No, it wasn’t stop-the-presses type news. Merely meaningful.
We recently saw the unveiling of the latest bronze busts along the Riverwalk’s Historic Monument Trail. There are now 24–Native American, African-American, Latino and Anglo. Consequential contributors to this city across a spectrum of years and causes.
We also heard the formal announcement that the eight-year-old Tampa Bay History Center will be undergoing its first major expansion. The significant addition to its top floor will increase the permanent exhibit area–one that will include a cartography center.
Honoring historical figures and preserving and highlighting an area’s history are always eventful. They tell our story. It’s important, as Mayor Bob Buckhorn noted at the Riverwalk ceremony, “to remember how we got here.” It gives perspective to moving forward.
But even more so in a region such as Tampa Bay and a city such as Tampa, where so many residents are from somewhere else. I’m from Philadelphia, for example, and my wife is from Chicago. We’re not here because of inertia. We’ve relocated here and stayed here because we love this town–from its Latin roots to its enticing geography–and we love its potential going forward. I know we speak for many.
It’s critically important that we don’t see our surroundings as just ever-improving pivot points to better lives and career opportunities but as integral parts of a shared identity. Our collective history is a unifying force. It’s what makes us “us”–not just residents of a cool place to live, do business and raise a family.
By saluting those who came before us, we recognize our own roles in the continuum. Bronze busts and olde world cartography are graphic testimonials of who came earlier. They are also reminders that we are all part of this special, eclectic, societal fabric, this diverse mosaic that is our Tampa home.