When thinking of great military locations in the Tampa Bay area, one’s mind might slip first into thinking of the MacDill Airforce base. While that has been, and remains to this day a very important location for military history, there is another…
St Petersburg Florida is known nationwide for the annual LGBTQ Pride festival held every year on Grand Central Avenue. Beginning as an outgrowth of the Greater Tampa Bay Area Pride Festival, St Pete Pride's first event was held in June of 2003. St…
November 25th, 1968. The Federal Bureau of Investigation receives a teletype message labeled URGENT from Agent O’Flaherty in Tampa, Florida. The message informs of an upcoming demonstration being planned by an organization known as “Bay Area…
The archives are located on the campus of USF Tampa, within the Library building. Contrary to perceptions of academic archives, Special Collections is open to public access and does not require university attendance for usage of the materials. The…
By Alixandra Waitman with research support from La Gaceta, Patrick Manteiga, Gene Siudut
A tradition originating in Cuba, lectors would sit on a tribunal and read a variety of materials, such as novels, political publications and local, national and global news, to the cigar workers busy at their stations. Lectors were hired and paid by…
By Alixandra Waitman with research support from Judge Emilio Jose Salcines, Patrick Manteiga (La Gaceta)
“The Apostle of Cuban Independence” José Martí was born in Havana to Spanish immigrants in 1853. From a young age, he dedicated himself to the Cuban struggle for independence. During his life he visited Tampa 20 times, a place with strong ties…
By Alixandra Waitman with research support from Judge Emilio Jose Salcines, El Círculo Cubano (The Cuban Club), and La Gaceta Newspaper
Tampa’s proximity to Cuba gave cigar workers the opportunity to make frequent returns to support their countrymen and the increasing revolt against Spain. On May 7, 1885, The Tampa Board of Trade was created to attract businessmen to the city. It…
In the final week of August 2009, the 124-foot hull of the Scottish Chief was found by researchers and divers from the Florida Aquarium north of the Jane Street Shipyard, located on the Hillsborough River near Lowry Park Zoo. This hidden historic…
That past came together in December 2012 when Tampa bronze sculptor Steven Dickey and the Historical Monument Trail Committee installed six bronze busts of Tampa trailblazers along the two-mile stretch of the downtown Riverwalk, including a…
The ship’s voyage from thirty years of war service to a historic preservation site reached a crescendo on September 23, 2003 when the steam turbine engines were restarted for the first time since 1985 and SS American Victory set sail for her first…
