Can I get a little personal here? The first thing I did when I moved to Sarasota two dozen years ago was to visit the library. The second thing I did was volunteer to help at an historic site.
And both of those things have influenced how
Continue reading
Don’t you love getting those photographic Christmas cards from family and friends? To cherish the ability to watch history being made as the kids grow? Remember, history isn’t in dusty old books. Sometimes it arrives in a red envelope with a Santa postage stamp. Today we share with you a Sarasota memory…
Continue reading
Is your house overwhelmed with books? You just can’t resist the opportunity to learn more… but there are books “stacked on the floor, books kept in baskets” and so on? Well, we’re here to help you save some space.
We’ve found some digital books that we think you’ll like, and all they occupy are some gently-used electrons that are infinitely recyclable… in other words…
If you know of more free reading about Florida and its history, please add them in the comments.
The Digital Library of the Caribbean offers:
The Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida by Jerald T. Milanich
The African American Heritage of Florida
The Architecture of Leisure, about the Flagler and Plant Hotels and how they formed a large part of our history.
The above books are also available in hard copy at University Press of Florida and would make wonderful gifts for Florida lover friends.
And another free book that will absorb you for hours, if not days, is available at The Artists of Old Florida by Fred Frankel (and be sure to dabble in the separate articles and artists listings on that site as well.)
We all want our gardens, whether we have a multi-acre spread or a pot on the balcony, to scream FLORIDA!
Well, here’s local folks to help, and to get native plants from. And their advice is wise, easy to get, and free. It’s available one day only, though.
Pensacola was the scene of a massive hurricane that changed the history of North America forever, illustrating the pivotal role that such storms played and continue to play in human affairs. A weeks-old settlement of over 1000 people, who had begun to clear land and even plat out residential lots, lost
Continue reading
Are you as bad at names as I am? Don’t you wish everything, from people to birds, wore their names on their chests?
The best kind of history? First-hand from people who lived it. You get a feeling for the times, see events through borrowed eyes, and have the opportunity to experience what life back then was like for those who lived through it. And the interviewers, who took the time and effort to create a slide show with photographs and other memorabilia, made these oral histories entertaining and enlightening. Enjoy
Continue reading
We’ve spent the last several years comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to the 1918 Spanish flu* and people have been complaining about tearing down buildings since, well forever. (What was there before they built the Colosseum? Kew Gardens? The Great Wall of China?) Have we never had a boom/bust cycle before in the History of Mankind** and what will we learn about soaring land prices this time around?
Now we’re in the midst of ever more expensive gas. Might they lead to shortages as in the early 70’s? Click to read more about how those shortages actually changed America.
* Yes it wasn’t Spanish but that’s what it was called when it happened.
** Okay, Humankind.
“Your penny at work.” That’s the slogan of the campaign asking voters to approve, in November 2022, a continuation of the county 1% sales tax. Many wonderful things have been financed by this income since it was first authorized in 1989, but never before has the history of our county been addressed. Understandably, we history lovers would be thrilled if some of that tax income could give a state-of-the-art home to not just the actual history archives (which is part of the county library system), but public space for gatherings and perhaps even exhibits. While the vote is not on how the funds will be spent… we need to vote for the “penny tax” to be renewed so that funds are available. Continue reading for a message from the President of the Historical Society of Sarasota County:
Since 1989 when it was first adopted by voters of Sarasota County, the 1% sales tax has improved the quality of life for everyone. The tax has been used to invest in schools, libraries, parks, water, the environment and more.
The tax is up for a vote again in November of 2022 and all friends of history are excited about it because one of the priority investments is a new 30,000 square-foot History Center, which will be the repository for all our precious documents, maps, photographs and objects that are central to understanding and honoring the history of our county. This is the first time that our history has been directly addressed with the one-cent surtax.
At the Historical Society of Sarasota County, we say it’s about time. Anyone who has recently visited our center for archival material, realizes that it’s been too small for too long. It’s time we treated our history with the respect it has always deserved.
We support the extension of the one-cent surtax and are looking forward to a new History Center.
Marsha Fottler, President
For complete information from the county government on the penny surtax and how it could be spent, including FAQs and other projects being considered, see https://www.sarasotacountysurtax.net/
It’s still too hot to do anything. If you visited our earlier post on brushing up on, or learning new things about, local history, we know you had a cool time. Here’s some more things that’ll keep you entertained and not all sweaty.
It’s on Tuesday July 12 at 2pm, and you do have to register for it, so get out your captain’s hat and enjoy The History of Tampa’s Ports. Can’t make the event? Click the photo above to read some Tampa port history.
Next up, we offer you:
If you’re from around here, you’ve for sure heard of the Albritton family. Read an article about their history in Floridiana magazine, learn about picking your own blueberries and sunflowers next spring (definitely put it on your calendar!), and follow Albritton Fruit Farms on Facebook.
One of the more ambitious websites I’ve run across, SRQWhatItUsedToBe is absorbing. The references are from 2017, so some might be a bit outdated, but this is great fun! There’s lots here, so be sure to read the instructions on how to search. Interested only in what’s still here NOW that was here a while back? Here’s the list. And he’s even tackled businesses on 41 in Bradenton (AKA 14th Street).
We all know it’s too hot in July to do anything. But brushing up on, or learning new things about, local history, can be cooling. Here’s a few suggestions:
Explore how the pioneers and settlers of what became Manatee County experienced the various armed conflicts during their time. From the Seminole Wars to World War I, settlers couldn’t escape the fall out of the Wars of Manatee. This exhibit will be open until October 2022 so put it on your calendar.
Map Credit: Military Map of Florida, 1856. Courtesy of the Special Collections Department, University of South Florida.
Florida Back Roads Travel has gathered up 25 towns “at the end of the road.” Some you may have visited… but others await. Assuming your vehicle has A/C and you can pack a refreshing jug of lemonade, it’s a great way to wile away a hot weekend.
The history of bathing suits... a fun article with even better photos! Florida Memory serves up some hot ways to stay cool. Yes, that’s a palm frond swimsuit, next to the alligator skin one… and of course, no Florida July day would be complete without a sea shells outfit, there on the right.
When I was a child, we all bought and wore crepe paper poppies to honor the fallen of all wars. I haven’t seen a single poppy seller this year, but I still think of poppies on Memorial Day. Do you, too?
The brutal clashes between Allied and Central Powers soldiers tore up fields and forests, wreaking havoc on
Continue reading
We’ve made available to all, two small publications on Sarasota history that can be difficult to find. They’re available, along with a full weekend’s worth of reading, on our Articles page. Our thanks to Board Member Deb Walk for the tech work on these two new additions, which have a lovely surprise: For those of you doing local history research,
Continue reading
Book yourself into some nature walks with knowledgable guides from UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County. They provide “practical education you can trust, to help people, businesses and communities solve problems, develop skills and build a better future. This service is a partnership between the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Sarasota County.”
Note that the tours pause in summer and begin again the fall. Yup. It’s too dang hot to be out in the sun in the summer. There’s a history lesson right there.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 