St. Johns County leaders have identified a West Augustine site, near the former location of Florida Memorial College, as a potential home for a Florida Museum of Black History. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on April 10, 2025 at 1:05 pm
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The state Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a measure that would move forward with creating a Florida Museum of Black History in St. Johns County. But with less than four weeks left in the annual legislative session, the House version of the bill has not moved through committees.
Lawmakers in 2023 created a task force to provide recommendations for a Black history museum. The task force recommended putting the museum in St. Johns County. It would go on a site west of St. Augustine that formerly housed Florida Memorial University.
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The Senate bill (SB 466), filed by Sen. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, would take a series of steps to establish the museum, including creating the Florida Museum of Black History Board of Directors, which would work with a foundation to oversee construction and operation of the museum.
“Simply put, the history of Florida cannot be told without also telling the history of Black Floridians,” Leek, whose district includes St. Johns County, said.
