Summer Florida History Con

Date:

7/15/2023 at 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Event Description

Join us at the Museum of Arts & Sciences for an all-day celebration of Florida history. Enjoy various Florida history reenactors, historical displays, costumes, local history clubs, and more!

Free for members or with paid museum admission.

Schedule:

10:30am: Dr. Ashley Lear, "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings: At Home in Florida"

When Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings moved to Cross Creek in 1928, she found a new home among the scrub pines and Cracker community of rural Florida that inspired her Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Yearling, along with other novels and works of short fiction. Her works offer a rich and varied depiction of the flora and fauna from her own explorations and research into the natural surroundings of Cross Creek. In this presentation, Dr. Ashley Lear, author of The Remarkable Kinship of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Ellen Glasgow, will share the story of what brought Rawlings to Florida, how it solidified her career as a novelist, and the ways in which Rawlings gave back to the state that gave her so much.

11:30am: Florida: A History in Pictures

Join Mike McGinness and Jeff Davies for a photographic account of the Sunshine State through more than 130 images ― many of them published for the first time. From the stone fort at St. Augustine to the Everglades (or “The Big Swamp” as it was called early in the 20th century) to Bok Tower Gardens, and much more, Florida: A History in Pictures offers a stunning portrait of our state. Hear how McGinness and Davies tracked down these rare photos and discovered the stories behind the pictures.

12:30pm: Dr. Joseph Vetter, "The Riviera Hotel: Centennial Celebration 1923-2023"

Join Joseph Vetter for a unique history presentation on the Riviera Hotel Rio Vista -A Remarkable Historical Gem in Holly Hill! From the early Twenties, this national landmark continues to shine bright on US 1 in our community. Immerse yourself in its amazing history!

1:30pm: Zackary Gilmore of Rollins College, "Great Gathering Places! Ritual, Feasting, and Macroscale Interaction at Florida Shell Mounds"

Beginning at least 7,300 years ago, Indigenous Floridians began piling huge quantities of shellfish at important historical and religious places on the landscape. This tradition continued in various forms for the next four millennia, culminating in the erection of hundreds of monumental-scale mounds across the state. The function and meaning of these structures have been the source of considerable archaeological debate, with interpretations ranging from unintentional heaps of domestic garbage to well-planned monuments and vacant ceremonial centers. Recent research reconstructing the movement of Florida’s earliest pottery vessels suggests that at least some shell mounds were important ritual gathering places for macroscale communities whose membership spanned hundreds of kilometers.

2:30pm: Leslie Kemp Poole, "Saving Florida: Women’s Fight for the Environment in the Twentieth Century"

Before Florida women could vote, they were working hard—usually in grassroots efforts—to save the state’s natural beauty by protecting birds, forests, and parks. This talk will highlight some of the women who participated in these efforts across the state and whose legacy we are still enjoying.

Leslie Kemp Poole is an associate professor of environmental studies at Rollins College. A fourth-generation Floridian, Poole is an award-winning historian and journalist with a focus on the state’s environmental history.