History Center Offers Visitor Parking

Gallery admission to the Tampa Bay History Center will now include parking, the result of a partnership between the History Center and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The change went into effect on Oct. 1.

Museum visitors paying for gallery entry will receive a parking token that can be used to park at the Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, located directly adjacent to the History Center.

Parking tokens will be issued with paid gallery admission and are valid during the museum’s regular operating hours, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.

Members of the Tampa Bay History Center will also receive an allotted quantity of parking vouchers as a member benefit depending on their membership level.

The Tampa Bay History Center, which opened its 60,000 square-foot facility in 2009, includes three floors of permanent and temporary exhibition space focusing on the history of the Tampa Bay area. The History Center features a museum store, the Witt Research Center (a branch of the Hillsborough County Public Library System), and the Columbia Cafe.

For more information, visit www.tampabayhistorycenter.org or call (813) 228-0097.

 

The Ybor City Coffee Experience - A Walking Tour

Historian Gary Mormino to lead a culinary-themed walking tour of Ybor City.

Patrons at the Tropicana Café on Ybor City’s 7^th Avenue talk politics while dunking their Cuban bread into steaming cups of café con leche. Around the corner, Arnold Martinez sits in his casita on 19^th Street, using a secret blend of Cuban coffee and beer to paint scenes of the neighborhood where he grew up. And each day around 9 a.m., the aroma of roasting coffee beans seeps into every corner of Ybor City.

The Tampa Bay History Center invites you to take a sip of Tampa’s Latin roots with noted historian Gary Mormino, as he leads The Ybor City Coffee Experience, a walking tour highlighting Ybor City’s coffee and café culture On Saturday, Nov. 3 from noon to 5 p.m.

 The tour begins at the History Center with a self-guided tour of their latest exhibit Coffee: The World in Your Cup, before Mormino and crew board the streetcar to take in the sights and smells of the Cigar City. The tour includes stops at the Italian Club and the Arnold Martinez Gallery.

 The Ybor City Coffee Experience walking tour is part of Coffee: The World in Your Cup, on exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center now through Jan. 6.

 Cost is $40 and includes admission to the History Center and streetcar fare. Space on the walking tour is limited, and participants must pre-register. For more information, visit www.tampabayhistorycenter.org or call (813) 228-0097.

Fall/Winter 2012 Family and Children's Programs

 

The Tampa Bay History Center has recently announced the schedule of Children and Family Programs for Fall/Winter 2012 and we are happy to share it with you! We hope you can join us for one (or several!) of these exciting programs.

My Doll and Me

Drawing on the American Girl© book series, we’ll travel through time with your favorite dolls! Peek into the past with crafts, games, and snacks as well as hands-on gallery experiences. American Girl© dolls are not required for participation. Space is limited; pre-registration required.

When: Saturday, October 6 (Rebecca) from 10-11:30 a.m.

Who:   Ages 7-12

Cost:   $13 TBHC members; $15 non-members

                (Fee includes child’s admission to the galleries)

*This is a “drop off” program. Parents may wish to wait with a cup of café con leche and a guava pastry in the Columbia Cafe after viewing our newest traveling exhibit, Coffee: The World in Your Cup.

 Family Fun Day and Veg Fest

Little sprouts and their families soak up the fun as we celebrate our newest exhibit, Coffee: The World in Your Cup and Tampa Bay Veg Fest in the park. Paint with coffee, plant seeds in your own unique recycled pot, and enjoy tasty organic coffee samples. Explore three floors of hands-on, interactive exhibits with guided tours throughout the day, a scavenger hunt for prizes, and giveaways courtesy of Twigs and Leaves, Whole Foods, Chipotle, Java Planet and more!

When: Sat., Oct. 13 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Who:   All ages.  (Children must be accompanied by an adult)

Cost:    Free with gallery admission

 A Night at the Museum

As the museum winds down, our exhibits come alive! Catch pirates, explorers, pioneer women, and even the Ghostbusters sneaking around the galleries as you trick or treat through our hands-on exhibits. Families can also board the TECO Streetcar for a ride filled with spooky stories and more characters of Tampa’s past. Ghoulish games, creepy crafts, and a costume contest for fantastic prizes await you. Don’t forget your candy bags! Appropriate for all ages.

When: Sun., Oct. 21, 4– 7 p.m. (Tickets on sale until 5 p.m.)

Who:   All ages

Cost:   $6/child + $8/adult (TBHC members)

            $9/child + $14/adult (Non-members)

 *Streetcar tickets additional: Adults $5, Seniors  65+/youth age 5 to17 - $2.50, 4 and under FREE

Spooky Story Rides depart promptly just a few steps from the museum at 4:31, 4:51, and 5:11. Space is limited, so arrive early to secure a seat.

 Holiday Tea Party – My Doll and Me  

Enjoy a holiday tea party with your favorite dolls! American Girl© doll, Kirsten, will inspire some pioneer fun as we enjoy sweets, pink lemonade, and coffee for adults.  Make holiday decorations, help us deck the halls of our pioneer cabin, and then explore our galleries with a special scavenger hunt. Top off the morning with a stop in our museum store for American Girl merchandise and one of a kind, Tampa themed gifts. American Girl© dolls are not required for participation.

When: Dec. 1, 10 a.m.-noon

Who:   Ages 6-12

Cost:   $20/child + $16/adult (TBHC members)

            $22/child + $18/adult (Non-members)

Pre-registration required: fee includes child and adult gallery admission

 Kids, Coffee, and Cocoa

Join us as we celebrate the season with a nip of delicious coffee or hot cocoa. Try your hand at making whipped cream art designs, and spend the day exploring our family friendly hands-on galleries and our newest exhibit, Coffee: The World in Your Cup.

When: Dec. 27 & 28, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Who:    All ages (children must be accompanied by an adult)

Cost:     Free with gallery admission

 

If you have any questions about any of these events, please feel free to contact Jen Tyson, Assistant Curator of Education at (813)675-8960, or at jtyson@tampbayhistorycenter.org.

History Center is Free for Museum Day

The History Center will offer free admission for all visitors as part of Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day Live! on Saturday, Sept. 29 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

As part of Museum Day, living history reenactors representing several eras of Florida history will be on hand to talk and interact with visitors. To see photos of previous History Center events featuring living history reenactors, visit our Living History Programs Facebook page.

Visitors will need to download an official Museum Day Live! ticket from the Smithsonian Magazine website, which is good for two people.

The Smithsonian Institution recently selected the History Center to participate in its Smithsonian Affiliations Program. The History Center joins a prestigious national list of affiliates and is one of only three Smithsonian Affiliates in Tampa Bay and one of 13 in Florida.

For more information, call the History Center at (813) 228-0097. Download a Museum Day Live ticket here.

Tampa Bay History Center Serves up Coffee Exhibit

Did you know the coffee plant was discovered in Ethiopia at least 1,000 years ago? Or that the word “coffee” comes from the Turkish word qahwa, for a wine-like drink? From the bodegas of West Tampa to hipster hangouts in downtown St. Pete, every cup of coffee we buy and drink in Tampa Bay connects us with a web of hidden stories around the world.

A new exhibit brewing at Tampa Bay History Center uncovers the true story behind one of the world’s most widely-traded commodities.

Coffee: The World in Your Cup opens Oct. 6 and serves up an overview of the powerful influence of coffee on environments, human cultures, and economies worldwide. Learn about coffee’s early controversial reputation as a “revolutionary drink” and consider the culture that surrounds coffee in the twenty-first century.

“Coffee culture is big in Tampa, thanks in large part to the influence of Cuban, Spanish and Italian cigar workers in the early 20th century,” said Saunders Foundation Curator of History at the Tampa Bay History Center, Rodney Kite-Powell. “It’s a legacy that continues today in coffee shops around the city,” he said.

Highlights of Coffee: The World in Your Cup include:

• Interpretive displays of traditional Turkish and Ethiopian coffee sets, picking baskets, and more than 40 coffee sacks from around the world
• Color photographs of farms from South America to Africa to the Pacific Islands that tell the global story of coffee cultivation and trade
• Short videos featuring different aspects of the coffee industry

On exhibit at the History Center Oct. 6 – Jan. 6, 2013, Coffee: The World in Your Cup has been organized by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle and is sponsored locally by Melitta Coffee.

For more information, visit www.tampabayhistorycenter.org or call (813) 228-0097.

  

Coffee: The World in Your Cup Program and Event Schedule

Oct. 6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Coffee: the World in Your Cup opening day

Oct. 11, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Premium Blend: Evening coffee tasting and members event

Oct. 13, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Family Fun Day at Veg Fest

Wednesdays, Oct. 17-31 Cafe con Comida: Food and Coffee in Tampa Bay and Beyond

Nov. 3, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Ybor City Coffee Experience, a walking tour of Ybor City

Dec. 27 & 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Kids, Cocoa and Coffee

Tampa Bay History Center Presents ‘My Doll and Me’ Series

Drawing from the popular American Girl© book series, the Tampa Bay History Center invites girls ages 7-12 to travel through time with their favorite dolls.

Tumble into the winning stories of McKenna and learn about female Olympians from Tampa, and delve into Ybor City's immigrant world with Rebecca. Peek into the past with crafts, games and snacks, as well as hands-on gallery experiences and all activities reflect the time period or theme presented each week. American Girl© dolls are not required for participation. Space is limited; pre-registration required.

When: Sept. 22 and Oct. 6, 10-11:30 a.m.
Who: Ages 7-12
Cost: $13 per session for TBHC members; $15 non-members (Includes child's admission to galleries)

Pre-registration required; fee includes child's admission to galleries. This is a "drop-off" program. Parents are not required to attend. For more information about the History Center's Children's programs, visit www.tampabayhistorycenter.org or call (813) 228-0097.

Korean War Veterans Medal Given to Tampa Bay History Center in Honor of Lt. Baldomero Lopez

On August 29, 2012, the Tampa Bay History Center was presented with a Korean War Veterans Medal on behalf of Medal of Honor recipient Baldomero Lopez. The medal was presented by Jong-Hoon Kim, a member of the 19th National Assembly and Chair of the International Relations Committee, Saenuri Party. Mr. Kim was accompanied by Choi Young-Jin, the Korean Ambassador to the United Nations and other Korean Dignitaries.

 The medal is of particular importance to the Tampa Bay History Center since Lt. Lopez was born and raised in Ybor City, the bustling neighborhood outside of downtown Tampa that served as the center of the cigar-making industry. The son of Spanish and Italian immigrants, he attended Hillsborough High School where he was a star basketball player and a regimental commander in the Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corp - a federal program intended to instill in participants the “values of citizenship, service to the United States, and personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment.” Having been told as a young man that he was too small to make the grade in the military, Lopez used the JROTC and his own homemade workout regimen to bulk up. His efforts paid off and Lopez enlisted in the Navy in July of 1943, shortly before his eighteenth birthday.

A year after enlisting Lopez was selected to attend the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. In the midst of World War II, Lopez and his classmates endured an accelerated program that pushed them through in three years rather than the usual four. Lopez was commissioned as second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps upon graduation and served in Shanghai, China before returning to the US.

When the Korean War began in 1950 Baldomero Lopez volunteered to be assigned to a Marine unit headed into harm’s way and was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant. He was serving as the Platoon Commander of Company A, First Battilion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division during the decisive battle at Inchon, and it was during this battle that Baldomero Lopez was killed. On September 15, 1950, moments after a photographer snapped his picture climbing the seawall at Inchon (a photo that became an iconic image of the Korean War), Lopez was seriously injured while arming a grenade. The citation for his Medal of Honor describes the heroic action he took best:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a marine platoon commander of Company A, in action against enemy aggressor forces. With his platoon 1st Lt. Lopez was engaged in the reduction of immediate enemy beach defenses after landing with the assault waves. Exposing himself to hostile fire, he moved forward alongside a bunker and prepared to throw a hand grenade into the next pillbox whose fire was pinning down that sector of the beach. Taken under fire by an enemy automatic weapon and hit in the right shoulder and chest as he lifted his arm to throw, he fell backward and dropped the deadly missile. After a moment, he turned and dragged his body forward in an effort to retrieve the grenade and throw it. In critical condition from pain and loss of blood, and unable to grasp the hand grenade firmly enough to hurl it, he chose to sacrifice himself rather than endanger the lives of his men and, with a sweeping motion of his wounded right arm, cradled the grenade under him and absorbed the full impact of the explosion. His exceptional courage, fortitude, and devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon 1st Lt. Lopez and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Lopez was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on August 30th, 1951, sixty-one years ago this week. He was the first Marine to receive the honor during the Korean War (41 others would follow before the conflict ended), and the first of only two Medal of Honor recipients from Tampa Bay. Today he is honored all over Tampa with a state veteran’s nursing home, a Korean War Veterans post, a public elementary school, and a Sealift Command ship all named in his honor. He is buried outside of downtown Tampa at the Centro Asturiano Memorial Park Cemetery, where there is also a memorial dedicated to his bravery.

Volunteer at the History Center

Do you have a passion for history? Do you want to learn more about the Tampa Bay region, and share your knowledge and enthusiasm with others? If so, apply to become a docent at the History Center.

Docents help fulfill the museum’s educational mission by leading tours for groups of children and adults. No previous history knowledge or education is required. The only prerequisites are a willingness to learn, ability to interact comfortably with groups of visitors, and availability one weekday morning per week. The History Center provides extensive training and on-going learning opportunities.
Join us for our next training class in September 2012. For more information, contact Julie Henry Matus at 813-675-8981 or matus@tampabayhistorycenter.org.

Tampa Bay History Center is Free for the 4th of July

Historical interpreter Ross Lamoreaux
discusses the Second Seminole War.

The History Center is celebrating Independence Day by offering free admission on the 4th of July courtesy of Bank of America.

For the third year in a row, the History Center will feature costumed reenactors representing several eras of American military history throughout their exhibit galleries. Costumed historical interpreters will depict Civil-War, Seminole War, Spanish American War, and WWII,-era soldiers, sailors and citizens. Interpreters will share hands-on displays of artifacts, uniforms, crafts and music.

4th of July Free Admission Day, Presented by Bank of America, will allow all visitors to enjoy free admission to the History Center's exhibit galleries, with extended hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Enjoy a cool beverage at the Columbia Cafe, explore the downtown Riverwalk, or bring a blanket and spread out in Cotanchobee Park to enjoy the Channelside fireworks, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.
For more information, visit our website, http://www.tampabayhistorycenter.org/ or call (813) 228-0097 ext.0

Tampa Bay History Center Secures Fox News Channel as its Tenant for the Republican National Convention

Fox News has agreed to rent portions of the 60,000-square-foot History Center, which is located directly across the street from the Tampa Bay Times Forum in downtown Tampa’s Channelside District.

The network will broadcast live from the History Center during the four-day convention and the museum will be closed to the general public from Aug. 21st through Sept. 1st.

“This is a great opportunity for the History Center and a great way to highlight the history of our city and our region,” said C.J. Roberts, the Frank E. Duckwall President and CEO of the History Center.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 27-30.

A report in Sunday's Tampa Bay Times listed several of downtown Tampa's cultural attractions and their plans for the RNC. The Tampa Museum Art announced last month they would be hosting a party for Google, while the Straz Center for the Performing Arts will welcome The Daily Show With John Stewart.

The Tampa Bay History Center includes three floors of permanent and temporary exhibition space focusing on 12,000 years of Florida history. The LEED-certified History Center also features a Museum Store, the Witt Research Center (a branch of the Hillsborough County Public Library System), a map gallery, an event hall and the Columbia Cafe. 


For more information, contact the Tampa Bay History Center at (813) 228-0097. or info@tampabayhistorycenter.org.

Tampa Bay History Center Receives Silver LEED® Certification

The Tampa Bay History Center has achieved LEED® Silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. It is the first Hillsborough County-owned building to attain the designation.

The 60,000 square-foot Tampa Bay History Center opened in 2009 at 801 Old Water Street in downtown Tampa. Constructed through a public-private partnership with Hillsborough County, the City of Tampa, and the Tampa Bay History Center Board of Trustees, it is situated along the two-mile Cotanchobee-Ft. Brooke Riverwalk, which connects several museums and cultural facilities.

The Tampa Bay History Center was built with regional and renewable materials, and more than 95 percent of construction debris was diverted from Florida landfills. Low-flow fixtures, water-efficient landscaping, low volatile organic compound (VOC) materials, efficient lighting, and a highly efficient heating ventilation and cooling system are among a host of environmentally-conscious features that helped to achieve the LEED® Silver rating.

“We want to be stewards of not only our community’s past, but also our future,” said C.J. Roberts, the Frank E. Duckwall President and CEO of the Tampa Bay History Center. “The benefits have a positive environmental impact and have also resulted in significant savings in the building’s operating costs,” he said.

LEED is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2000, LEED is a point-based system that allows building projects to earn LEED points for satisfying specific green building criteria.

“The LEED ® Silver certification is a tremendous accomplishment that reflects the hard work and great partnerships that have made the Tampa Bay History Center such a wonderful asset for our community” said Mike Merrill, Hillsborough County Administrator.

LEED points were awarded for:

• Use of designated recycling containers during construction, which diverted approx. 840 tons of construction refuse to recycling facilities.

• Proximity to public transportation, urban housing & other activity centers.

• Use of natural lighting.

• Targeted use of low VOC materials, especially paint, sealants, carpet and vinyl.

• 18% of construction materials were manufactured or produced within a 500 mile radius of the construction site.

• Office spaces are equipped with lighting motion-sensor switches.

• TBHC recycles all refuse by categories of food waste, cardboard and consolidated rubbish; i.e. glass / plastic / mixed metals.

LEED is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design,
construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2000, LEED is a point-based system that allows building projects to earn LEED points for satisfying specific green building criteria.

More information about the History Center’s LEED® certification can be found at www.tampabayhistorycenter/green.html.

History Center offers discounted admission for dad, begins final week for traveling exhibit Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs

The History Center will celebrate Father’s Day with free admission for dad with one paid admission on Sun., June 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.


Father’s Day marks the final week of Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America, on loan to the History Center from the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. The exhibition, which highlights the history of espionage and domestic terrorism in America from 1776 to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, closes on June 24.

As part of the Father’s Day festivities, the History Center will welcome author John Cinchett, who will sign copies of his new book, Vintage Tampa Storefronts and Scenes, in the Museum Store from 2 to 5 p.m. The book is Cinchett’s second collection featuring photos of landmark Tampa storefronts and the neon signage created by his father’s Cinchett Neon Sign Company from the 1940s through the 1960s.

Arts and crafts for children will also be available throughout the day.
Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America is recommended for visitors 12 and older.
Call (813) 228-0097 or visit http://www.tampabayhistorycenter.org/ for more information.

Shhh…Spy School is in Session

Admit it – you always wanted to be a spy. Find out if you have what it takes to make it as a secret agent when the History Center convenes Spy School on Saturday, June 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Adult spies along with Junior Spies-in-Training will go under cover and explore the covert world of intelligence-gathering, with information straight from the source. Real agents and experts will lead exercises in information gathering, surveillance, disguise, and more.

As part of the day-long class, you’ll get one last peek at Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America with a special guided tour with History Center curator Rodney Kite-Powell before it closes on June 24.

Don’t miss your final opportunity to learn about code breaking, counterintelligence and the history of
spy-craft from experienced intelligence professionals.

Spy School is open to ages 12 and up. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is $30. Members of the History Center receive a $5 discount. One adult per minor is free of charge. Pre-registration is required for this program.
For more information, contact Assistant Curator of Education, Jennifer Tyson, at (813) 675-8960 or jtyson@tampabayhistorycenter.org.

The Tampa Bay History Center to Host Poet Laureate Peter Meinke

Join us for a very special workshop entitled The Shape of Poetry, conducted by Peter Meinke, Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg, on Thursday, May 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Meinke, whose award-winning poetry has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic and The New Yorker, will offer tips on how to better understand and write poetry. Come expand your poetry prowess with one of the Tampa Bay region's experts.
This session of Book Group is limited to 15 participants and is $20 to attend. Pre-registration is required.

For more information, or to register, call (813) 228-0097.

Mother's Day at the Tampa Bay History Center

The Tampa Bay History Center will celebrate Mother’s Day with free admission for moms with one paid admission on Sunday, May 13 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. To commemorate the day, the History Center will offer arts and crafts for kids in the Lykes Atrium and a 15% discount in the Museum Store on select items.

Moms and families are encouraged to visit the museum and dine at the waterfront Columbia Cafe located inside the History Center. The Cafe features both indoor and outdoor seating.

Florida Conversations Finds ‘Real Florida’

Join the Tampa Bay History Center as we dig down to reveal the “Real Florida” and welcome award-winning environmental author Bill Belleville to the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Thurs. May 10 at 6:30 p.m

Belleville’s recently-published book Salvaging the Real Florida invites readers to paddle along a glowing lagoon, slog through a swamp, explore a spring cave, and visit the historic Florida riverboat town he calls home.

Belleville’s 2006 book Losing it all to Sprawl was named one of the year’s best by the Library Journal and received a bronze medal at the 2007 Florida Book Awards. More recently, Salvaging the Real Florida took home a 2011 National Outdoor Book Award.

Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.

Public parking is available at Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay Center at (813) 228-0097 or online at www.tampabayhistorycenter.org. Free.

Florida Conversations Celebrates Golden Age of Florida Advertising

From bathing beauties to alligator wrestling, the Tampa Bay History Center takes a look at classic Florida advertising during the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Thursday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Cultural historian Tim Hollis dives into the golden era of Florida tourism in Selling the Sunshine State, a compendium of brochures, postcards, souvenirs, and photos culled from Hollis' personal collection of Floridiana. Hollis will discuss his book and how for nearly a century, bright, kitschy print advertisements and roadside attractions worked to lure tourists to the Sunshine State.

Tim Hollis is the author of numerous books celebrating Southern popular culture and history, including Dixie Before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun and Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast.

Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.

Public parking is available at Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay Center at (813) 228-0097 or online at www.tampabayhistorycenter.org. Free.

Learning the Art of Espionage

From the battlefields of WWII to the corporate board rooms of today, the Tampa Bay History Center will offer an exclusive inside look at the history and art of intelligence gathering during The Art and History of Espionage, a three-session program beginning Thursday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m.

Each evening presentation focuses on a different aspect of the often-hidden world of espionage, counterintelligence, and domestic terrorism.

Session one begins with the history of the Office of Strategic Services, the WWII-era forerunner to the CIA. Session two, on April 5, features a speaker from the National Security Agency (NSA) in Washington, D.C., who will address the intelligence practice of cryptology and the history of the agency charged with monitoring and intercepting foreign communications. Session three, on April 8, zeros in on domestic terror threats and corporate spies.

Sponsored by EKS Group and University Multispectral Labratories, the sessions are part of the History Center’s traveling exhibition Spies Traitors Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America, which is on loan from the International Spy Museum through June 24.

Registration for The Art and History of Espionage is $25 for all three sessions or $10 for individual sessions. Pre-registration is recommended, seating is limited. To register, call (813) 228-0097 or visit http://www.tampabayhistorycenter.org/ for details.

Visit the History Center's website for more information.

Calling All Spies!

Prepare to accept your mission! Decipher clues, crack codes and get a special look at the History Center’s newest exhibit: Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs during The Great Caper: Operation Spy!, Sat., March 31 beginning at 10 a.m.

The History Center provides the clues as spies-in-training hop on and off the TECO streetcar line through Channelside and Ybor City in search of espionage, history and mystery. Get things started with a scavenger hunt inside the museum before sneaking off to see some of Tampa's historic urban landmarks and treasures. Return to the History Center for spy crafts including creating a homemade cipher wheel and writing with invisible ink.

The Great Caper: Operation Spy! takes place from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. $12 per child; $18 per adult includes streetcar fare and TBHC admission for the day. TBHC members receive a $3 discount for adults and a $2 discount for children. Pre-registration is recommended.

The Great Caper: Operation Spy! is sponsored by the Tampa Downtown Partnership and the TECO Line Streetcar System.

For more information, contact Assistant Curator of Education, Jennifer Tyson, at (813) 675-8960 or jtyson@tampabayhistorycenter.org.

*The Great Caper is recommended for spies of all ages. Spies Traitors Saboteurs exhibit recommended for ages 12 and up.

My Doll and Me Program Takes Girls Back in Time

Too young for Twilight, but not really into Harry Potter? What’s an 8-12 year old girl to do? Why, come to the History Center, of course! Each Saturday morning in February during the My Doll and Me series, local girls crafted items similar to those found in the popular historical fiction series, American Girl ©. Characters and their corresponding dolls came to life as girls explored various historical eras by making a scooter out of found materials the way “Kit” did during the Depression or experiencing a tea party as “Samantha” would have in 1904.

What could be more adorable than little girls dressed up for a tea party with their dolls? Add pink lemonade and photo-snapping parents, and you’ve got a finale to the My Doll and Me program that will go down as one our best.

“The girls had a great time," said one parent. "When they were leaving, they asked the instructor to ‘put us on the list for next year.'"

Thankfully, they won’t have to wait that long. Join us this summer as we host our American Girls camp from July 23-27. More information may be found on our calendar of events.

Florida Conversations Welcomes Freedom Riders Author Ray Arsenault

The History Center welcomes author and USF St. Petersburg professor Raymond Arsenault to the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Wed., Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. Arsenault will discuss his 2006 book Freedom Riders and share stories about his time in the national limelight, including last year’s release of the PBS documentary based on his book and his appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Arsenault’s book chronicles events that took place during spring and summer of 1961, when 450 Freedom Riders set out to change the world by simply boarding a bus. For six months, several racially-integrated groups of Freedom Riders traveled from Washington DC through the Deep South, defying Jim Crow laws, putting their lives on the line for racial justice, and setting the stage for the civil rights movement.

Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.

Public parking is available at the Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay History Center at (813) 228-0097 or visit our website.

Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America on WFLA's Daytime Show

Check out this segment from WFLA's Daytime host Cyndi Edwards and Riverbank Studios: 

Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America

Anarchist Globe Bomb, c. 1886.

Black Tom. Haymarket. The Palmer Raids. These names may not evoke a strong response today, but each represents a decisive - and sometimes deadly - chapter in U.S. history. The Tampa Bay History Center invites you to revisit these sometimes-overlooked events during Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America, on exhibit Sat., Feb. 4 through June 24.

How did the government respond after German saboteurs detonated a bomb in New York Harbor in 1916? How did the public feel about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII? Was the FBI's monitoring of celebrities and writers such as Marilyn Monroe and John Steinbeck justified?

Spies presents more than 100 acts of terror, treason  and civil disobedience in American history, allowing viewers to consider how they might have responded, the motivations of the participants, and whether the government's response was adequate or a violation of our basic rights and liberties.

For more information about the exhibit, visit our website or, listen to an interview with History Center Curator Rodney Kite-Powell. To see more images from the exhibit, visit our facebook page.




















My Doll and Me

Inspired by the popular American Girl Book series, the History Center invites girls ages 7-12 to travel through time with their favorite historic dolls. Peek into the past with crafts, games, snacks and a very special tea party on the last day of the series. All activities reflect the time period presented each week. American Girl dolls and books are not required for participation.

WHEN: Saturdays, Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25 from 10-11:30 a.m.

WHO: Ages 7-12
COST: $55/child, members $60/child, non-members
REGISTER: Contact Jen Tyson at (813) 675-8960 or jtyson@tampabayhistorycenter.org.

Pre-registration required; fee includes child's admission to galleries. This is a "drop-off" program. Parents are not required to attend. For more information about the History Center's Children's programs, visit our website.



American Girl is a trademark of Mattel, Inc.

International Spy Museum’s Spies, Traitors & Saboteurs Opens at Tampa Bay History Center

A new traveling exhibition at the History Center explores the history of domestic terrorism and espionage from 1776 to Sept. 11, 2001.

Wall Street. Sept. 16, 1920. 12:01 p.m. A horse-drawn carriage loaded with dynamite detonates in front of the J.P. Morgan Bank, killing 38 people and shutting down New York’s Financial District.

The bombing of Wall Street more than 90 years ago is one of many episodes in America’s long history of domestic terrorism, espionage and civil disobedience uncovered in Spies Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America, a new exhibition opening at the Tampa Bay History Center on Sat., Feb. 4.

On loan from the world-famous International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs revisits long-forgotten events in our nation’s history, from the capture of the White House in 1814, to the bombing of the U.S. Capitol building in 1971 to recent events such as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the September 11 attacks of 2001.

The exhibition dramatically illustrates the challenges of securing our nation against internal threats without compromising the civil liberties upon which it was founded, and reflects on how responses to domestic attacks continue to affect our everyday lives.

Timeline of Events

• The City of Washington captured and the White House burned – August 24, 1814

• Manhattan hit by massive explosions in New York Harbor – July 30, 1916

• Anarchist bombings target American leaders – June 2, 1919

• 30,000 Ku Klux Klan members parade down Pennsylvania Avenue – August 8, 1925

• American helps Japanese pilot terrorize Hawaiian island after Pearl Harbor attack – December 7, 1941

• Kremlin launches one of the first Cold War attacks against the United States – April 1945


• Radical group detonates a bomb in the U.S. Capitol – March 1, 1971

• Massive bomb destroys the Federal Building in Oklahoma City – April 19, 1995

• Beyond September 11th – Terrorism Today


Artifacts include:

• More than 145 historic photographs and documents

• Timeline tracing more than 170 different events

• Anarchist Globe Bomb (replica, ca. 1886) presented as evidence in the trial of the men tried in connection with the Chicago Haymarket riot.

• APL Badge and ID Card (1917) carried by operatives of the American Protective League (APL) who spied on their fellow Americans on behalf of the U.S. Justice Department during World War I.

• Ritual Klan Red Robe (c. 1965) worn by the Klan “Kladd,” the elected Klan officer who presided over the secret rituals and ceremonies of the Ku Klux Klan.

• Fragments of the Planes that Hit the World Trade Center (2001), recovered after the attacks on September 11, 2001, and used as evidence by the FBI in their ensuing investigation.

• Visitor Polling Stations, unique computer interactive that allow visitors to express their opinions on questions raised in the exhibition about how the nation has responded to the historical events presented. Poll questions were developed in consultation with The Gallup Organization. Visitors also can see how Americans responded to similar questions posed by the Gallup Poll throughout history.

Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America will make its only scheduled stop in Florida at the History Center Feb. 4 - June 24. The exhibition is recommended for ages 12 and up. For more information on related programming, visit our website or call (813) 228-0097.

History Center Hosts 'Passport to Cuba'

Tampa and Cuba have a storied past dating back hundreds of years. In fact, at the center of Tampa's city seal lies the Mascotte, Henry Plant's steamship that travelled twice a week between Tampa and Havana.

Explore this Tampa-Cuba connection during Passport to Cuba, a new six-week course beginning Jan. 18 at the History Center. Drawing on expertise from USF faculty in a number of disciplines, the class will examine major historical themes, people, and events, including an overview U.S.-Cuba relations and the origins of the Cuban Revolution, as well as Cuban art, architecture and literature.

Lead by Dr. Paul Dosal, Professor of Latin American History at USF and a 3rd-generation Cuban-American born and raised in Tampa, this course is not to be missed.

WHEN: Jan. 18, 25, Feb. 1, 8, 15 and 22, 10 a.m.- noon
WHERE: TBHC/TECO Hall
COST: $50 (6-week series)
REGISTER: Contact OLLI/USF at 813-974-2403 or www.usfseniors.org

Award-winning Author Lu Vickers to Visit the History Center for FL Conversations

Children across the state may be lining up to experience LegoLand, Central Florida’s latest mega-amusement park, but long-time Florida residents remember when the sprawling tourist attraction now located off of Interstate 75 was known by a different name: Cypress Gardens.

Billed as a tropical paradise nestled under a canopy of exotic foliage, Florida’s first theme park is the subject of author Lu Vickers’ award-winning new book, Cypress Gardens, America's Tropical Wonderland. Filled with archival photos, vintage postcards and family snapshots, Cypress Gardens wanders through the 60-year history of the park, opened in 1936 by “The Man Who Invented Florida,” Dick Pope.

Vickers will discuss her book and the history of Cypress Gardens during the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Thurs., Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tampa Bay History Center.

Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.

Public parking is available at the Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay Center at (813) 228-0097 or online at www.tampabayhistorycenter.org.