Forbidden love: the story of a master and his formerly enslaved lover in Tampa

We’re highlighting the impact African Americans have had on the Tampa Bay area. Fred Hearns, a historian with the Tampa History Center, highlights Nancy Ashley, a Black woman who was in a relationship with her former White master. They’d eventually be buried together in Oaklawn Cemetery. “Nancy Ashley came to Tampa as the enslaved person who belonged to her owner, William Ashley,” said Hearns. Hearns said they were both very young when they came to Tampa in 1850 from North Carolina.