Students, staff and faculty from the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus learned about Sarasota’s Newtown area in a trolley ride Thursday designed to deepen their understanding of the historically Black neighborhood.
“I liked it, it was very informational,” graduate student Sammie Hillstock said. “It was interesting to learn about the area and the civil rights movement and how people organized. You often hear about civil rights, but not at the local level, what was happening in the community at that time.”
The two-hour tour was arranged by USF’s Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity as part of Black Heritage Month.
Thirty riders from the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus boarded the trolley at about noon. They passed by historic homes, businesses, parks and other gathering spots along the route, which took them just north of downtown. An enclave for Black families during segregation, Newtown offered housing, shops, entertainment and other services that were denied to Black people elsewhere in the city.
Corey Posey, campus diversity officer at Sarasota-Manatee, said he hoped the ride makes a lasting impact.
“I really want people to come away with a deeper understanding of the richness of Newtown and the historical significance of Newtown to the Sarasota region,” he said.
The tour followed several other campus-related events celebrating Black Heritage Month, including an exhibit and reception in conjunction with the Suncoast Black Arts Collaborative and a presentation by the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition.
Vickie Oldham, president of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, served as a guide and helped organize the tour at the request of Posey and Darren Gambrell, assistant director of student services in the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Also anchoring the tour were Brenda Watty, a singer who once performed with The Marvelettes, and Walter Gilbert, community engagement coordinator and senior director of diversity and inclusion at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Gilbert is also a former president of the Sarasota County NAACP.
Gambrell and Posey said they hope the ride becomes an annual occurrence for the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus and helps forge stronger ties between the university and Sarasota’s Black community.
Paola-Marie Mannino, a senior marketing major, called the experience “enlightening.”
“I had known about Newtown, but I didn’t know about the history of the area and what it meant to Black people,” Mannino said. “It was the area where Black people lived. I think the thing that is going to stick with me is the notion of inclusion, because everybody wants to feel like they’re part of something and meant to be there. You don’t want to feel less than those that are around you, and it’s not just something that applies to race and ethnicity but also on a socio-economic level. You want to be part of a community. You want to feel included.”