Sitting precisely one mile from the Florida Capitol, The Grove Museum illustrates Black history in Tallahassee.
The building that now houses the museum was constructed between 1835 and 1840 under the direction of Richard Keith Call, Florida’s third and fifth territorial governor. Built by the skilled labor of enslaved people, the property served as Call’s residence until he transferred ownership to his daughter, Ellen Call Long, in 1851.
This month, the museum’s founding director, John Grandage, leads guided tours exploring Black history, Tallahassee’s past and broader themes of American history and preservation.
“The Black history tour here is especially important because that is part of what we talk about in the museum every day,” Grandage said. “The house itself is probably one of the most significant Black history-related pieces in the entire story I’ll tell you today.”
The property changed hands several times before being sold to the state of Florida in 1985 by its final owners, LeRoy and Mary Call Collins. The preservation of the property began in 2009 when the Florida Department of State started to work to convert the private residence into a public museum. Finally, the museum opened to the public in March 2017.
The tour begins at the back of the house in what’s known as the “Florida Room.” This room was built onto the back of the house in 1952 and is attached to an exterior brick wall of the original building.
During this section of the tour, museumgoers are shown a poster board with an image of the 1840 Census. The census data illustrates the number of occupants in Richard Keith Call’s home, including the enslaved people he owned. At the time of the 1840 Census, Call owned 66 people.
“Now, what’s most pertinent about this record for our story here today, 30 of the people…are listed in the column called manufacturing and trades,” Grandage said. These 30 people were among those who handmade the bricks used to make the original building.
As the tour continued, more history was revealed about the work done by the enslaved to construct the building that visitors walk through today.
The second tour stop explored the house’s first floor, where hallways were lined with photographs capturing Tallahassee during a rare 1950s snowstorm. The tour then moved into a room showcasing artifacts on Florida history, slavery in Florida, and the Civil War.
The third stop took place in the basement, featuring artifacts from the life of LeRoy Collins. Exhibits highlighted his U.S. congressional run, his role in the civil rights era, and his involvement with FAMU during the events leading up to the Tallahassee Bus Boycott.
Morgan Stutler, a senior curator at The Grove Museum, shared some insights about the work that went into creating the historic landmark. “The amount of research that went into the interpretation here at The Grove took quite literally years,” Stutler said. “And that was researching the individuals here, the artifacts that would go on display, the history behind said artifacts, and the overall story that we want to tell here at The Grove, which is that of slavery to civil rights.”
History lovers travel from out of town to soak in the story behind the museum. Brenda Rees traveled two hours to spend the day at The Grove Museum. “I enjoyed the breadth and depths, the interaction and learning a little bit more in-depth about Florida’s history and particularly the importance of the Black history,” Ress said.
Rees expressed the importance of spaces such as these that preserve history.
“I think it’s very important for people to get a real sense of history because perhaps there’s so much history out there that’s not in our books,” Rees said. “So it’s really important for people to get out and explore the actual archival places like this house to then get a more accurate up-to-date understanding of our history.”