged as a contender for the museum is St. Augustine.

In May 2024, the State of Florida’s Florida Museum of Black History selected St. Johns County to host the state’s first Black History Museum. However, during a hearing on March 11, multiple cities, each with its own connections to Black history in Florida, were floated as potential sites for the proposed museum.

According to Politico, one of the cities that have emerged as a contender for the museum is St. Augustine, which was backed by multiple community members in St. Johns County and the city itself in the hearing as they highlighted Fort Mose, which was located in St. Augustine, the first free Black settlement in the United States and the first place where Black people were born free.

Horace Hord, the Florida Memorial University Foundation Inc. chairman, told the outlet that the discussion over the museum site is about much more than just land. “It is more than just land,” Hord said. “It is sacred ground for telling the full, rich, and often overlooked history of Black Floridians.”

Although SB 466, a bill supporting St. Johns County’s efforts to host the museum, was passed unanimously by the Florida Senate Committee on Community Affairs, other lawmakers have also supported bids for cities like Eatonville, the home of celebrated novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, and Opa-Locka.

Those lawmakers cited the need for a thorough examination of how all of the proposed locations would work as museum sites because, among other things, the museum needs to be financially secure.

To that end, Michael Dobson, a business developer and consultant from Central Florida who also would like to see the museum located in Eatonville, recommended that the Florida Legislature request a study to determine which of the locations would be most sustainable over the long term, but also noted Eatonville’s location relative to Orlando, a top tourist location.

Dobson also criticized the selection of St. Johns County as the site for the museum, telling Politico after the hearing that “you really can’t compare” foot traffic in St. Augustine with foot traffic in Orange County, saying that St. Johns is “not the best location for a variety of reasons, particularly if we’re thinking about making a wise investment with state tax dollars.”

Florida State Sen. Shevrin Jones (D-Miami), who was unable to attend part of the hearing because a bill he sponsored was up for a vote in another room, told Politico that he is “excited this is a discussion and even happening” but also believes, like Dobson, that each location should be evaluated to keep lawmakers from “trying to do everything possible to maintain and keep the site” a few years down the line.

Commissioner Sarah Arnold, who represents District 2, which contains St. Augustine, signaled her excitement regarding the Senate Community Affairs Committee’s vote in a news release from St. Johns County. Arnold also thanked the community for traveling to Tallahassee to support the bill.

“I am beyond excited about the decision by the Community Affairs Committee,” Commissioner Arnold said. “It is another step forward on our journey to make the dream of the Florida Museum of Black History in St. Johns County a reality. I praise the community for traveling with us to Tallahassee to demonstrate their ongoing support for this project.”