Tampa, Florida - Monday marks 48 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Years earlier, he delivered a dynamic speech in Tampa during the civil rights movement. Another man in the audience that day has also left a lasting legacy behind.
Before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have A Dream" speech in 1963, he energized a crowd of Tampa Bay supporters who were also fighting for equal rights. King gave his speech on Nov. 19, 1961, and the atmosphere was tense.
Fred Hearns, a local historian, says, "Someone called in a bomb threat saying they were going to blow up the armory where King was supposed to give his speech."
One person who refused to evacuate from the building during that bomb threat was the late Perry Harvey Sr. who refused to be intimidated.
Hearns says the crowd was evacuated and no bomb was found so King's speech went on at the former Fort Homer Hesterly Armory at 522 North Howard Ave. The building is still standing, but it's being renovated into a community center and it's also on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Over the weekend, a historic landmark was unveiled in Harvey's honor as a park has been named in his honor at 900 E. Scott St. in Tampa.
"Perry Harvey coined the term Head Start program working with Sam Gibbons who was in Congress in the early '60s and they worked together. Perry Harvey said to Gibbons, 'Our children need a head start in life.'"
Harvey was also the president of a local union representing dock workers for 30 years. He was known for fighting for good wages and benefits for his workers.
"He was a very brave man because there was a lot of opposition to organized labor as you can imagine especially in the '30's - his life was threatened," Hearns says.
The park doesn't just recognize Harvey. It honors the African-American businesses and the music scene that was once vibrant along Central Avenue.
"The Harlem of the South is what it was called," Hearns says.
He says for just a few dollars, people could see Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles and Louis Armstrong perform.
For years, Hearns has given bus tours of all of the historic sites around Ybor City and Tampa, but he now plans to expand his business to include walking tours in a six-block area around the new park. If you'd like to book a tour, you can call Hearns at 813-545-3183.
