Williams Academy Black History Museum

Educating today’s generation about the trials and triumphs of Fort Myers’ Dunbar community

The Williams Academy Black History Museum preserves the history and culture of Black people in Lee County. Housed in the 1942 addition to the original 1913 Williams Academy building, the Williams Academy was one of the area’s first schools built for Black students using government funds. Both the original building and the addition were moved several times, with the addition serving as a stand-alone building on the Dunbar High School campus as a primary school with manual arts, fine arts, band, and choir classrooms, as well as a day care center, a migrant facility, and a storage room. The Lee County Black History Society, Inc. (LCBHS), acquired it in 1995, moved it to Roberto Clemente Park, and historically restored it, where they educate, preserve, and display the history and culture of black people in Lee County.

The Williams Academy Black History Museum is open Wednesday – Friday, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm, Saturday by appointment only. Free parking is available in the Roberto Clemente Park lot just east of the museum; enter from Henderson Avenue. Public restrooms are available in Roberto Clemente Park from dawn to dusk (the same hours as the park is open). Special thanks to our partners, the Lee County Black History Society, Inc. (LCBHS) and City of Fort Myers. More information about both the museum and LCBHS is available here.