Hannibal Square Heritage Center facts for kids

The Hannibal Square Heritage Center is a special place in Winter Park, Florida. It's like a community center that helps people learn about history and art. The Crealdé School of Art helps run it.

This center opened in 2007. You can find it in a historic neighborhood in Winter Park. It's on New England Avenue, just a couple of blocks west of Park Avenue.

The Crealdé School of Art, the City of Winter Park, and other groups like United Arts of Central Florida help pay for the center and its programs.

What the Center Aims to Do

The Hannibal Square Heritage Center has an important goal. It wants to honor the amazing things that African-American people in Winter Park have done, from the past to today and into the future.

Through fun and creative programs in art and history, the center hopes to inspire everyone in Central Florida. They want people to learn about, respect, explore, and join in their own community's history and heritage.

A Look Back: The Center's History

In the 1880s, a train track was built connecting Orlando to Sanford. The town of Winter Park grew up around this track. Hannibal Square, also known as the "west side" of Winter Park, officially started in 1881.

Black families lived in Hannibal Square. They did much of the hard work that built the town. They also worked in homes for wealthy white families. This helped many black residents get good jobs and educational chances.

A man named Gus Henderson owned a print shop. He encouraged black voters to cast their ballots to make Winter Park an official city. On October 12, 1887, Winter Park became a city. People elected a city council. Two black men from Hannibal Square, Walter B. Simpson and Frank R. Israel, were chosen to be part of this council.

Years later, people wanted to save the cultural history of the area. Ron Moore, the Community Center Director, and Peter Schreyer, the Crealdé Executive Director and a photographer, started an event called Heritage Day. The first Heritage Day was in March 2002. Many local people shared their old family photos and stories.

More Heritage Days followed. These events helped create a special collection called "The Heritage Collection: Photographs and Oral Histories of West Winter Park." It was first shown at the Winter Park Community Center. People loved it so much that they wanted a permanent place for it. So, on April 28, 2007, the City of Winter Park and the Crealdé School of Art opened the new Hannibal Square Heritage Center.

Explore the Exhibits

The center has several cool exhibits for you to explore:

• The Heritage Collection: Photographs and Oral Histories of West Winter Park – You'll find this on the first floor. It's a unique collection of over 100 historic photos, some from as far back as the 1880s! Each photo comes with personal stories about life in the community. Historians, cultural experts, and photographers worked with Hannibal Square residents. They shared their family photos and memories during six Community Heritage Days. The stories are shown with beautiful black and white photos and pictures of the people who shared them.
• The Hannibal Square Timeline – Also on the first floor, this timeline shows important local events. For example, it includes the founding of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in 1911. It also features big national events in African American history, like the election of President Barack Obama.
• Family History Research Library – Head to the second floor for this. Volunteers from the Unity Heritage Festival Foundation can help you discover your family's past. They use documents and tools like DNA testing. Meeting with them is free, but there's a cost if you choose to do DNA testing.
• Community Workshops by Visiting Artists – Every year, the Crealdé School of Art works with professional artists and community members. Together, they create public art pieces that become part of the center's collection. One example is the Hannibal Square Memory Wall. This wall sculpture was made in 2008 with artist Mr. Imagination, local artists, school children, and seniors.

Traveling Art Shows

On the second floor, there's a gallery that hosts different art shows throughout the year. These shows change three or four times annually. You might see amazing quilts, paintings, sculptures, and other art forms made by professional artists.

Fun Educational Programs

The center offers many programs, some just for kids!

• Heritage Collection Days – These days let residents and former residents add their own photos and stories to "The Heritage Collection."
• Free Art Sampler for Seniors – Older adults can take weekly classes to learn painting, drawing, printmaking, and ceramics.
• Free Art Sampler for Children – Kids aged 5 to 10 can join weekly classes. They learn the basics of sculpting, drawing, and painting. These classes are taught by Crealdé teachers.
• "What Heritage Means to Me" Field Workshop and Trip Program – This program is for students in grades 4–9. It includes a fun tour of the Heritage Center. After the tour, students create a group art project. They use their own family heritage as inspiration.

Annual Special Events

Each year, the center hosts a special artist who comes to stay and work. These guest artists involve the community in a public art project. People who join the workshops learn new art skills. They work together on an artwork that uses personal and family stories. This artwork then becomes a permanent part of the center's collection.