Our Historical Peers

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May we offer an alternative?

Afternoons at the Mansion in Phillippi Estate Oark, 5500 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, on Sunday Feb. 20 2022, a presentation on the Lost Towns of Sarasota County by HSoSC Advisory Board member Kate Holmes. A fund-raiser to help create a History Museum in the Keith Farmhouse, built 1915. It starts at 2 PM, seating is extremely limited, and you can get your tickets from the County by calling 941-861-7275.

Being super-cautious, the Board has canceled February ‘s Conversation at The Crocker as well as February’s Sunday Afternoon Social.

We are still holding Sparkly Saturday on Sat. Feb. 12, which is both indoors in well-ventilated space and outdoors on our Porch,

Sparkly Saturday is a wonderful pre-loved jewelry sale in the Crocker Memorial Church, and a Tag Sale on the Bidwell-Wood House Porch. Parking and admission are free, and the sale runs from 8am to 2pm on Saturday February 12.

and our traditional Historical Sarasota Bay Cruise on March 6 (spots filling up since we’re limiting numbers; get your reservations in NOW by calling Linda M-F 10 to 2 at 941-364-9076 or emailing hsosc1@gmail.com)…

The Historical Society of Sarasota County has presented our Historic Sarasota Bay cruise for over 25 years.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County has presented our Historic Sarasota Bay cruise for over 25 years. This year we are limiting the number of passengers and providing Snack Bites rather than open food on our buffet, and the weather’s always fine. Call Linda in our Campus Office M-F 10 to 2, at 941-364-9076 to assure your spot!

We’re happy to announce a peer event: Afternoons at the Mansion is a GO.

The Keith Mansion in Phillippi Estate Park at 5500 S. Tamiami Trail, was built by a Chicago couple in 1916. The Mansion itself is amazing, and in the classic living room they are presenting Lost Towns of Sarasota County with Kate Holmes, an HSoSC past Board member. This is not an HSoSC event, but it is sponsored by our peers and supporters, a not-for-profit formed to raise money to help fund a future local history venue in the neighboring the Edson Keith Farmhouse (1915). 

Again, limited numbers admitted to the Mansion so reserve NOW. Call 941-861-7275 to reserve your seat.

The Historical Society’s current Calendar of Events can always be seen on our Events Page here.

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January Local History Events

I’m feeling bad about leaving you in the lurch here at the Historical Society of Sarasota County, what with our two upcoming events (Conversation on Jan 11 and Sunday Afternoon Social on Jan 16) being cancelled, so here’s some substitutes to keep you and your brain occupied until we meet again.

Exercise your

Continue reading →
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Walking tour of Granada Neighborhood

Time for #whattodothisweekend, brought to you by the Historical Society of Sarasota County. See more, each week, on our Facebook page.

Saturday morning, join our historic peers, the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, on their hour-long walking tour of the Granada neighborhood. Admission is $25.

Learn about the Alliance

And don’t forget, next Tuesday, November 9 (finally, our first since 2020!), is our Conversation at the Crocker at 7PM in the historic Crocker Memorial Church, 1260 12th Street, Sarasota. Free to members (you can join at the door) and $10 to not-yet members. This month’s topic.

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Centennial Celebration Video

As we celebrate the county’s centennial year, each historic group was tasked with creating something that would entertain and educate the public. Kathryn Chesley, member of the Board of Directors at the Historical Society, wrote and directed a play reading which was then video-taped for easy sharing. President Marsha Fottler says: “WKathryn Chesleye are ready with the production and our organization’s contribution to the Centennial celebration.” Here’s the details:
Title: The Roads We Took to Sarasota County
Run time: 1 hour
Available by: Contacting the Historical Society of Sarasota County
                     Available to any organization who plans to use it with a Centennial event
Cost: Donation to the Historical Society of Sarasota County, There is no set amount for the donation. It is whatever the organization wishes to donate
To use: Contact Linda Garcia, manager of Historical Society who will provide a way to unlock the link to the video. Organization can then use the video.
Contact phone number: 941-364-9076
In Addition:
The play will be shown on Tuesday, November 9, at 7:00pm at the Crocker Memorial Church, 1260 12th Street, Sarasota, Fl. The actors will be present as well as Kathryn Chesley, the writer and director along with Frank Cassell, from whose book the facts were taken.
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You, too, can make history.

How do we know what we know?

Research. And more research. And double-checking to make sure that what we present to the reading/ viewing audience is not only correct, but applicable to the topic we’re discussing,

Best resources for getting the facts, and the tone, of past happenings right? Primary sources. And guess what?

You. Are. A. Primary. Resource.

That diary you kept in grade school (or did you call it elementary school, or primary school? Your diary might be the crucial clue for regional word choice.)

Example of a family photo to be used as a primary source by historians

Family photos give real-life clues about fashion.

Your college transcript, the photos of your first car in front of your first apartment. Your snaps of the relatives at a wedding. Maybe even those films of the Christmas parade or the audio tapes of your uncles reminiscing about ice-fishing on the Great Lakes.

You can digitize old papers (here’s how if you use a MAC computer and here’s how if you have Adobe Acrobat), transcribe your (admittedly less-than-Palmer-Method) handwriting into text, make sure those generation-back relatives’ images are correctly captioned. You can contact the historical society or government archives* in the town you grew up in/ camped near/ visited, to ask what they can use.

You can even help preserve web pages for future researchers. It’s as easy as a few clicks. Read how on The Wayback Machine.

Interested in preserving physical artifacts for your family? Explore our series You Can Do It.

* We at the Historical Society of Sarasota County do not have the resources to preserve artifacts. A guide to what the Venice Museum and Archives can accept is here. Sarasota County’s Historical Resources contact info is here. Florida Memory is interested in some items as well; read their FAQs here.

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Back to school, thanks to Mary McLeod Bethune

Back-to-school comes earlier in the year for teachers than students, so let’s take a moment to give seasonal honors to

…Author, educator, and African American Civil Rights leader, Mary McLeod Bethune, was born in Mayesville, South Carolina in 1875. The fifteenth child of former slaves, Bethune knew from a young age that education was the key to success. She attended Scotia Seminary School, and the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Bethune moved to Palatka, Florida, in 1899 and began teaching.
She moved to Daytona in 1904, and in October of that year opened the Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls. She worked tirelessly to keep the school open by gaining support from wealthy benefactors, many from outside Florida.
In 1931 the school was merged with the Cookman Institute, establishing a coeducational junior college known as Bethune-Cookman College (now University). She was involved in a number of civic groups including the National Council of Negro Women, the National Youth Administration (a WPA program), the National Association of Colored Women, the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, and many others. She was a close friend of President Franklin and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and devoted her life to the education and betterment of African Americans.

from Jax Examiner

More on Mary McLeod Bethune:

From National Women’s History Museum
and PBS’s American Experience
and Bethune-Cookman University
and Biography.com

More on African American schools in Florida history:

From Orange County Regional History Center
and Palm Beach County History
and a video from 10 Tampa Bay’s “Deep Dive” on current, 2020, teaching of Black history

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Can you hear a pin drop?

Is it just, well, too quiet around your place? We have some audio suggestions.

With selections like Fire on the Mountain, Pat Shields, John McCutcheon & the Roberts Brothers,
Florida Memory Radio is presented by the State Archives of Florida. It is part of the Florida Memory Program, whose mission is to provide free online access to a growing number of archival resources from the collections of the State Library and Archives.

Florida Memory Radio provides worldwide, around-the-clock access to the Florida Folklife Collection recordings housed in the State Archives of Florida. Programming includes bluegrass & old-time, blues, folk, gospel, Latin and world music. Through the work of folklorists and archivists, as well as the legacy of creation passed on to future generations by the artists themselves, this music is preserved and enjoyed.

The Brox Sisters plus teddy bear!

(As curious as I am? Click the pic for The Brox Sisters doing Marlene Dietrich)

Florida Frontiers: The Weekly Radio Magazine of the Florida Historical Society is a weekly, half-hour radio program, a combination of interview segments and produced features covering history-based events, exhibitions, activities, places and people in Florida. We explore the relevance of Florida history to contemporary society and promote awareness of heritage and culture tourism options in the state. Stream them whenever it gets too quiet at home.

And finally, If you like moving pictures served up with your audio, we offer up Florida Frontiers Television.

(And when you get tired of all the noise, turn the speakers off and read all the Florida history articles they have for you here.)

There, these free sources should liven the amosphere up. Enjoy!

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2020 Hero of History Honoring Jon Thaxton

Edited: Due to the COVID crisis, this celebration has been rescheduled for Thursday, November 18, 2021. Join us then to honor Jon Thaxton as our latest Hero of History!

2020 Hero of History awarded to Jon Thaxton by the Historical Society of Sarasota County

Michaels on East

Wednesday March 18, 2020

Thursday November 18, 2021

Registration 11:30am

Luncheon & Program Noon

Tickets – Individual $100
Sponsorships:
Environmentalist $2,500
Bird Lover $1,000
Scrub Jay $250
For more information contact Linda Garcia
HSOSC 941-364-9076 or hsosc1@gmail.com
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Thank you, Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation!

The Historical Society of Sarasota Cpunty's campus in Pioneer Park, captured by Greg WilsonA $5,000 grant has been received to help fund improvements to the interior of the historic Crocker Memorial Church (1901). The grant comes from the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation.

“This grant will help bring Crocker Church back to what it looked like in 1901 when Peter Crocker built it as a community gathering place and for worship,” said Howard Rosenthal, President of the Historical Society.

“Preservation architects Greg Hall and Linda Stevenson did an analysis of the Crocker interior and suggested ways that we could improve and stabilize the building. We are following those recommendations with the Alliance grant.

“One of the best things about this grant is that it demonstrates how the Alliance fulfills its mission to preserve historic structures in Sarasota County and it certainly furthers our mission as we curate the Crocker Memorial Church building and the Bidwell-Wood House (1882) for educational outreach and as gathering places for community events that celebrate history.”

Events are held in both buildings on the Historical Society’s campus in Pioneer Park. Civic meetings, book clubs, theatrical performances, monthly history-oriented programs organized by HSOSC, art shows and much more keep our locale active and engaging. Both buildings were moved from other locations to Pioneer Park by the City of Sarasota in 2006 and placed under the protection of the Historical Society of Sarasota County, a 450-member organization.

Over the past few years the Crocker Memorial Church has become a destination for small country weddings with the reception on the front and back porches of the Bidwell-Wood House. With the structural improvements made possible by the Alliance grant of $5,000, the Crocker Church building (which was decommissioned as a church in 2006) will become even more accessible to the community.

Save

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Earlye Musicke in Historic Crocker Church

On Tuesday March 22, 2016 the Sarasota Earlye Musicke Consort will be performing for the 4th season in a row for members and guests of the Historical Society of Sarasota County.  The program will be presented at the Crocker Memorial Church in Pioneer Park,  1260 12th Street (between US41 and Cocoanut Avenue) beginning at 7pm.

Earlye Musick Consort will perform at Historical Society of Saraspota County on March 22 2016The members of this consort, performing in period costume, play music dating from the 14th century to the 21st century on recorders and viols. This concert is free for HSOSC members; a $10 donation is requested from guests.  The group is led by Charlotte Trautwein.

The Sarasota Earlye Musicke Consort was recently awarded a 15 year certificate by the National American Recorder Society, recognizing the ensemble’s contribution to Sarasota and the surrounding communities.  The Sarasota chapter of ARS recently hosted the national board meetings for ARS at the Crocker Memorial Church, where they gather for class and group playing for intermediate and advanced players every week.

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Earlye Musicke in Historic Crocker Church

On Wednesday, April 1, 2015 the Sarasota Earlye Musicke Consort will be performing for the third season in a row for members and guests of the Historical Society of Sarasota County.  The program will be presented at the Crocker Memorial Church in Pioneer Park,  1260 12th Street (between US41 and Cocoanut Avenue) beginning at 7pm.

An early musical instrument

This is a viol de gamba!

The members of this consort, performing in period costume, play music dating from the 14th century to the 21st century on recorders and viols. This concert is free for HSOSC members; a $5 donation is requested from guests.  The group is led by Charlotte Trautwein.

The Sarasota Earlye Musicke Consort was recently awarded a 15 year certificate by the National American Recorder Society, recognizing the ensemble’s contribution to Sarasota and the surrounding communities.  The Sarasota chapter of ARS recently hosted the national board meetings for ARS at the Crocker Memorial Church, where they gather for class and group playing for intermediate and advanced players every week.

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Even the kids & the grandkids support Sarasota history!

The Historical Society of Sarasota County loves the Keith Farmhouse restoration!
Did you know that the Farmhouse Market, in Phillippi Estate Park, is managed by Friends of Sarasota County Parks? This non-profit volunteer organization improves the life of current-day Sarasotans and visitors as well as helps maintain our ties to our past history.

Bring your children to the 4th Annual Children’s Day in the Park, at Phillippi Estate Park on Wed. March 11th, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

In addition to the sights and yummy tastes of the weekly market, there will be games of skill and balance by Krisztina. Plenty of vendors in the Arts/Crafts, live music by Siesta John and local authors too.

You can even bring your pooch to this weekly Farmhouse Market, where you find over 50 purveyors of locally grown and produced fresh produce, fish, honeys, teas, pet items, and much, much more! No-hassle free parking.

Children’s Day has always been the biggest day at the Market, so come early and stay late!
Phillippi Estate Park is located at 5500 S. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota on the Phillippi River.

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Exploring Sarasota County History

It’s the perfect time of year, here in Sarasota, to venture forth and see some of the sights in our county that you have always meant to visit.

Put down the top and see the county!

Put down the top and see the county!

The History & Preservation Coalition has, for your print-out-and-take-with pleasure, a colorful PDF map of what THEY call Historical Resources and what WE call cool spots to see. Included are URLs, so be sure to visit the various sites of the sights to see when they are open to the public.