PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. – The Woodson African American History Museum in St. Petersburg celebrated Free Museum Day on Saturday, welcoming visitors as museum leaders sought community support for a larger, purpose-built museum.
The museum’s outdoor garden includes a statue of Harriet Tubman leading to the North Star, as well as a fountain and other features. Visitors can use a QR code to experience virtual recreations of events lived by enslaved people on the Underground Railroad.
“That’s going to take you on a journey,” said Terri Lipsey Scott, executive director of the Woodson African American Museum.
Inside, the museum is currently home to a national collection. Scott said the museum is currently hosting national exhibit.
“We are more than proud to be a part of “Many Voices One Nation – Our community,” in partnership with the Smithsonian, Florida Humanities and others who have dedicated and committed resources,” Scott said.
The museum’s stated goal is to educate, advocate, and host the community. Scott said they need a place dedicated to those causes.
“A purpose-built museum is one designed for actually carrying out the mission,” Scott said. “Museums have unique character requirements, and needless to say, without it, we limit our ability to bring in world-class exhibits.”
Statue of Harriet Tubman at the Woodson African American History Museum. (Spectrum News imag)
Volunteer and yoga instructor Clayton Sizemore helped as the museum marked Free Museum Day. He said opening the museum to more people can help grow support over time.
“The more you give people the opportunity to see what’s going on here, the greater the opportunities are,” Sizemore said. “I tell people all the time, it’s a process. It doesn’t happen right away. But you give it time, you build it, you create it, you nourish it.”
Scott and Sizemore said they hope visitors leave wanting to see the museum expanded into a space built specifically for its work.
Scott wants to see the museum shown in a rendering become a reality. The plan has changed several times in recent years, and museum staff said only time will tell if it will happen.
Some of the exhibits, like the Harriet Tubman statue in the garden, are owned by the museum and will be there indefinitely.
Others, like the Many Voices, One Nation – Our Community exhibit, are only set to stay until early January next year, according to the museum’s website.