The Florida Strawberry Festival returns to Plant City for the 89th time on Thursday, with thousands coming to the town to enjoy the food, music, and fun.
A Florida Strawberry Queen is selected each year. And while there’s never been a Black Strawberry Queen, many women have tried to shatter that barrier, for both the festival and the city's Black history.
The first Strawberry Festival was held in 1930, but it wasn't until 1968 when a Black girl first ran for Strawberry Queen.
“And I knew I wouldn't get close to winning, being the first Black, because it was prejudiced back then,” Marian Richardson said.
Richardson has spent her entire life in Plant City.
Some of her favorite memories of growing up were road trips from the small town to Jacksonville and Pompano Beach. Many places in between didn’t allow Black people to stop at their stores, so her parents would pack snacks and bake a cake for the trip.
She also remembers being one of the first households in her area to have a TV.
“Our house would be packed with kids like we were at the movie theater,” Richardson said.
When she was a Junior at Marshall High School, her friend, Larry Woodard, convinced her that she should try to become the first Black Strawberry queen.
“I was the first. That went down in history, Plant City history. I'm the very first African American that ran.”Marian Richardson
“I said ‘I don't know what I'm going to do for a talent,' ” Richardson said. “So he said, ‘I want you to do a disco-tech of dancing.’ So he would come over every day and work with me on my little routine that I was supposed to do.”
And try she did. She didn’t make it past the second round, but she knew even trying was more important than how she finished.
“I was the first,” Richardson said. “That went down in history, Plant City history. I'm the very first African American that ran.”
At the time, Richardson said there wasn’t much recognition for what she did. No local newspaper covered the achievement. But seeing the support in the crowd during the competition helped her realize her impact.
“Man, when I came out, they were cheering and jumping up and down,” Richardson said. “I can still see them now.”
Five years later, in 1973, Essie Lewis decided she would run.
'A queen of the Black community'
When she was in 10th grade, integration in school meant Lewis was transferred from Tomlin Middle School to Turkey Creek High School. She ended up being the first Black cheerleader at the school.
“That was the beginning of my breaking barriers,” Lewis said.
A year later, Lewis would end up being the first African American woman to make it on the Strawberry Queen court, finishing second.
She remembers arguing with her mother and makeup artist over how much makeup she had to put on.
“I say I think I'm pretty without makeup,” Lewis said. “She said you're going to put on makeup. So I wound up wearing makeup. And I thought I was terrible looking. Well, apparently not. I placed.”
Although she finished just short of winning the crown, Lewis said she felt as though she had already won.
“I'm a queen of the Black community,” Lewis thought to herself at the time. “I broke a barrier. I did something that was needed to be done.”
Years later, Lewis said she told Richardson about how her running half a decade prior helped Lewis during her run.
“You opened the door,” Lewis told Richardson. “And I said then that gave us the room to walk in. And I said, even though I didn't want to walk in, I got that push.”
Both say they’re unsure if they’ll see a Black Strawberry Queen.
“I would love to see it, and I think in the future, times are changing,” Lewis said. “That possibility stands a chance.”
Helping establish a legacy for Black women
Sharon Moody decided not to wait for that day.
The Plant City native is known locally for her role in the community. She leads the Black Heritage Celebration in Plant City, is president of the local Kiwanis Club, and holds plenty of other titles.
In 1989, she created Miss Junior Black Plant City.
“[The girls] felt like they couldn't participate in the Strawberry Festival Queens contest,” Moody said. “And I said, 'may we get something going in our own side of our own community?' ”
Moody says she asked the Strawberry Festival leadership at the time if they would allow Miss Junior Black Plant City and the court to take part in the parade.
“It just encouraged me looking back at past Strawberry Queens and past court members. That encouraged me to want to go out for something like this and it made me feel even better that I made it because I was like OK, now I can encourage little girls to be in something like this.”Zion Keese
At first, they were denied. But a couple years later, they changed their minds. Moody was in charge of driving the convertible with the court on it during the parade.
“You could tell by the reaction of some people, you know, by the facial expression, or when we would wave but no one wanted to wave back to them … there's little pushback, but that's that was fine. That was fine,” Moody said.
That tradition would continue for two decades, eventually becoming just Miss Junior Plant City to become more inclusive.
Moody says she’s optimistic that there will one day be a Black Strawberry Queen.
Inspired by their history
And it’s gotten about as close as possible multiple times. Just this year, Zion Keese, a senior at Durant High School, made it on the Strawberry Queens Court. She says learning about the history of the women who came before her is inspiring.
“It just encouraged me looking back at past Strawberry Queens and past court members,” Keese said. “That encouraged me to want to go out for something like this and it made me feel even better that I made it because I was like OK, now I can encourage little girls to be in something like this.”
And she’s confident that the Strawberry Festival will be represented by a Black Strawberry Queen soon.
“There isn't a strawberry queen that looks like me,” Keese said. “So it would just be even more of an accomplishment to a community, like just encouraging the community. You can make it as long as you continue to work hard.”
And remember the hard work of the women who came before, to pave the way for that history, when it eventually does happen.
