L.B. Brown Heritage Festival in Bartow puts emphasis on history for 23rd edition
The 23rd annual L.B. Brown Heritage Festival comes during a time of heightened debate over how Black American history should be taught in schools.
Whether by design or coincidence, the event this year is reviving some of the academic elements that were the hallmarks of its early years.
The festival will take place Saturday and Sunday on the grounds of the L.B. Brown House in Bartow. It celebrates the legacy of Lawrence B. Brown, a man born to an enslaved family in Alachua County in 1856 who became a thriving entrepreneur after settling in Bartow as an adult.
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Brown constructed the two-story, Victorian-style house located at 470 L.B. Brown Ave., considered perhaps the only extant example in Florida of a home built by a formerly enslaved person. Following the death of his daughter, the vacant house slid into disrepair and faced potential demolition before Bartow residents led an effort to rescue the structure through a nonprofit, the Neighborhood Improvement Corporation.
Lovingly restored to a gleaming appearance, the L.B. Brown House now serves as a museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the early years, the festival had a scholarly orientation, offering lectures and discussions that featured authors and historians. The gathering has since put more emphasis on visual history, featuring demonstrations of pioneer life and reenactments by such groups as the Second Infantry Regiment of the United States Colored Troops.
For the 23rd rendition, the L.B. Brown Festival gives renewed attention to academic components. Two of the historians who initially encouraged the creation of the festival, Canter Brown Jr. and James M. Denham, will lead discussions of Black history in Florida.
Brown, a retired college professor, will join Chuck Warren, co-author of a book about L.B. Brown, “From Slavery to Community Builder,” for a presentation Saturday at 1 p.m. Brown and Denham, a history professor at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, will moderate talks by leaders of the U.S. Colored Troops and Buffalo Soldiers Florida reenactment groups.
Brown will also deliver a short lecture on the early presence of Black Seminoles and other Native American groups in the early history of what is now Polk County.
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The goal, Brown said, is to give those in attendance “a feel that they are in the midst of all this, that we can identify specific locations and specific times and, and in some cases, even specific personalities or individuals that were involved. And just to give people a sense that we're living within real history, and it's a history that, unfortunately, most people don't know about.”
The recent controversy over Florida’s rejection of a newly developed Advanced Placement course on African-American studies has ignited debate over how best to approach Black history.
“I think that in this time when some politicians are criticizing diversity and the teaching of African-American history, the festival is even more important than it may have been in past years,” Brown said. “There is a tendency, I think, on the part of some to dismiss much of what has been presented in recent decades, new information about African-American history, as somehow just being political correctness. And it's not. And I would go even further to say historians and people interested in Florida's history have only broken the surface about the richness of African American History.”
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Festival director Clifton Lewis, who is not an academic figure, made a similar point.
“With all the discussion going on with the history program, I think it is important that those of us who believe in promoting authentic history, that we do our part,” he said. “I mean, it’s one thing to complain about what others may not be doing in terms of promoting Black history. The next question is: What are we doing to promote Black history?”
Sunday’s program, beginning at 1 p.m., will pay tribute to more recent and local Black history with a presentation recognizing Arthur “Rome” Jones, a Mulberry native who became the first Black student-athlete at the University of South Florida. Jones played basketball for the Bulls from 1970 to 1974.
Organizers will also honor L.B. Brown Festival board members, posthumously for Mollie Marion and Geraldine O. Watson. Three charter board members will be recognized with emeritus status: Mary Bryant, Mabel L. Leonard and Alvin B. Smith Sr.
The festival will abound with entertainment following the talks each afternoon. The lineup for Saturday includes Crystal’s World of Dance and Artistry in Motion. Sunday’s program will continue the tradition of gospel music performances. Admission is free.
The L.B. Brown House will be open throughout the festival for self-guided exploration. Lewis encourages anyone seeking a more comprehensive view of the house and descriptions of its history to schedule a guided tour outside of the festival dates.
The structure has gained sufficient renown that Brown, the main tour guide, reports receiving visitors from other states and even foreign countries, as well as guests from within Florida. He said he recently hosted a couple from Ocala who visited to celebrate a woman’s birthday and the following week another pair from Ocala commemorating their anniversary.
Brown, the retired professor, exulted in the longevity of the festival.
“I think it is beyond wonderful that Bartow can boast a place like the L.B. Brown House and an event like the festival,” he said. “Lots of people have worked very hard, but Clifton Lewis stands out, head and shoulders, above everyone else, and we just owe him a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to repay.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: History thrives with annual L.B. Brown Heritage Festival in Bartow
