The African American Burial Grounds & Remembering Project is an ongoing USF research study which addresses the erasure of historic black cemeteries in the Tampa Bay area. Led by Dr. Antoinette Jackson and awarded a USF Understanding Blackness and Addressing Anti-Black Racism grant in 2020, it consists of faculty, staff, and students from multiple disciplines […]

The Museum’s founders retired to Florida from New York in 1997, and settled in Sulphur Springs.  As member of the Sulphur Springs Action (SSAL) league, they became community advocates for the community . Norma served as Secretary of SSAL, and her roles in the community have included managing teen programs, working with Cub Master Boys […]

Mrs. Candy Lowe-Jones is married to Daryll ‘DJ’ Jones and is a mother of two and grandmother to three boys. She has excelled as the founder of Black Business Bus Tour (BBBT) in Tampa since 2006. Throughout the years, Mrs. Lowe-Jones established a successful business as a way to raise awareness and promote African American-owned […]

While visiting Tallahassee, Florida in April 1983, Rudean Crawley met a childhood friend, Jeraldine Smith, and the two discussed the Tampa of that day compared with the Tampa of their childhood. It was their opinion that more could be done for the youth of Tampa through a local chapter of Jack and Jill of America, […]

Kiva Williams is an Atlanta native who has made the Tampa Bay area her home. After attending the University of South Florida and earning a degree in Dance Studies, she went on to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan Williams, II. Together they have three beautiful children, Nathan III (15), Noah (10), and Nia (6). After […]

Dr. Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman is Associate Professor of Sociology and Interim Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Recruitment, Retention, and Engagement at The University of South Florida. She received her B.A. from Cornell University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Duke University. She is the author of The Color of Love: Racial Features, Stigma, and […]

Mrs. Tonya M. Lewis is one of the most recognized and respected community activists in the Tampa Bay area. She has worked for 28 years pouring her life into the care and upkeep of the city’s underserved youth and elderly.  Mrs. Lewis has made Children With A Vision, Inc. (CWAV) a household name through proven […]

Sheila McCants is a native Floridian raised in Clearwater, Florida. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology and a certificate in Behavioral Technology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her master’s degree in Counseling from the University of South Florida. During her 25+ year career she has developed and implemented services […]

Dr. Juel Shannon Smith Dr. Juel Shannon Smith was the Founder and Executive Director for both, the Institute On Black Life And The Center For Africa, and USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy. She held several other positions at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa during her thirty plus years tenure. Those positions […]