NEXT PRESENTATION

February 18, 2026, 7:00 PM, FT. MYERS, IMAG MUSEUM
Speaker: Dr. Jonathan Harrison
Topic: JIM CROW IN FT. MYERS 1885-1930

Black history in this area began in 1867 with the arrival of Nelson Tillis and his purchase of 110 acres of land to raise his family that eventually totaled 11 children. At one time they lived on the Caloosahatchee River next to the Henry Ford estate on MacGregor Avenue. The arrival of the Atlantic Coast Railroad in Ft. Myers in 1904 ushered in the segregation of the city with an influx of Old Southern whites who were nakedly pro-Confederate and Blacks were pressured to move east of the railway line to an area called Safety Hill. In 1915 the KKK was revived in Atlanta and by 1923 the movement had spread to Ft. Myers where the Klan paraded through the streets of town and in 1924, the Fort Myers Press advocated for a white voting primary and white supremacy. Two weeks later, two young black boys were lynched on the oak trees up Cranford Avenue. Learn about these and other stories about the Black historical experience in Ft. Myers.

A native of the UK, Dr. Jonathan Harrison completed his PhD at the University of Leicester and is visiting professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. His doctorate focused on the history of racism, and he was inspired by the PBS documentary, “Eyes on the Prize”, and the writings of W.E.B. DuBois. After moving to Southwest Florida, Dr. Harrison realized that the region had opportunity for academic study within the area of his social science research.