Duckwall Lecture: “Ybor, the City Cigars Built”

Watch the recording of the 17th Annual Frank E. Duckwall Lecture, presented by the Frank E. Duckwall Foundation and Tampa Bay History Center.

This special lecture celebrates Ybor City and the 140th anniversary of the first cigar rolled there. Historian Gary Mormino, Ph.D., returns to the Tampa Bay History Center for an evening of history, storytelling, and unforgettable characters, drawing on decades of research and personal encounters to explore the people, traditions, and contradictions that shaped one of the Tampa Bay area’s most storied communities.

From colorful local figures to legendary names like Tony Pizzo, this lecture offers a memorable look at Ybor City’s past and the personalities who helped define Tampa. Blending deep scholarship with engaging storytelling, Dr. Mormino reflects on why Ybor City’s legacy continues to matter today.

Gary Mormino, Ph.D., is the Frank E. Duckwall Professor of History Emeritus at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. He received the Florida Humanities 2015 Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing and has served as a Florida Humanities scholar-in-residence. His recent books include “Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams” and “Dreams in the New Century: Instant Cities, Shattered Hopes, and Florida’s Turning Point.”

Established in 1983, the Frank E. Duckwall Foundation supports efforts to make Florida history accessible to the Tampa Bay community and advance research into the state’s past.

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