As the nation celebrates Black History Month during February, Hillsborough County, too, has much to celebrate in its influential Black leaders, who worked hard to make a difference in their communities. A number of Black leaders in Hillsborough have dedicated their lives to improving the area.
Black History Month, which grew out of “Negro History Week,” started by noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent Black Americans, officially began in 1976. It is a month to focus on the significant role of Black leaders in American history.
Famous Black leaders in Hillsborough
Here are some of the prominent Black leaders who forged history in Hillsborough County:
- George and Dorthea Edgecomb–These two were a force to be reckoned with. She was a lifelong educator, and he was the first Black prosecutor and judge in Hillsborough County. George did much in his short life, dying of leukemia at age 33 in 1976. For his work as a community leader, his name adorns the George Edgecomb Courthouse, the George Edgecomb Bar Association and the George Edgecomb Society at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. Dorthea was a teacher, drug prevention coordinator, reading supervisor and principal, and served three terms on the Hillsborough County School Board.
- Queen Miller–She has worked for over 60 years as an advocate for the under-served. She focused on providing health and social services to deter crime. The Lee Davis Center on North 22nd Street in East Tampa is home to the Queen Miller Suite.
- Clara Frye–She founded the Clara Fry Negro Hospital as a nurse during segregation. She cared for sick Black people in her community. That hospital no longer exists, but Tampa General Hospital named its ninth floor in her honor. You can see a bust of her likeness on Tampa’s Riverwalk.
- Alfred Beal–He was a successful farmer who offered financial support to freed slaves working to keep their properties in a far Eastern Hillsborough community now known as Bealsville. Beal donated land for a school, a church and a cemetery. The county renamed the area for him in 1923.
- C. Blythe Andrews Jr.–Chairman of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin and a community activist. The Black newspaper he started has now been published for over 75 years. Then-Mayor Pam Iorio, who spoke at his funeral, said Andrews exposed issues that lay “in the long shadow cast by Jim Crow.”
- The Bing Family–During segregation, Janie Wheeler Bing ran a Plant City rooming house for Black visitors. The rooming house opened in the late 1920s and operated until 1970. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places, thanks to her son, E.L. Bing, who helped write the proposal for federal grants to implement the county’s desegregation plan in the 1960s. He also served as a county commissioner in the 1980s.
- Sylvia Rodriguez Kimbell–She was the first Black woman elected to a major office in the county in 1990. She served two terms on the Board of County Commissioners. She also served as chairwoman and was an inaugural inductee into the Hillsborough County Women’s Hall of Fame.
- Isadore “Billy” Reed–He co-founded the Belmont Heights Little League and served as a coach for decades, mentoring thousands of young people. Reed also served as baseball coach at Hillsborough High. Athletic greats like Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Carl Everett and others played on his team.
Pinellas County also enjoys a rich Black history. This history is archived at the University of South Florida’s Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.
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How Black History Month began
The story behind Black History Month started long ago, in 1915, according to history.com. A full half-century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery.
It began when Woodson and a prominent minister by the name of Jesse E. Mooreland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. They founded the association to research and promote Black Americans’ achievements.
The country chose the second week of February as the original Negro History Week to coincide with the birthdays of both Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Schools and communities began organizing events and celebratory activities, establishing history clubs and hosting lectures.
The celebration evolved into Black History Month in the late 1960s, due in part to the civil rights movement on college campuses.
February marks a time to honor Black Americans, including civil rights pioneers, educators, activists, industrial and political leaders and others.
