The National Archives marks its archives awareness month in the fall, but in 1992, the City of Tampa Archives Advisory Committee moved to mark the municipality’s founding with a week-long celebration in the summer.
The week’s goal is to recognize a city’s need to document and preserve its development and heritage through exhibits and programs that bring gems from the City of Tampa Archives and Records division together with some of Tampa’s most enlightened historians.
Three local exhibits are part of the celebration, but there are also 12 events—all free-to-attend and in Tampa proper unless otherwise noted—scheduled across town starting Sunday, July 13. UPDATED 07/14/25 8:05 a.m. Updated to add the “Colonial Florida: Exploring History & Language Through Maps” event
Manhood at Work in 1925
Who worked at the Tampa Bay Hotel? Trace its history using archival records and then get a tour of the “Dressed for Success: Fashioning Manhood” exhibit on display through Christmas Day. Located at the former Tampa Bay Hotel, this show goes back to the hotel and explores how masculinity shaped the look of staffers in the late-1800s.
Sunday, July 13. 1 p.m. Henry B. Plant Museum at University of Tampa, 401 W Kennedy Blvd Credit: Photo by Kristen HareSacred Heart Catholic Church
Downtown Tampa’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church is the oldest Catholic church on Florida’s West Coast, and docents will give a tour and verbal history of the venue, from a yellow fever outbreak that killed three priests, to the opening of its ornate sanctuary in 1905, and more.
Sunday, July 13. 3 p.m. Sacred Heart Church, 509 N Florida Ave. Credit: Photo via Marcus E Jones/ShutterstockHappy birthday Tampa
Last March, Frances Henriquez passed away at the age of 94, and officials will celebrate the trailblazer at city hall where she broke into the all-male clerk-typist office in 1954. Henriquez—who in 1973 beat three men to win the City Clerk title with 74% of the vote—was born in Ybor City and served the city for nearly 40 years before retiring in 1993. A free booklet—”100 Years Ago: Tampa in 1925”—will also be handed out after Fred Hearns, Curator of Black History at the Tampa Bay History Center—discusses pivotal city events from the last century.
Monday, July 14. 3 p.m. Tampa City Hall, 315 E Kennedy Blvd. Credit:Screengrab via City of TampaRestoration of the Sanchez y Haya building
In case you missed it, the J.C. Newman Cigar Co. is leading a revival of Tampa’s V.M. Ybor neighborhood, which more or less revolves around its El Reloj cigar factory. Part of that rebirth is work to restore the 115-year-old Sanchez y Haya building across the street. Company historian Holden Rasmussen and fourth-generation owner Drew Newman will discuss the building’s history and restoration plans, then lead a guided tour of the
Project.
Tuesday, July 15. 11 a.m. J.C. Newman Company, 2701 N 16th St. Credit: By Peter K Burian – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128596428Preserving Tampa’s Black History: Boots on the Ground Campaign
Tampa’s Black History Museum is slated to open in the Encore district,, but it needs your personal artifacts. This kickoff for a new campaign is a chance to learn more about the effort from museum staff.
Tuesday, July 15. 6 p.m. Registration required. Tampa’s Black History Museum. 1213 N Central Ave. Credit: Photo by Ray Roa100 Years of Booker T. Washington School
Fred Hearns and Ashley Morrow—Curator and Manager, respectively, of Black History at the Tampa Bay History Center—will discuss Ybor City’s local elementary school (and former middle school) and the man whose name is on the front door. Pictured is: Robertson and Fresh (Firm), “The Booker T. Washington Junior High School Safety Patrol Marches in a Parade” (1900).
Wednesday July 16. 5:30 p.m. Tampa’s Black History Museum. 1213 N Central Ave. Credit:Robertson and Fresh Collection of Tampa Photographs. Image 454.Archiving Class with Tampa Museum of Art
Artists, clean that clutter up with TMA, who will bring staff to Ybor City for an adult class that will help you create a professional portfolio.
Thursday, July 17. 11 a.m. Robert W. Saunders Sr. Library. 1505 N Nebraska Ave. Credit: Screengrab via Google MapsArchives of America’s favorite airport
Just visit @flytpa on Instagram, and you’ll see that the local airstrip has a whole lot of fans. They’re all posers if the don’t take this chance to dive into TPA’s archives, which include original concept drawings, archival film and photos of Davis Islands’ Peter O. Knight Airport, formerly federally-owned Drew Field, and the terminals that served passengers before 1971.Pictured is: Burgert Brothers, “Tampa International Airport Terminal Building Viewed from Columbus Drive to the Northwest, November 20, 1952” (1952)
Thursday, July 17. 5 p.m. Main terminal (level, three) at
Tampa International Airport, 4100 George J. Bean Pkwy. Credit:Burgert Brothers Collection of Tampa Photographs. Image 745.Building community partnerships with the Progress Village Collection
The University of South Florida’s Planner-in-Residence Amber Dickerson and a class from the school’s Masters in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program bring to life Tampa’s first low-income housing suburb via USF’s robust archives which include select images, records, oral histories and maps.
Thursday, July 17. 2 p.m. USF libraries, 4202 E Fowler Ave. (First floor) Credit:Progress Village Collection – Images. Image 58./USF Digital CommonsSoulwalk historical marker dedication
Members of the Hillsborough County Historical Advisory Council, together with local leaders, unveil a new historical marker for the Marti-Colon Cemetery, St. Joseph Aid Cemetery/Montana City Cemetery and Woodlawn Cemetery.
Friday, July 18. 11 a.m. Community room inside City Center at Hanna Avenue. 2555 E Hanna Ave. Credit:Photo via CityofTampa/X‘Invisible Immigrants’ exclusive exhibit tour
Tampa Bay History Center, alongside Spanish nonprofit Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU., celebrated the opening of a new exhibition this year. Invisible Immigrants: Spaniards in the U.S. (1868-1945) is open now through Aug. 3 at TBHC, which is the first U.S. museum to host this exhibit honoring the cultural impact of Spanish immigration—including how modern Tampa owes a lot to immigrants who started to arrive in our sleeping fishing village in the late-1800s. Just 25 guests can join, and an RSVP is required.
Friday, July 18. 2 p.m. Tampa Bay History Center, 801 Water St., Tampa Credit: Photo by Octavio Jones c/o Tampa Bay History CenterLatina Legacies: Brunch, book, and film premiere w/Dr. Sarah McNamara
There will be free mimosas and brunch for this event emceed by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Editor-In-Chief Ray Roa. A city-produced film showcases how the district’s Latinas were the driving force behind activism in the late-1930s. At the time, fascism had become prominent in Spain and was spreading to other areas of the world, but the women of Tampa did what they could to fight back.
Saturday, July 19. 11 a.m. RSVP requested. Centro Asturiano de Tampa, 1913 N Nebraska Ave., Ybor City Credit: c/o Tampa Bay History CenterColonial Florida: Exploring History & Language Through Maps Learn how to read the historical maps in the library’s collection and the abbreviations that are written on them. Pictured is a copy of a free hand map of Temple Terrace and nearby Hillsborough River area. This lecture will help you delve into cartography and Florida’s history.
Saturday, July 19. 11 a.m. Cecil Beach Conference Room at John F. Germany Public Library. 900 Ashley Dr. N Credit:Photo via Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection/HCPLCMore ways to explore Tampa history
• A new publication, “One Hundred Years Ago Tampa In 1925” is available online and at the Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Public Library located at 1505 N Nebraska Ave. in Ybor City.
• The Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative offers online opportunities to browse the City of Tampa Archives and Records Collection, the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Collection, and the Tampa Photo Supply Collection (the latter includes work by professional photographers Rose Rutigliano Weekley and Joseph Scolaro primarily in Tampa and Hillsborough County from approximately 1947-1990). HCPLC—along with the University of South Florida—also has links to Tampa’s famed Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection.
• The Tampa Firefighters Museum
Tampa’s had a fire department for 130 years now, and this rare all-brick building—which served as Tampa Fire Department HQ until 1978—in downtown traces its history. 720 E Zack St. Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. by appointment. $5 donation requested Credit:Photo via CityofTampa/XThe July 10, 2025 cover of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Credit: Design by David G. Loyola, visualelectric.comA crop from the July 10, 2025 cover of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Credit: Design by David G. Loyola, visualelectric.com
Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...
More by Ray Roa
