Black History Month grew from a one-week celebration initiated by Carter G. Woodson in 1926. Fifty years later in 1976, President Gerald Ford made the effort to notice Black History Week and officially recognized the time as Black History Month in February of that year. Originating in the United States, Black History Month has received official recognition from both the United States and Canadian governments, who celebrate in February. More recently, Black History Month has been observed in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the month of October.

City of Tallahassee African American Firsts

• First African Americans Elected (1871): William G. Stewart (Clerk-Treasurer), Henry Sutton (City Marshal), Councilmen Johnathan C. Gibbs, Jonas W. Toer, & Everett C. Jones
• First African American City Council President: Samuel C. Watkins (1875) – served briefly as Acting Mayor
• First African American Police Officers (post Reconstruction): Fred Douglas Lee Sr., Clarence Mitchell, & Freddie D. Golden (1952)
• First African American Commission Candidate (post Reconstruction): Rev. King Solomon DuPont (1957)
• First African American Commissioner (post Reconstruction): James R. Ford Sr. (1971)
• First African American female Commissioner and Mayor: Dorothy Inman-Johnson (1986 & 1989, respectively)
• First Female & African American City Manager: Anita Favors (1997-2015)
• First African American Police Chief (post Reconstruction): Walter McNeil (1997-2007)
• First Female & African American City Attorney: Cassandra Jackson (2018-2024)

Did You Know?

The Tallahassee Bus Boycott
The Tallahassee Bus Boycott began on May 25, 1956, after FAMU students Carrie Patterson and Wilhelmina Jakes refused to give up their seats on a bus. During the boycott which was coordinated by Reverend C.K. Steele and Robert Saunders, black citizens refused to use public buses and instead coordinated carpools for transportation. The boycott ended in December 1956 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional, and the City repealed its segregated seating ordinance.

Footsteps to Freedom

Residents and visitors can learn more about the bus boycott and local foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement by visiting the Footsteps to Freedom memorial at the corner of Monroe and Jefferson streets downtown. A documentary by the same name is also available for free on the City's YouTube channel.

Jake Gaither Golf Course

On May 1, 2023, the City of Tallahassee's Jake Gaither Golf Course celebrated another milestone in its rich year history. The legendary golf course's much anticipated historical marker was unveiled during a special community celebration.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug. 9, 2022, by the National Park Service, the nine-hole course was opened in 1956 by the City, giving African Americans a place to play golf during a time when they were restricted from playing elsewhere. It quickly became a community hub, serving as the site of Guinness World Record attempts and home base for the Florida A&M University Golf Team until the early 1970s. Today, Jake Gaither Golf Course shines brighter than ever, welcoming thousands of golfers each year from every walk of life.

Attaining this prestigious designation took years of research and documentation, an effort spearheaded by Scott Edwards, a historic preservationist and the Florida Historic Golf Trail Coordinator at the Florida Department of State. To encapsulate this newest milestone, the City created a book of the research completed to earn the historic designation, taking the reader on a journey from the arrival of golf in Florida circa 1886 to the 1952 land purchase by the City that would allow for the development of the Jake Gaither Golf Course to course renovations in 2021.

Read the Full History of Jake Gaither Golf Course.

Frenchtown Beginnings

In the 19th century, many French settlers moved to the area that is now bounded by Tennessee Street, Alabama Street, Woodward Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. In 1831, the then-dubbed Frenchtown neighborhood was comprised of plantations, churches, homesteads, educational institutions, businesses and residences. Following the Civil War, many former slaves migrated to the area, and it developed into a thriving middle-class African American community.

Dream Builders: Voices of the Movement

The City of Tallahassee aims to be a creative capital city that supports a strong community with vibrant neighborhoods. In line with that vision, in July 2020, City staff began working collaboratively with representatives from neighborhoods adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Levy Park, Frenchtown, Carolina Oaks and South Bronough Street) to implement small-scale enhancements that would celebrate and beautify the corridor. The resulting project was Dream Builders: Voices of the Movement. It includes the installation of interpretive markers and benches at three locations. The effort was financed by a grant from Keep America Beautiful (KAB) after a nationwide call for projects that enhance the corridors of streets around the country named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The interpretive markers tell stories of Dr. King’s visits to Tallahassee, local civil rights leaders and foot soldiers of the movement. In addition, the project included sidewalk art for several driveways and sidewalks along the corridor in the Frenchtown/Carolina Oaks neighborhoods.

Tallahassee’s Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard spans 2.37 miles and traverses six neighborhoods, from Florida A&M University on the southern end to North Monroe Street. Neighborhoods along the corridor are rich in history, and older residents have many stories of the time Dr. King spent here.

Marker 1: (located near Florida A&M University, just south of FAMU Way) This marker honors Martin Luther King Jr. and his broader work for civil rights throughout the United States, as well as the activism of local civil rights leaders who lobbied the City Commission to rename Boulevard Street, stretching from Palmetto Street to North Monroe Street, to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. This marker also honors community and civil rights activists Father David Henry Brooks, Reverend King Solomon Dupont and Edwina D. Stephens.

Marker 2: (located at 524 North Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Frenchtown Heritage Hub) This marker highlights Reverend Charles Kenzie (C.K.) Steele, his relationship with Dr. King, his involvement with leading Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in the civil rights movement and efforts for the Tallahassee bus boycott. The marker also honors those who served as “foot soldiers,” providing logistical support for the movement, including Lessie Graham Sanford and Cornelia Roberts Osborne.

Marker 3: (located on the corner of Seventh Ave. and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) This marker honors the history of the Levy Park neighborhood, desegregation in Leon County Schools and the work of early pioneers, including Elaine Thorpe, Philip Hadley, Marilyn Holifield, Melodee Thompson and Harold Knowles, in their respective roles of integrating the local school system. The marker also honors Dr. King’s advocacy for education.

Founding of FAMU

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) was founded in 1887 as the State Normal College for Colored Students. Today, as one of 103 historically black colleges and universities (HBCU’s) in the nation, FAMU remains the only HBCU in Florida’s 12-member state university system. The first president, Thomas DeSaille Tucker and legislator Thomas Van Renssaler Gibbs, guided the school’s beginning, including its move from Copeland Street to its present location on the most prominent hill in Tallahassee.

FAMU Way

FAMU Way, a project more than 10 years in the making, has reached a pinnacle milestone, as the roadway connection to Lake Bradford Road is now complete. During the design and planning stages, it was often said that FAMU Way would be the most beautiful road in Tallahassee.

Completed in three phases, this project transformed a roadway with a deep ditch running alongside it into a safe and functional corridor, designed to accommodate multiple modes of transportation. The project extended FAMU Way from Wahnish Way to Lake Bradford Road and created three roundabouts, wide sidewalks, a multi-use trail connecting to the St. Marks Trail, a community gathering place at Lake Anita, a children's playground, landscaping and much more.

Through collaboration with Florida A&M University's History Department, stories about the history of the area were collected from past and current residents. These memories were incorporated into a historical narrative that serves as a guide for the History and Culture Trail project coordinated by the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency, recognizing the area's history in physical form along the corridor.

Phase IV is in development to complete improvements from S. Adams Street to Monroe Street.

Explore the History of FAMU Way

From the earliest stages of the project, the City has been committed to recognizing the history of the area along FAMU Way. Through interactions with the community, stories emerged of resilient neighborhoods, civil rights advocates and leaders and hard-working families. The City contracted with FAMU history professors to capture and share these stories with a goal of incorporating them into the FAMU Way Project. Dr. David Jackson, along with Drs. Reginald Ellis, William Guzman and Darius Young with the History department at Florida A&M University (FAMU) collected information from area residents and produced a historical survey that tells the story of the people, places and events that have helped shape the community.

Download the FAMU Way Historical Survey

To learn more about the research team who worked hard to create this survey, download our Biographical Sketches companion document.

[Photos: Photos pulled from the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory

Adderley Amphitheater at Cascades Park

The heartbeat of Cascades Park is undoubtedly the Adderley Amphitheater at Cascades Park. This amphitheater provides the park's pulse, making it alive and vibrant with color and sound. Located next to the Prime Meridian Plaza, the amphitheater features a canopied 80 feet by 55 feet stage, which can be seen from all angles of the park. The amphitheater is equipped to handle both local and regional acts - musical, theatrical and just about anything else that tickles your fancy. With its state-of-the-art lighting and sound system, you and your friends are sure to be amazed!

The Adderley is named for Julian "Cannonball" and Nathaniel "Nat" Adderley. Both brothers began playing brass instruments early in life and performed throughout their teenage years in local and high school bands. Both brothers then graduated from FAMU and eventually became jazz giants widely known for pioneering the sub-genre "soul jazz." Over the course of their careers, Cannonball and Nat both had significant success playing in their own bands as well as with major jazz musicians, including Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Though they traveled widely, Tallahassee was home. The Adderley brothers often returned for family visits and were both laid to rest in Tallahassee's Southside Cemetery.

To recognize these important historical figures, the City Commission began the process in April 2022 to rename both the amphitheater and adjacent portion of Suwannee Street after the Adderleys, and a ceremony was held in January of 2023.

View more photos of The Adderley

John G. Riley Center and Museum

The Riley House was constructed circa 1890 on the fringe of a community called Smokey Hollow. Its owner, John Gilmore Riley, rose to prominence as an educator and civic leader. He received formal education from public and private institutions. Riley began his first teaching job in 1877 at a school in Wakulla County. In 1892 he became principal of the Lincoln Academy (located at 438 West Brevard Street in Tallahassee, Florida) where he served until his retirement in 1926.

Today, the John G. Riley Center and Museum welcomes people of all ages to journey back in time through the antebellum period, the civil war, reconstruction, and the civil rights era from the often untold perspective of African Americans. Learn how you can engage with the Riley Museum through tours, events, programs, history trails throughout Tallahassee and so much more at RileyMuseum.org.

Smokey Hollow Commemoration

Tallahassee's Smokey Hollow Commemoration stands in remembrance of the African American community that existed from its founding after the Civil War to its destruction in the 1960s. Smokey Hollow covered much of the area that is now Cascades Park. Smokey Hollow became home to an emerging black middle class that wanted to forge a path of their own. Despite the limitations presented by segregation, Smokey Hollow remained a warm and tight-knit, family community. To the residents, it was more than just a place to live. Smokey Hollow was home.

The story of Smokey Hollow is the story of our nation. Mid-twentieth century government intervention displaced vibrant communities of working class people, immigrants and minorities across the U.S. While the specific contours of that story in Tallahassee were unique, the outcome was not. The Commemoration forces us to rethink historical narratives of the uprooted. The Commemoration, which connects via sidewalk to the John G. Riley Museum, features a pavilion, community and heritage gardens, interpretive panels, and spirit houses, which represent the shotgun house that was one of the housing types found in the neighborhood.

Honoring Althemese Barnes

In recognition of her years of dedicated service preserving local history, the City of Tallahassee honored Althemese Pemberton Barnes by dedicating a park in her honor, located adjacent to Smokey Hollow, on September 20, 2022. Barnes is the preeminent leader locally in the preservation and recognition of African American history. After 30 years of employment with the State of Florida, she founded the John Gilmore Riley Center and Museum in January 1996, which was the first community-based African American historic museum in Tallahassee. While formally retiring as the museum's director in 2020, she continues to be active with it and currently serves as Executive Director Emeritus. Over the years, her work helped preserve local history and spaces including the Frenchtown Marker Trail; Hickory Hill, Munree and Greenwood cemeteries; Cascades Heritage Trail and Civil Rights Wall; FAMU Way Historical Trail; and Smokey Hollow Commemoration.

Tallahassee Civil Rights Memorial and the Four Corners of History

On Aug. 25, 2022, City of Tallahassee and community leaders joined together for the unveiling of the Cascades Historical Markers. The installations include a Tallahassee Civil Rights Memorial and the Four Corners of History. Visit and learn about local history. The installations are located in the plaza off Gaines Street behind the AC Hotel near Cascades Park.

Community Remembrance Marker

The Community Remembrance Marker stands in Cascades Park to remember and acknowledge those who were killed by lynching. There were four documented lynchings in Leon County: Pierce Taylor (1897), Mick Morris (1909), Richard Hawkins (1937) and Ernest Ponder (1937). The location of this marker was chosen because of its proximity to the two Leon County jails the men were taken from before they were lynched. The jails were located on the south side of Gaines Street between Meridian and Gadsden streets. The Tallahassee City Commission approved placement of a narrative marker remembering these men on July 8, 2020, and the Tallahassee Community Remembrance Project partners hosted a dedication and unveiling ceremony on July 17, 2021. For more information, visit tallahasseeremembrance.com.

2025 MLK Day Events

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to the pursuit of social justice and equality. The City of Tallahassee honors his life and legacy through community events each year, including the MLK Day Parade, festival and Day of Dialogue.

City of Tallahassee Commemorations

The City of Tallahassee proudly recognizes the impact of community advocates and Civil Rights activists. Upcoming commemorations will honor Dr. Carolyn Ryals, Rudy Hubbard and E. Lilyan Spencer.