{"id":17341,"date":"2024-01-01T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?p=17341"},"modified":"2024-02-02T13:25:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T18:25:56","slug":"exploring-tallahassees-january-history-day-by-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2024-01-01\/exploring-tallahassees-january-history-day-by-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Tallahassee\u2019s January history day by day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 1, 1934<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Grove catches fire<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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The Grove in 1930 (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

New Year\u2019s Day 1934 might have been a good day for the folks at the Grove<\/a>, the mansion built by Territorial Governor Richard Keith Call<\/a>, but the night of the first day of 1934 did not go well.  Around 10 pm that evening, a fire broke out on the top floor of the northern section of the building.  According to the Daily Democrat (the precursor to the Tallahassee Democrat) a strong wind spread the fire across the roof, which destroyed the building\u2019s entire north addition along with its contents.  The fire caused an estimated $6,000 in damage.  In 2023 dollars that would equate to more than $107,000.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ad for the Grove Hotel (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

At the time of the fire, Reinette Long Hunt, great-granddaughter of Governor Call, was the owner of the Grove.  Hunt, her mother Cora Gamble Long, and Hunt\u2019s brother Richard Call Long were all living at the Grove when the fire broke out in the 110-year-old house.  Hunt had been operating the former private home as a hotel.  It\u2019s believed that electrical problems caused the fire. Once the repairs were finished Reinette continued to run the Grove Hotel until she died in 1940. Eventually, The Grove was owned by Governor LeRoy Collins<\/a> and his wife Mary Call Darby Collins, who was another great-grandchild of Richard Keith Call.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Richard Call Long as a child (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

While the home was repaired after the fire, it led to another tragedy for the family.  Reinette\u2019s brother, fifty-year-old Richard, was injured while putting out the fire. He stepped on a nail and ended up with blood poisoning.  He never had a chance to fully recover. According to his obituary published two and half months later in the Daily Democrat, while still ill from his infection, he caught measles and then developed pneumonia. Richard Call Long died March 19, 1934.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the Grove is a museum and run by the State of Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 1, 1957<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Governor orders suspension of Tallahassee buses <\/strong>                                                                                             <\/h3>\n\n\n
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LeRoy Collins in 1958 (State Archives of Florida\/Barron)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On January 1st<\/sup>, 1957, Florida Governor Leroy Collins<\/a> used his emergency powers to shut down Tallahassee\u2019s Bus system.  For months, the city\u2019s black community had been boycotting the segregated bus lines. While the boycott had officially ended in December, the Inter Civic Council (ICC) had continued to organize protests, including the riding of the busses in a \u201cnon-segregated manner.\u201d  Threats against the ICC leaders grew.  On New Year\u2019s Eve, leaders of the ICC and their families were targeted with violence. Shotgun blasts destroyed Cornelius Speed\u2019s store window. His cousin, Dan Speed, was leading the \u201cRide the Bus Integrated\u201d campaign for the ICC. Meanwhile, bricks, and then rocks were thrown at the home of ICC leader Reverend C.K. Steele<\/a>. The rocks broke windows on both the first and second floors.  According to Glenda Alice Rabby\u2019s book \u201cThe Pain and the Promise,\u201d Steele was afraid that a bomb might follow the rocks, so his wife gathered his young children in the center of the house while he sat up all night with a loaded gun.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with the violence and threats targeting them, Steele and the ICC were not happy with the Governor\u2019s suspension of the bus service the next day.   In issuing the order, Collins said that he regretted stopping the buses, but also said he enacted the emergency order because the violence had \u201cseriously threatened the lives and well-being of citizens of both races as well as the peace, tranquility, and good order of the community.\u201d   While Collins condemned the violence of what he called \u201cextreme, rapid pro-segregationists,\u201d he also blamed black leadership for staging demonstrations and situations to get media coverage.  The bus system stayed shut down until February 12th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 2, 1957<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cross burned at Bethel Baptist Church in Tallahassee<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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Reverend C.K. Steele stands in front of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church holding a cross that was burned on the property. (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On this day in 1957, a four-foot cross was burned in front of the church run by Tallahassee Civil Rights leader, Reverend C.K. Steele.  <\/a>According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Steele\u2019s 12-year-old son, Clifford, spotted the fire at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church <\/a>around 9:30 pm. His mother called the police and the family put out the flames.   The cross was described as about 4 feet tall and covered in Spanish moss that had been soaked in Kerosene. Photos of Reverend Steele with the cross were taken the next day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Police Chief Frank Stoutamire told the Democrat that there was no evidence pointing to the culprits, the Steele family and other black leaders had been targeted by vandalism and violence due to their ongoing efforts to integrate the city\u2019s bus system. On New Year\u2019s Eve rocks had broken several windows at the Steele\u2019s home leading to the Governor suspending bus service in the city.  At the time of the fire, Reverend Steele had been at another church attending a meeting of the Inter Civic Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 2, 2000<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Music Great Passes Away<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n
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Adderley Quintet performing in 1969 at FAMU before a sold out crowd. Cannonball Adderley is on the front left playing the saxophone, Nat Adderley is on the front right playing the cornet (State Archives of Florida\/Stainer)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Legendary Jazz musician Nat Adderley died on this day in Lakeland, Florida at the age of 68. Born in Tampa on November 25, 1931, Adderley\u2019s family, including older brother Julian \u201cCannonball\u201d Adderley, moved to Tallahassee when Nat was very young.  His parents worked at Florida A&M College (FAMC).  Nat\u2019s father, Julian Adderley Sr. was also a professional musician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in a musical family, Nat played the trumpet and the cornet.  He not only performed as a teenager in the FAMC Marching band (the precursor to Florida A & M\u2019s Marching 100), but as a young man Nat and his brother performed at venues around Tallahassee with future music icon Ray Charles. Graduating from FAMC in 1951, Nat served in the army for two years. <\/p>\n\n\n

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The Adderley Amphitheater sign at Cascades Park in Tallahassee after it’s unveiling in 2023. (WFSU Public Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Adderley brothers gained fame while performing together in the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. Nat composed many songs, including his well-known \u201cThe Work Song.\u201d  Adderley once told an interviewer that watching convicts working to pave Pensacola Street in Tallahassee as a child inspired the song he wrote as an adult.  He said the call and response of the prisoners were instrumental in creating the song\u2019s unique sound.  The Quintet disbanded after Cannonball\u2019s death in 1975, but Nat continued to create and perform.  He worked on over 100 albums and was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nat Adderley died of complications from diabetes in 2000.  He is buried near his brother in Tallahassee at the Southside Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2023, Tallahassee\u2019s Cascades Park Amphitheater<\/a> was renamed in honor of the Adderley family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 7, 2023, <\/a>Florida A&M University\u2019s Board of Trustees voted to rename FAMU’s Institute for Research in Music and Entertainment Industry <\/a>Studies to honor the Adderley brothers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 2, 1981<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Red Barber takes to the NPR airwave<\/strong>s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On January 2, 1981, Sports Announcer Red Barber began weekly appearances on National Public Radio\u2019s Morning Edition<\/a> from his Tallahassee home.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Publicity photo of Red Barber on the air ((Photo credit: Beverly Frick)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Barber had become famous as a sportscaster during his four-decade career, announcing games for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Yankees.   He started off with the Reds in 1934, but it was during his time with the Dodgers in the 40s and 50s that his legendary status accelerated.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Red Barber in his Garden in the 1980s (State Archives of Florida)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Barber moved to Tallahassee with his wife, Lylah, in 1972.  Lylah had gone to school at Florida State College for Women and was familiar with the area. Despite his \u201cretirement,\u201d Barber continued to work. He covered sports in a weekly column in the Tallahassee Democrat and wrote several books, including \u201c1947: When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball\u201d which covered the time when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1981, Barber added a new item to his resume through a weekly conversation with Bob Edwards of NPR\u2019s Morning Edition about sports.  Each Friday morning, from his home in Waverly Hills, they would talk about current sports topics and other things, including the flowers around Barber\u2019s home. When WFSU Public Media built a new facility in the early 1980\u2019s it was named after Barber.   Barber continued the conversations on Morning Edition until he died in 1992 at the age of 84.<\/a>  After Barber passed away, the city created a special tribute garden to him in McCarty Park in Tallahassee\u2019s Chain of Parks).  Several camellias from his home were transplanted to the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n