Hours of Operation:
Wednesday - Saturday: 11 AM to 4 PM
Sundays during special events
Telephone:
2025 Sunday Speaker Series
All at 2 .p.m.
Free admission, refreshments.
January 12
Florida Springs: Pumping, Pollution, Policy, and the Struggle for Truth
Dr. Christopher Meindl, USF, author of Florida Springs: From Geography to Politics and Restoration, will discuss the ongoing struggle for truth over several key issues such as the role of ground-water pumping in reducing spring flow, the cause of excess algae in many springs, and the relative value of the state's prescription for springs restoration.
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Christopher Meindl, Ph.D.
February 9
Exploring Florida's Historic African American Homes
Author and public historian Jada Wright-Greene examines how Black Floridians have made rich contributions to the state throughout its history in all avenues of public and private life, from education, to business, and to politics. Audiences can learn about a selection of Black historical homes across the state.
Jada Wright-Greene
March 9
Betty Jean Steinhouser
April 13
Scribbling Women in Florida
Author Betty Jean Steinhuser explores the life and work of a dozen women authors who “ran south in agitation” to Florida, from the Reconstruction era through the late 20th Century. We follow Harriet Beecher Stowe, Constance Fenimore Woolson, Sarah Orne Jewett, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Zora Neale Hurston, Marjorie Kinan Rawlings, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Rose Wilder Lane, Elizabeth Bishop, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and Rachel Carson as they explore the Land of Flowers.
The Future of Florida’s Coasts: What We Can Learn from the History of Tampa Bay
Florida's coastal regions face numerous challenges. The past offers lessons for how we can confront them. This program provides historical context for the threats Florida's coasts face and some hope from the history of Tampa Bay. Seemingly doomed by the 1970s, Tampa Bay has rebounded and today is a healthy estuary and a site of a vibrant coastal culture thanks to the efforts of everyday people to make it a better place for all. Evan Bennett is Professor at Florida Atlantic University, and author of Tampa Bay: The Story of an Estuary and Its People
Evan P. Bennett, Ph.D.
May 11
Having Fun, Wish You Were Here! An Illustrated History of the Postcard in Florida
Author Liz Coursen takes her audience on a trip…a trip back in time, from a Florida when ox carts traveled via ferry and air-conditioning existed only in the imagination to a Florida of Streamliners and Orange Blossom Specials, using museum-quality postcards to tell the tale.
Liz Coursen
June 15
David Ponton III, Ph.D.
September 15
David Morton, Ph.D.
October 13
Magdalena Lamarre
November 16
Juneteenth, Pride, Freedom, and Love
Juneteenth marks the moment formerly enslaved people learned they were emancipated. And while some notions of freedom remained elusive in the wake of the Civil War, certain freedoms could never be stolen from black folks even in the dredges of slavery--the freedom to love themselves and others, spiritually and romantically, the freedom to resist their own destruction. Black folks have lived and loved in many ways, and as we celebrate Juneteenth alongside Pride, this talk celebrates the history of the diverse lives and loves Black people sustained in slavery and beyond.
Motion Picture Paradise: A History of Florida’s Film and TV Industry
Often overlooked in its contribution to film history, Florida has played a key role in creating the modern entertainment industry. This presentation discusses how Florida became a “third coast” to the American film and television industries over the past one hundred years. Starting with the first film pioneers in Jacksonville during the 1900s and 1910s to South Florida’s television boom during the 2000s and 2010s, Florida has inspired countless exciting stories captured by the camera. Morton teaches film history at UCF.
Southern Road to Freedom: Florida’s Underground Railroad
The nation’s first Underground Railroad was established in Florida in the late 17th century, serving as a beacon of freedom for runaway slaves from the American South. Existing before the better-known Northern Underground Railroad, enslaved Africans gained their freedom by escaping and earning asylum in Spanish Florida. Retired professor and author Magdalena Lamarre focuses on Florida’s early history as a Spanish territory, the escape routes used by runaway slaves, and the black communities they established before the abolition of slavery in the United States.
War in Paradise: World War II in Florida
In the first weeks after Pearl Harbor pulled America into a two-front war, Germany’s U-Boats worked with impunity. Off Florida alone, they sank 24 ships. Some of Florida’s very features that attracted tourists made it a logical place for soldiers as well. The state, a strategic asset for its geography and climate, became an armed camp. Hotels turned into barracks, and hospitals, bases, and airfields increased from 8 to 172 by 1943. The sleepy southern state became one of the nation’s hotspots, and Florida would never be the same. Eliot Kleinberg is author of more than a dozen books on Florida history.
Eliot Kleinberg
Speaker Series funded by a grant from
