A Story Worth Hearing

Not every museum tells its story through centuries-old artifacts. Some tell it through the voices of people who built communities, fought for equal rights, and helped shape Florida. That's exactly what you'll find at the Woodson African American Museum of Florida – a museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating African American history, art, and culture.

The Woodson Museum officially opened in 2006, but the story behind it began decades earlier. The museum is housed in what was once the community center for Jordan Park, one of Florida's oldest public housing communities for African Americans. Opened in 1940, Jordan Park was among the first public housing developments in the United States built specifically for African American residents.

During the era of racial segregation, Jordan Park became home to hundreds of families, while its community center served as a gathering place for neighborhood meetings, children's programs, celebrations, and community events. Today, that same building houses the museum, preserving not only historical artifacts but also the stories of the people who shaped the neighborhood's history. It has become a place where the community's legacy is honored and where visitors can learn about the profound contributions African Americans have made to Florida's development.

Today, Midtown St. Petersburg, the neighborhood that includes Jordan Park, is experiencing a new chapter of revitalization. The historic Manhattan Casino has been restored, community organizations continue to thrive, new cultural spaces are emerging, and the Woodson Museum has become one of the neighborhood's defining symbols of renewal.

The museum has long outgrown its current home. Plans are now underway for a new, significantly larger museum campus that will become part of the redeveloped Historic Gas Plant District.

The museum is named after Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the historian widely recognized as the "Father of Black History." Born to formerly enslaved parents, Woodson became the second African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. He believed that African American history was an essential part of American history and devoted his life to researching, documenting, and promoting it.

Woodson argued that no society can fully understand itself while ignoring the history of part of its people. His scholarship laid the foundation for the modern study of African American history, and the Negro History Week he established in 1926 eventually evolved into Black History Month, celebrated nationwide every February.

Rather than maintaining a large permanent collection, the Woodson Museum regularly rotates exhibitions featuring contemporary artists, photographers, historians, and community leaders. In addition to its galleries, the museum hosts art exhibitions, lectures, concerts, panel discussions, family events, and educational programs focused on the history and culture of Florida's African American communities.

The museum campus also includes the Legacy Garden, an outdoor gathering space that hosts cultural events and rotating open-air exhibitions throughout the year.

The Woodson Museum tells the story of St. Petersburg through the experiences of the people who helped build the community despite decades of segregation and discrimination.

Its exhibitions often blend contemporary art with historical documents, photographs, and personal narratives, offering visitors a deeper understanding of both the challenges of the past and the cultural achievements that continue to shape modern Florida.

In recent years, the museum has significantly expanded its mission. Following a major renovation, it reopened to visitors in 2026 while continuing its efforts to develop a much larger museum campus that will become one of Florida's leading centers for African American history.

Following its reopening, the museum debuted Many Voices, One Nation – Our Community, an exhibition created in partnership with Smithsonian Museum on Main Street, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and Florida Humanities. Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, the exhibition tells the nation's story through a local lens, focusing on St. Petersburg and Florida's Gulf Coast. Its centerpiece is a large-scale mural by artist Najee Dorsey that weaves together the stories of early settlements, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement, and contemporary American history.

At the same time, the Legacy Garden is home to The Underground Railroad Experience, an interactive exhibition exploring not only the well-known network that helped enslaved people escape to the North, but also the lesser-known "Saltwater Underground Railroad" – the route by which freedom seekers traveled through Florida to reach the Bahamas. Both exhibitions will remain on view through January 2027.