Florida Conversations: The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers

Join this season’s Florida Conversations for an exploration of African American history in Thoroughbred racing. This program features Roda Ferraro, director of the Keeneland Library and curator of The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers, a traveling exhibition hosted by the Tampa Bay History Center.

Through a talk and audience Q&A, Ferraro highlights the lives and careers of African American horsemen and women from the mid-1800s to today. From nationally celebrated jockeys and trainers to the skilled caretakers who worked behind the scenes, the program examines how generations of Black professionals shaped the racing industry across the United States, often in the face of systemic exclusion.

Florida Conversations is free and open to the public. It is underwritten by the Tampa Bay History Center Endowment Fund at the University of South Florida with media sponsorship from WUSF Public Broadcasting. The series is co-sponsored by USF Libraries and the Tampa Bay History Center. Online reservations are encouraged.

Florida Conversations will be presented in-person, in TECO Hall at the History Center, and virtually through Zoom. A recording will be posted on YouTube after the event.

About the Speaker

Roda Ferraro is director of the Keeneland Library and a curator specializing in the history and culture of Thoroughbred racing. With more than twenty years of experience in library, museum, and educational leadership, her work centers on expanding access to historical collections and amplifying underrepresented narratives within the sport.