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Invisible Immigrants. Spaniards in the U.S. (1868-1945)

MAR. 1, 2025 - AUG. 3, 2025

After touring in Spain for five years, the exhibition arrives stateside to reveal the hidden history of the Spanish American diaspora at the turn of the 20th century. This history has been carefully preserved through the legacy of thousands of Spanish immigrants, passed down from generation to generation. Read more

Prudencio “Pete” García, shortly after arriving in St. Louis, Missouri, from Asturias, Spain, in 1907. García would go on to become a prominent figure in the city’s Spanish immigrant community, a talented soccer player and official, and a key promoter of youth soccer. In 1950, he made history as the first American to serve as an official at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. (Courtesy of Donald García†, son of the boy portrayed in the photo.)
Invisible Immigrants

Current exhibits

Mapping the American Sea: A Cartographic History of the Gulf of Mexico

AUG. 3, 2024 - APRIL 27, 2025

America’s history has been largely written as an inevitable march from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, an unstoppable manifest destiny starting with the English colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth, and ending with the California Gold Rush and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. This narrative downplays – or outright ignores – the role that the Gulf of Mexico and the states (and countries) bordering it have played throughout the last 500 years. Mapping the American Sea seeks to reset that narrative and place the Gulf States, particularly Florida, along with Mexico and Cuba, in their proper context as crucial players in the history and development of the United States and North America.

The Hernán Cortés letter with accompanying map was purchased through the generosity of Tom Touchton, Nancy and Bob Bolt, and Nell Ward.

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Invisible Immigrants

MARCH 1 - AUG. 3, 2025

The Tampa Bay History Center is proud to present the highly acclaimed exhibition "Invisible Immigrants. Spaniards in the U.S. (1868-1945)" for the first time in the United States. After touring in Spain for five years, the exhibition arrives stateside to reveal the hidden history of the Spanish American diaspora at the turn of the 20th century. This history has been carefully preserved through the legacy of thousands of Spanish immigrants, passed down from generation to generation.

Read More

Invisible Immigrants
Mapping the American Sea

Permanent exhibits

Touchton Map Library

The Touchton Map Library and Florida Center for Cartographic Education is home to thousands of maps, charts, and other documents dating back from the early European exploration of North America more than 500 years ago up through the early 21st century.

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Treasure Seekers

Conquistadors, Pirates, and Shipwrecks: Featuring a 60-foot, 18th-century pirate ship as its centerpiece, this permanent gallery introduces you to the explorers who landed in “La Florida” more than 500 years ago as well as little-known pirates like “Calico” Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny, who prowled Florida’s coasts in the 1700s.

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War Stories focuses on participants or those serving on the home front in the wars that have touched our state and region since the 1830s.
Plan of the Village of Tampa
Cuban Pathways The Exhibition member reception

Past exhibits and virtual gallery tours

Founded in 1989 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, the History Center opened its new 60,000-square-foot facility on Water Street in 2009. Since then, we've presented more than 50 exhibitions in the Wayne Thomas Gallery and Saunders Foundation Gallery. Explore the archive and discover past lectures, blog posts, and classroom resources.

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