Newtown Alive

Newtown Alive Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Newtown Alive, Cultural Center, Sarasota, FL.

The mission of the Newtown Conservation Historic District is to celebrate the history and cultural heritage of Newtown — a resilient community undergoing revitalization.

All the best wishes in retirementto my friend, and an education giant. Dr. Harriet Moore, former proud principal of McIn...
06/22/2026

All the best wishes in retirement
to my friend, and an education giant. Dr. Harriet Moore, former proud principal of McIntosh Middle School is a natural leader.

She later became a Sarasota County School district administrator.

How did she learn leadership? Her mother was a Newtown entrepreneur. Estella Moore-Thomas owned Moore’s Grocers at a time when African American residents couldn’t shop at other grocery stores.

Harriet helped her mom run the store as a child.

The Newtown business that still bears the family’s name supplied the community with groceries and fresh produce. Before Moore’s, she rented a store in the building once occupied by Eddie’s Fruit Stand.

Congrats!
Oh the Places You'll Go!

Happy Father’s Day to all. My dad, Charles “Billy” Oldham. My mom met him at Kentucky State University. He played footba...
06/21/2026

Happy Father’s Day to all.
My dad, Charles “Billy” Oldham.
My mom met him at Kentucky State University. He played football, was a visual artist and served in Korea.
I remember his charming personality and smile.
My mom didn’t stand a chance.

06/21/2026

BHS Class of 1966 taught us some history.
They’d go the Neil Humphrey’s pharmacy on Dr. King Jr. Way and Osprey after church.
Delores Johnson:

06/21/2026

Cornerstones of the Newtown community: Family. Church. School.
Booker High School is beloved and the ❤️ is personified by the BHS Class of 1966.

NAACP leaders and activists fought the Sarasota County School Board to keep the school open and won!

Juneteenth trolley tour, 2026.Booker High School Class of 1966.We all let go and told some secrets (and…lies).CraZy fun,...
06/21/2026

Juneteenth trolley tour, 2026.

Booker High School Class of 1966.

We all let go and told some secrets (and…lies).
CraZy fun, laughter, sweet memories filled with singing the sound track of our lives.

Freedom O’ Freedom.I joined students in Mrs. Barbara Harvey’s Education Consultants summer program for a visit to the Ga...
06/21/2026

Freedom O’ Freedom.

I joined students in Mrs. Barbara Harvey’s Education Consultants summer program for a visit to the Gamble Plantation. I was happy to join a group because I’d never go alone. It feels creepy.

It’s a place I drive by…and keep going. Reminders about how our enslaved ancestors were treated is painful. But I need to understand what happened there.

Chandra Carty has completed research about her family’s history on the plantation in Ellenton.

Chandra went deep. I wanted to hear more. She is working to produce a digital replica of Gamble’s sugar mill.

What’s making me smile? Manatee County’s embrace of the Angola story. Ain’t that something? Communities like ours are co...
06/19/2026

What’s making me smile? Manatee County’s embrace of the Angola story. Ain’t that something? Communities like ours are coming to understand the benefits of showcasing Black history.

New tourism audiences are reached. Tourists spend.

The Angola site is listed on the Natl Underground Network to Freedom (National Park Service).

There are more history products: A comic book series. A marker at Manatee Mineral Springs in a beautiful riverside park. A timeline inside a historic house. Artifacts. Sherry Svekis and her team at Reflections of Manatee continue the work that began as “Looking for Angola.”

Angola Forever!Before there was Newtown Alive or the historic Leonard Reid House, I was dabbling in the study of 1800s B...
06/18/2026

Angola Forever!

Before there was Newtown Alive or the historic Leonard Reid House, I was dabbling in the study of 1800s Black Seminole history.

“Looking for Angola” made my career transition flow smoothly from tv news to higher ed marketing to cultural heritage tourism.

WEDU TV's special unit is crafting a documentary short about the Angola Settlement in East Bradenton. They are an exceptional team that truly elevate the art of storytelling.

Summer campers at the Reid House color Freedom. Young leaders at Reid House unleash their creativity, celebrating freedo...
06/17/2026

Summer campers at the Reid House color Freedom.

Young leaders at Reid House unleash their creativity, celebrating freedom and unity through art. They learn the significance of Juneteenth and the powerful symbolism of the red, white, and blue flag.

The official Juneteenth flag uses the exact colors of the American flag: red, white, and blue…deliberately to symbolize that enslaved people and their descendants are American citizens.

This week’s activities: a scavenger hunt and interactive game.

There’s a retreat happening called, “Selah by the Sea.” I was honored to share Lido Beach and Newtown history with a gro...
06/16/2026

There’s a retreat happening called, “Selah by the Sea.” I was honored to share Lido Beach and Newtown history with a group of women from Boston, Baltimore, Charlotte, DC; Virginia, Maryland, CA, FL, NY and NJ.

I told them about our scrapping, courageous, resilient, determined pioneers. There’s Black history in all corners of Sarasota.

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