Plant City residents come together to celebrate Juneteenth.
On the hot, breezy morning of June 19, 2025, a soft rippling could be heard through Plant City’s historic Lincoln Park neighborhood. That sound was a flag being hoisted into the sky by William Thomas Jr., president of The Plant City Improvement League, and proprietor of the historic Bing House Museum. While the flag Thomas raised might be unfamiliar to some, communities nationwide recognize the blue, red, and white star as the Juneteenth Flag.
This flag raising marked the start of Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Just four years after becoming a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth has seen growing recognition across America, with Plant City’s celebration being one of many nationwide that honor this significant moment in history.
The flag raising occurred at the Bing House Museum, an almost 100-year-old house turned Black history museum, still recovering from Hurricane Milton. The flag raising was just one of three major events organized in Plant City to commemorate Juneteenth this year. The collective efforts of community organizations to celebrate this holiday demonstrated the significance of Juneteenth in acknowledging America’s history with slavery and the journey to equality.
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that all enslaved people were free. This announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had officially freed slaves in the Confederate states on January 1, 1863.
In Florida, the path to freedom came through a different timeline. While the Emancipation Proclamation technically freed enslaved people in Confederate states like Florida in 1863, the actual liberation didn’t occur until Union troops gained control of various parts of the state. Major General Edward M. McCook formally announced freedom for Florida’s enslaved people on May 20, 1865, in Tallahassee – nearly a month before the Juneteenth announcement in Texas. This date, May 20, is sometimes commemorated as Florida’s Emancipation Day.
After emancipation, Black Floridians went on to establish businesses all around Florida, including here in Plant City. One iconic historical Black business is Plant City’s own Bing House. It was built in 1928 as a boarding house and was operated by Mrs. Janie Wheeler Bing for African-Americans who were not allowed to stay in segregated white hotels or eat in white restaurants. On September 14, 2002, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. According to Thomas, Janie Wheeler Bing shared the entrepreneurial spirit of so many Plant Citians, she started the rooming house.
“She came here to be an educator, and then, as some young people say, she started her side hustle of opening up a rooming house,” said Thomas after the flag raising ceremony.
While the Bing House is recognized around the city, Thomas revealed that there is lots of African American influence in Plant City. “You have individuals like Mr. Edward Jackson Marshall, who Marshall Middle School is actually named after,” he said.
Marshall Middle School, Bing House, and Lincoln Park all stand as a testament to the African American educators and entrepreneurs who made significant contributions to Plant City’s civic landscape, honoring their legacy and impact on generations people.
Setting The Stage: The Wilson Foundation Hosts Weekend Celebration
The Juneteenth celebrations in Plant City this year began the weekend prior to the official holiday, with a series of events organized by the Wilson Foundation, a local nonprofit dedicated to preserving African American history and culture in the region.
The Wilson Foundation’s three-day Juneteenth Celebration took place from June 13 to June 15, featuring a Harambee Worship service at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, “The Inclusion” community event at Roland L. Snowden Park with various local vendors, and the Annual Father’s Day Luncheon honoring Supt. Craig Smalley and Mrs. Jonnye B. Charlow-Butler. The 2026 celebration (June 19-21) will include the 4th Annual Freedom Parade with Grand Marshall Ms. Essie M. Lewis, the first African American to make it onto the Florida Strawberry Festival Queen’s Court.
Children’s Education Day at Plant City Resource Center
The day before the flag raising on Juneteenth itself, a celebration was held at the Plant City Resource Center, where a special educational program was organized for local children and families. The center transformed its space into an immersive lesson where children and their families could engage with African American history through arts, storytelling, and hands-on activities.
The education day event welcomed more than 40 children and 24 parents, each receiving age-appropriate lessons about slavery, emancipation, and the long struggle for civil rights that followed. Station topics ranged from Juneteenth to modern civil rights movements and African-American culture, with special emphasis on Florida’s specific history.
Tyheshia Scott, Director of Lutheran Services Children’s Board Family Resource Centers for Hillsborough County, says that children can grasp concepts like Juneteenth easily, and use their knowledge to spark conversations at home.
“One of the main things I always say when speaking about Black history, is the fact that this is American history,” said Scott, “This is not something made up, this is not something that didn’t happen. This is not something that happened to one small group of people…it’s a foundation of one of the things that make this country. “
One part of the event featured traditional southern foods that have become associated with Juneteenth celebrations, including red foods like strawberries, watermelon, and red velvet cake – symbols of resilience and the bloodshed of enslaved ancestors. Children learned about the cultural significance of these foods while enjoying samples prepared by local community members.
The event catered to a diverse audience of children and families, all engaged with the messages being taught. Joai Broughton, Center Manager of the Children’s Resource Center, emphasized the importance of teaching diverse history to all audiences and celebrating all sorts of people, especially in a place as diverse as Plant City. “We’re talking about Juneteenth now, but it’ll be the Caribbean Celebration next month, and it was AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) month last month. We’re on everything, because that is Hillsborough County.”
As the sun set over Plant City, the Juneteenth flag continued to flutter in the evening breeze, a visible symbol of a community engaged in the ongoing work of remembrance, education, and celebration a visible symbol of a community engaged in the ongoing work of remembrance, education, and celebration.
The three distinct events organized by different community groups had coalesced into a single powerful message: that the promise of freedom proclaimed on Juneteenth remains a work in progress, one that requires the commitment of each new generation.
For the residents of Plant City, Juneteenth 2025 will be remembered not only as a commemoration of history but also as a testament to what a community can achieve when it comes together to honor the past while building toward a more just future.
