As Jacksonville celebrates its 200th birthday this week, here are five moments that made the city what it is today: 1861-65: The Civil War and emancipation Though part of Confederate Florida, Jacksonville was a hotbed of Unionist sentiment throughout the Civil War, Many prominent citizens and virtually all Black Americans supported the Union effort. Union forces occupied Jacksonville four times
Saturday, the city of Jacksonville will mark its 200th birthday with a jam-packed bicentennial celebration schedule. It’s also my daughter’s 1st birthday. As I think about the confluence of these markers of history, both personal in some way, I am forced to think about what lies ahead for my daughter, who has no understanding of the perils she will face
Celebrating the city’s two centuries of history – warts and all – was the challenge the Jacksonville Historical Society was tasked with ahead of Jacksonville’s official bicentennial celebration next month. The society’s work has not been universally applauded. Leaders from a handful of Black organizations, who say they were left out of the bicentennial planning process, are holding historical commemorations