Tampa Bay History Center author - Billy Somerville

About Billy Somerville

Senior Director of Marketing and Communications

The Tampa Bay History Center welcomed Billy Somerville as its Director of Marketing and Communications in 2021. Billy leads the History Center’s external communication and content strategy across media channels with over a decade of experience in the Tampa Bay area.

For all media inquiries, please call, email, or text Billy to reach a History Center historian.

Articles by Billy Somerville

Videos

Tampa 250 Years Ago to Now

This episode of Tampa Tea, a podcast by the City of Tampa, features Rodney Kite-Powell, official Hillsborough County Historian and director of the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay …

Jun 25, 2026

Exhibitions

America at the Crossroads extended through summer at the Tampa Bay History Center

The Tampa Bay History Center is extending "America at the Crossroads: The GUITAR and a Changing Nation" through Aug. 23, 2026, due to popular demand and as part of its America250 programming.

May 05, 2026

Tampa Bay History

Long-lost cutter, local memory and mural outside our door

The wreckage of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa has been located off Cornwall, bringing new attention to a World War I tragedy remembered in a mural outside the Tampa Bay History Center.

Apr 30, 2026

Videos

Duckwall Lecture: “Ybor, the City Cigars Built”

Watch the recording of the 17th Annual Frank E. Duckwall Lecture as historian Gary Mormino, Ph.D., celebrates Ybor City and the 140th anniversary of the first cigar rolled there.

Apr 23, 2026

Press Release

Tampa Bay History Center opens Tampa Bay Timeline exhibit with more than 75 artifacts

TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay History Center has opened Tampa Bay Timeline, a new exhibit that traces West Central Florida history from Indigenous peoples to the present through more …

Jan 28, 2026

Press Release

Janine Quarles Adkins named program manager for Tampa’s Black History Museum

Janine Quarles-Adkins has been appointed program manager for Tampa’s Black History Museum, located at 1213 N. Central Ave. in Tampa’s Central Park neighborhood.

Jan 08, 2026

Press Release

Tampa Bay History Center offers members 20% off on Museum Store Sunday, Nov. 30

On Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, the Museum Store at the Tampa Bay History Center will offer current members 20% off during the ninth annual Museum Store Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

Nov 05, 2025

Press Release

Tampa Bay History Center wins multiple Best of the Best 2025 awards

The Tampa Bay History Center has been recognized in the Tampa Bay Times Best of the Best 2025 People’s Choice Awards, earning gold in three categories: local tourist attraction, museum and wedding venue. The History Center also received a bronze award for gift shop.

Aug 27, 2025

Press Release

The Tampa Bay History Center Names International Library and Cultural Heritage Leader Audrey Chapuis as its Next President and CEO

The Tampa Bay History Center proudly announces the appointment of Audrey Chapuis as its next President and CEO, following unanimous approval by the Board of Trustees.

Aug 22, 2025

Press Release

Tampa Bay History Center reels in the past with ‘The Lure of Florida Fishing’ exhibit

Opening Saturday, August 23, 2025, in the Wayne Thomas Gallery TAMPA, Fla. – A new traveling exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center casts a line into Florida’s fishing heritage, …

Aug 06, 2025