Inspired by “Leon County Heritage Tour Guidebooks and Maps,” a companion to the booklet entitled, “In Their Own Words: African American Oral Histories, Leon County, Florida,” published by the John G. Riley Center and Museum of African American History and Culture, this 2-hour Armchair Heritage Tour is a PowerPoint and in-person journey through time providing […]

Gloria Jefferson Anderson spent years researching her slave ancestors' journey on the El Destino Plantation in Leon County, Florida. Through her tireless efforts, she traced their path from 1828 to 1865 and during Reconstruction by scouring county records, talking to elderly residents, reading Freedman's Bureau reports, and reviewing plantation records. Her story inspires those seeking […]

Join us for an event featuring Hunter Hill Jr., an accomplished artist and the 2020 Florida Folk Heritage Award winner. Hunter Hill Jr. is well-known for his emancipation drumming, or the 20th May drumbeat. At the event, he will share his family history while discussing the Hunter Hill Jr. Collection. This collection includes 29 scale […]

Join the Leon County Public Library for a presentation about slavery in the Antebellum South with Violet Sharpe, Assistant Director of the Riley House Museum. Explore plantation life, from family dynamics to spiritual practices, resistance, and treatment. Discover maroon communities as temporary havens for runaways and learn about "free black" families in Tallahassee before the […]