A historical lynching close to home compelled historian and activist Tameka Hobbs to document Florida’s history of racial violence, lead efforts for racial justice and celebrate the diversity of Black culture.
As a sophomore at Florida A&M University, Hobbs first learned from her history professor Theodore Hemmingway about the lynching of 15-year-old Willie James Howard in the rural hometown of Live Oak.
Hemmingway urged her to reach beyond the classroom and actively research the history of lynchings in her hometown by talking with community leaders and members. One of those people was her grandfather, the late Rev. Freeman Grimmage Jr.
“I asked my grandfather, and he immediately remembered,” she said. “Our conversation took a solemn tone, and it took me going to college to hear it.”
Part of her wanted to deny it and prove her professor wrong.
However, as she learned more about African American history, she began to understand and appreciate her grandfather’s experiences and personality. He was a man who commanded respect and authority because of what he had endured during this period.
Hobbs later wrote what he recalled in her book, “I remember in those days, when I’d go into town, if I even saw a white woman walking my way, I’d turn around and go home,” he said.
Hearing his firsthand account of life during segregation and how he survived those atrocities stayed with her and shaped the direction of her work.
Hobbs now leads the African American Research Library and Cultural Center branch of the Broward County Library, housing more than a million items documenting Black history. Before this, she held a range of roles in public, historical and academic fields, from educational and outreach coordinator at the State Library and Archives of the Commonwealth of Virginia to assistant professor at Florida Memorial University.
“I really think about the AARLCC as a public humanities institution. It’s a place where people can come to have an intellectual experience without having to be burdened by the cost of it,” she said.
She oversees a cultural center, free exhibitions, programs and resources for all ages and is one of only three libraries in the U.S. that combine a cultural section with a collection of African American and African descent artifacts, which gives it a unique role in preserving and promoting Black heritage.
Inspired by her grandfather and educators, she switched her major from business to history and connected with James Eaton, founder of the Black Archives Research Center and Museum at FAMU.
Surrounded by artifacts of Black history, she remained at the museum for the rest of her undergraduate career.
“It was about the business of making history tangible for the public,” she said.
After earning her undergraduate degree, she pursued her graduate studies at Florida State University and earned a master’s and doctorate in U.S. history, focusing on African American history, historical administration and public history in 2004.
Hobbs started to collect oral histories in North Florida and confronted the challenges of uncovering painful and often hidden stories.
“I think that it took a lot of trust-building for people to be willing to talk about that, because one of the survival strategies for Black people in the South is knowing who to speak to and when,” she said.
Obtaining these accounts was challenging because of a code of silence among Black people who kept their stories buried for protection, but Hobbs leveraged her family’s connections to ease the process. She shared the names of family members who were ministers in the Baptist Convention and explained she grew up in Live Oak, which helped open doors.
The question became what she would do with what she learned.
“It took just explaining the process: What was I going to do? Where would the recording live? What would I do with the information? Once I was able to explain that to individuals, it became important,” she said.
Nothing prepared her for the difficulty she faced in Gadsden County, a predominantly Black county with a long history of racial violence.
“I was circulating in that community where Arthur C. Williams had been lynched in 1941 and at a certain point in time, I started to get Black people telling me that I needed to be careful,” she said.
Hobbs knew to take the hint. She became acutely aware of the risks she was exposing herself to by traveling through rural areas and reaching beyond the Black community to connect with white people. She had to think quickly and navigate unconventional paths.
“I was going down dirt roads in back areas that I was not familiar with, I knew I was exposing myself to a certain level of risk and I was being warned that it was risky,” she said.
It was delicate work; Black families often kept silent about relatives who had been killed in racially motivated violence.
She emphasized that the oral histories she collected were especially significant, as many had no opportunity to document their lives and would have never been recorded without her persistence and curiosity.
“Trying to collect and tell the stories of Black Southerners, especially from this time period, has helped us reclaim and document what their lives were like, and that, for me, is such an important work,” she said.
Hobbs’ research provided historical context to recent acts of violence that followed patterns rooted in Southern lynching.
In 2015, she published her book, “Democracy Abroad, Lynching at Home: Racial Violence in South Florida,” which offers a detailed chronicle of racial violence in the state and preserves stories that had never been fully told.
The nation was grappling with the prejudice killings of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford who was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer; Mike Brown, 18, in Ferguson, Mo., who was fatally shot by a police officer; and Freddie Gray, 25, in Baltimore, Md., while in police custody.
“I found myself as a scholar of racial violence, being able to provide interpretation and perspective, for white people in particular, to let them know that this is not a new thing,” she said.
Beyond her research, Hobbs’ work at the AARLCC allows her to preserve and promote Black history on an institutional scale, even as the center faces its own challenges.
Located in a neighborhood shaped by Sistrunk Boulevard’s legacy, the center for Black community and culture during Jim Crow, the library and surrounding community often face economic challenges and limited funding yet continue to preserve its heritage.
In response to these challenges, the AARLCC launched Aspire Academy, funded by a $300,000 grant from the Helios Education Foundation. The program expands college readiness opportunities for 90 students annually through test prep, campus visitations and academic support.
For many teenagers, it’s a moment of realization that they belong in these spaces too.
“It’s one of those light switch moments,” she said. “You have students whose parents twist their arms to the program, they’re really not necessarily into it, but on the college visit, setting their foot on a college campus, the light switch comes on, and they can actually finally see themselves at this place,” she said.
The daily operations at AARLCC make Hobbs think differently about what she does and connects it to her interest in transforming communities. Whether it’s giving tours of the gallery or leading public lectures, she focuses on making sure people can wrap their minds around and grasp the information.
“I consider myself more of a public historian as opposed to an academic historian,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in making sure that these stories reach the public and have the impact that it should have,” she said.
Hobbs’ favorite aspect of the library is its programs for the local community and their lasting impact.
“I’m especially proud of the Black History Saturday School, and the gap it really attempts to fill,” she said. “I think it’s a part of what is really needed in a time where there’s so much censorship and erasure.”
The Saturday program also brings Black scholars, community leaders and professionals in history, culture, the arts and law.
The program recently featured Sondra Washington, an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University, who guided students in African American music and cultural traditions, along with Carlisa Russell, an educational specialist focused on student learning and leadership development who highlights the contributions of Black legal and civil pioneers.
“We have the ability in this space to continue to uplift and to offer the opportunity to come in, learn and do so in a family environment,” she said.
For teenagers, the library serves as a space for learning beyond the classroom and exploring a wide range of books from diverse cultures.
Emily Rodriguez, 17, said she usually comes to the library to study and do schoolwork.
“I come when I need to study for an upcoming exam or when I want to read a book I’ve never seen before,” she said. “I feel like it’s a really great resource for kids and teens who want to learn more about Black history outside of school,” she said.
Hobbs reflects on her journey with purpose, encouraging others to pursue their dreams, while the experiences that stay with her most are collecting oral histories that might otherwise be lost.
“I will forever be proud of what I was able to do to capture the voices of the individuals who lived through and were impacted by these lynchings,” she said.
After more than 20 years, it was enough.
Hobbs no longer publicly discusses her lynching research for her mental health and said it represents only a small part of her career.
“I didn’t like how I would feel after I delivered these talks, and my conversation with myself was that you’ve kind of done enough,” she said.
Hobbs emphasizes that Black history is more than the trauma endured, and she values that her role allows her to highlight the full scope of Black culture.
“I’ve been able to tell so many other stories, and create other exhibitions and other projects that tell a much wider range of Black history,” she said. “And a lot of that story is quite joyous and inspiring, and it never gets old to introduce that to a new group.”
With every new audience, Hobbs shows how preserving history and promoting racial justice go hand in hand.
“History is not everything that happened; history is everything that we have kept, and that relays a sense of urgency and intentionality that we need about our precious stories,” she said.
