Florida Women – Familiar and Forgotten

A presentation of the Historical Society of Sarasota County by Historian Hope Black as part of the Viva Florida 500 celebration

Do you know anything about Julia Tuttle, Mahulda Carrier, Carrie Abbe, Rose Wilson, or Victoria Brandon? Probably not, but you should. These women along with more familiar names such as Marie Selby, Bertha Palmer, Mabel Ringling, Zora Neale Hurston and Harriet Beecher Stowe comprise a lively and informative presentation by Sarasota-based Florida historian Hope Black who aims to uncover the lives and achievements of women who made their way to Florida between 1842 and 1918 and had a huge impact on the growth and development of this state.

Black’s presentation takes place on Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Historical Society of Sarasota County in the Crocker Memorial Church, 1260 12th Street (Pioneer Park), Sarasota.

In her presentation Black covers the lives and achievements of a slave, authors, educators, a business women, a conservationist, a Native American and ordinary women who came to Florida with skills yet to emerge and found within themselves the power and resourcefulness to make a difference in how the State of Florida developed.

Hope Black will give an illustrated presentation and then conduct a question-and- answer session about the extraordinary and diverse group of women who came to Florida in the 19th and 20th centuries and made significant changes in the culture and landscape of the state. Members of Historical Society will be admitted free; the general public, $10.

Hope Black, originally from Rochester, New York, received her Masters Degree in Liberal Arts – Florida Studies from the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. She wrote her thesis on Bertha Honore Palmer and has concentrated her research through the years on people who have been important in the evolution of the Sunshine State. Black is a frequent speaker on Florida History and member of the Historical Society of Sarasota County as well as a former board member.