Video by Rheannah Wynter, Article by Suzanne Smith
The key to getting women interested in pursuing STEM Careers is to reach them when they are young. The summer camp program called Scigirls does just that. Begun back in 2006 by WFSU and the Florida State University Mag Lab, the program has had years of success We explore how the program started and what the results are today.
UPDATE! Applications are open for the 2023 camps!
Here are some quick facts you need to know if you are interested in signing your child up to participate in 2023:
Application Deadline: April 8, 2023
Camp Cost: $200 with scholarships available (see application)
Camp Location: National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee
Camp Times: 9 am- 4 pm EST
Camp Dates: July 24- 28, 2023
Who can participate: Girls who will be heading into 6th, 7th, and 8th grades in the fall of 2023.
How does my child apply to be part of this year’s Scigirls camp?
It was a majestic oak tree thought to be about 160 years old that graced the front grounds of the Leroy Collins Public Library. But it was diseased. And it was a danger to both pedestrians and property. Was removal the only option? Enter chainsaw artist John Birch. Local Routes followed the transformation of the stately old oak into an homage to reading, childhood and the human imagination.
On May 1, 1833, Tallahassee’s long-running May Day celebration most likely took place for the first time, less than 10 years after the founding of the Capital city.
May Day Celebration in 1967 under the May Oak in Lewis Park (State Archives of Florida-Park)
May Day events go back hundreds of years to Medieval Europe celebrations and Pagan festivals announcing the arrival of spring. Tallahassee’s version of May Day was held almost annually for 141 years before ending in the 1970s. At that time, it was the longest-running festival in the state.
Over the 14 decades it existed, the May Day celebration became a community tradition, occurring sometime within the first week of May and often with multiple events taking place over several days. The location eventually settled at Lewis Park under a giant oak tree that became known as the May Oak or the Lewis Oak.
There were also maypoles and May Queens. According to a publication by the Trinity United Methodist Church Historical Society of Tallahassee, the Queens were chosen going back to the very first year of the event. However, the information was not recorded because “the names of the young ladies were not printed in newspapers” in those days. Reverend Norman Booth recorded that Mary Antoinette Myers was crowned the May Queen in 1844.
May Day Celebration in 1905 at the May Oak in Lewis Park. (State Archives of Florida)
Leon High Graduate and Oscar Winning Actress Faye Dunaway in 1959 (State Archives of Florida)
In those early years, the city’s young people selected local girls to become the May Queen. In 1934, The Queens were chosen from the senior classes of Florida High and Leon High. After World War II, Leon High School became the regular sponsor of the event. From then on, the school’s student body chose the Queens from the girls of the Senior Class at Leon High School. In one notable election in 1958, it took three ballots for a young woman named Linda Gormley to beat a school newcomer by the name of Faye Dunaway. Dunaway lost by only 6 votes that year, but she had the last laugh. In 1977, Dunaway won an Oscar for Best Actress in the movie, Network.
Gormley, who beat Faye in 1958, wasn’t the only “Queen of the May” with an interesting backstory. In 1927, Marguerita Cawthon shaved her head the night before she was crowned. Reportedly, it was an effort to get revenge on her parents. They had previously punished her for sneaking out of the house one night. Cawthon was still crowned Queen that year, wearing a wig under her crown.
Other town institutions also held May Day celebrations over the years, choosing their own Queens. Florida State College for Women, Florida High, and Old Lincoln High all held separate events.
Dancing and weaving the ribbon around the Maypole for the city’s May Day celebration in 1965 (State Archives of Florida)
As Gerald Ensley described in a 2011 Tallahassee Democrat article, the May Day “tradition died in 1974” but he detailed that it had been on a downward spiral for a few years beforehand. It happened at the same time local schools were integrated in the area. In the spring of 1968, the all-black Lincoln high school closed. While Leon had been integrated in 1963 when a few black students began attending, with the closing of Lincoln, the number of black students increased at all the high schools.
In January of 1970, an article by United Press International (UPI), reported that the County’s School Board voted to discontinue the event at the recommendation of Leon’s principal, Robert Stevens, on the grounds that preparations were too time-consuming. The article went on to say that the board “denied the action had ‘racial overtones’ although there has been some criticism of the all-white tradition of the event” from black leaders. That criticism is still heard today about the ending of the event.
Ensley’s 2011 article also revealed some additional tensions between the various high schools in the years leading up to the end of Leon’s involvement. The principals of the newer Rickards and Godby high schools had also expressed concerns that only Leon was allowed to be in charge of the May Day celebration. However, neither of those schools took over the preparations after Leon stepped down. In fact, there were no sponsors in 1970 and the May Day celebrations didn’t happen that year.
The Tallahassee Democrat says that in 1972, the Sons of the American Revolution took over the sponsorship with a focus on elementary children instead of high school teens. Meanwhile, Springtime Tallahassee, begun in 1968 and held earlier in the spring, grew. Interest in the May Day celebration continued to drop and after the 1974 event, it ended for good.
Tallahassee’s May Day court in 1958 in front of the May Oak. The Queen at the center is Linda Gormley. One of the attendants in this court is future Oscar winning actress Faye Dunaway. (State Archives of Florida)
In 1986, the May Oak in Lewis Park, estimated to be over 200 years old, collapsed and died. Its stump and a plaque remain in the park.
The Hotel Floridan officially opened on the Northwest corner of Monroe and Call Street on May 2, 1927. Going by the name Hotel Floridan as well as Floridan Hotel, it was the largest and most modern hotel of the times. It was also very much needed in the city of Tallahassee. Just two years before, a fire destroyed the very large and historic Leon Hotel on East Park Avenue. A group of local investors put together the plan for the Hotel Floridan under the name the Tallahassee Hotel Corporation.
Hotel Floridan in 1927 on the Northwest corner of Monroe and Call Streets in Tallahassee. (State Archives of Florida)
Guests had been staying at the building for a month before the official opening day and all the rooms were already full on the day of the event. A public three-hour reception was planned with music provided by the Florida State College for Women’s College Orchestra. The hotel offered free tours of the building throughout the afternoon.
A Guest Room in Hotel Floridan in 1952. When the hotel opened in 1927, rooms with electric lights and a telephone were very modern luxuries. (State Archives of Florida-Slade)
The 68 rooms were described as consisting of various comfortable sizes and all having between one and five windows with copper screens to keep out pests. Each room had its own bathroom with a shower or a tub. Plus, each room had its own telephone as well as electric fans, lights, and outlets. It was described as “modern in every detail.”
The Tallahassee Daily Democrat dedicates entire paper to the opening day of Hotel Floridan on May 2, 1927.
On the day it opened, the Tallahassee Daily Democrat dedicated their entire 32-page paper to the celebration. With the large headline “Hotel Floridan Formally Opens Today” and a large photo of the hotel’s manager M.J. Watts leading the coverage, the newspaper included articles about the flowers and explored the extra space on the first floor designed to be leased to four businesses. Meanwhile, businesses across town placed advertisements in the paper congratulating the city and the owners of the new hotel and wishing both the best of luck with the new endeavor.
While no set number of visitors was recorded in the local paper, the Daily Democrat did say “throngs” of people explored the hotel on the day of the opening. Legislators regularly stayed at the hotel over the years. One of the most well-known residents of the Hotel Floridan was Ruby Pearl Diamond, namesake of the Ruby Diamond Concert Hall. She began living in the hotel shortly after it opened and stayed there for decades.
1937 (State Archives of Florida)1954 (State Archives of Florida – Kerce)1985 before demolition. (State Archives of Florida)Hotel Floridan throughout the years (State Archives of Florida)
The hotel fell into disrepair and closed in the late 1970s. Demolition had begun in 1985 when one last dramatic moment happened. A 30-foot section of a wall unintentionally collapsed and landed on the truck of one of the construction workers. Doug Booher barely escaped the truck before bricks crushed the vehicle. Booher later used a crane to haul what was left of his truck out of the debris.
Police on the scene after the unintentional collapse of a wall on a worker’s pickup truck on June 26, 1985. It happened during demolition of the Hotel Floridan. (State Archives of Florida)
NPR’s All Things Considered debuts to Tallahassee listeners.
In 1971, WFSU-FM was one of only two stations in Florida that was an original member of National Public Radio. WFSU’s radio station already had a long history by that point. It had begun back in 1949 and in 1970 became one of the 90 charter members of NPR.
On May 3, 1971, the first episode of “All Things Considered” aired for the first time and still exists to this day. ATC co-anchor and journalist Susan Stamberg recalled that NPR had held a staff contest to come up with the name for the program. NPR’s Operations Manager George Geesey came up with “All Things Considered.” The contest approach was used again in 1979 to come up with the title for “Morning Edition.” Stamberg says her favorite suggestion for the show wasn’t picked. A producer had submitted “Tomorrow We’ll Be Better.”
James Polkinghorne ( U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency)
James Polkinghorne, Jr. had just finished his Junior year at Florida A and M College when he decided to enlist in the military on May 31, 1942. Polkinghorne became the first FAMC student to be accepted into the U.S. Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 301st Fighter Squadron. The 301st was one of four squadrons that made up the all-black 332nd Fighter Group known as the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.
Polkinghorne finished his initial flight training in 1943. By the end of the year, he had been promoted to First Lieutenant and in 1944 headed to Europe with his squadron. According to the Commemorative Air Force Rise Above website, on May 5, 1944, Polkinghorne was assigned to lead a third of a 12-plane strike team attacking targets on Italy’s western coast. During the mission, Polkinhornes’s group and another descended below the clouds to attack, while the third remained above. As the two teams returned above the cloudbank, enemy fire from the ground followed them. The strike team realized Polkinghorne’s plane did not return.
James R. Polkinghorne (third from left) with his Flight Class 43-B in 1943. Left to right: Roy M. Spencer, Claud B. Govan, James R. Polkinghorne, John R. Prowell, William H. Walker, William E. Griffin, Walter M. Downs( U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency)
He was declared missing, but Polkinghorne’s body was never found. Polkinghorne was declared dead a year later. In 1948, FAMC named the 170-unit planned to house veterans Polkinghorne Village. It was demolished in 2012. In 2014, a new 800-unit residence hall was built and called FAMU Village. The new village was renamed James Polkinghorne, Jr. Village in 2019.
The newer version of Polkinghorne Village on Florida A & M Campus.
Article in the Philadelphia Tribune about the jailed students on the CORE tour talking about their experiences in the segregated south.
On May 5, 1960, the first Tallahassee protestors who had been arrested and found guilty of disturbing the peace for the February sit-in at the Woolworths lunch counter were released after 49 days in jail. The judge had originally ordered that the 11 originally arrested and convicted could pay a $300 fine or serve a 60-day sentence. Eight chose to stage a “jail-in” and started their sentence on March 18th. Over time, three left to file appeals, leaving sisters Patricia and Priscilla Stephens, siblings John and Barbara Broxton, and William Larkins behind bars. By the end of 49 days, those five were released early for good behavior. Patricia later wrote in her book, “Freedom in the Family,” that the Tallahassee black community threw them “a hero’s welcome” rally. All five protestors had been students at Florida A & M University, but because they had missed so many classes while in jail, they were asked to withdraw and re-enroll in the fall.
A few days later after their release, headed out on a CORE-sponsored Publicity Tour to talk about their Civil Rights experiences. The jail-in participants spent the rest of the summer traveling around the country. All continued to fight for equal rights in the years ahead.
The front page of the Daily Democrat (later the Tallahassee Democrat) on May 8, 1945.
On May 8th, 1945, Victory in Europe (VE Day) was declared during World War II. Within a few months, the United States would drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan leading to the declaration of Victory in Japan (VJ Day).
The returning American soldiers changed the country, Florida, and Tallahassee in many ways. One was in the high number of veterans entering local colleges on the GI Bill. That led to a restructuring of higher education in Florida. Initially, the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida (TBUF) was established at the Army base at Dale Mabry Army field. The male TBUF students took classes at Florida State College for Women. Later, FSCW was officially made co-educational and converted into Florida State University in 1947.
Students of the newly co-educational Florida State University stand in line outside of Montgomery Hall for class registration in 1947. (State Archives of Florida)
Prohibition across the nation lasted from 1920 to 1933, a total of 13 years. However, in Leon County, the flow of alcohol stopped in 1904 and didn’t start up again until May 9, 1967.
Dubois’ vineyard in Tallahassee (State Archives of Florida)
The work to turn the county “dry” began in the 1800s, but first, there was an effort to plant some very “wet” roots in the region. In the early years of settling the U.S. Florida Territory, one of the first and largest landowners in the Tallahassee area, the Marquis de Lafayette, encouraged the creation of vineyards. He wrote to friends in France and other European countries suggesting that they move to the area for the purpose of creating a region dedicated to growing French-style wine.
While his personal efforts to settle the region failed, others did follow through on the idea of growing grapes for wine in the area. One well-known Frenchman who dug into Lafayette’s idea was Emile Dubois. Dubois established the county’s first vineyards on his property where the Mission San Luis Living History Museum now sits and at another property near Lake Hall, part of present day Maclay Gardens State Park. By the 1890s Dubois was making thousands of gallons of wine a year.
Emile Dubois (State Archives of Florida)
It all changed for Dubois and the county on August 30, 1904. That was the day voters in Leon County voted 494 to 372 to prohibit the sale of alcohol and Dubois ended up moving his wine operation to New Jersey.
The issue of stopping the sale of alcohol had been growing over the years in the United States. In the 1800’s the idea that alcohol led to financial and moral problems in the home led to the creation of organized groups, mostly by women, demanding prohibition (and often the right to vote too). One of the first and largest organizations was the nationwide Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. As early as the 1870’s the group had influence in Tallahassee. A photo dated from that time of the group at a Tallahassee parade can be found in the State Archives of Florida. When the 1885 Florida Constitution made it possible for each county to individually decide this issue of alcohol sales and production, pressure increased.
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union parade in Tallahassee in the 1870s. (State Archives in Florida)
William and Louella Knott celebrating their 50th anniversary. Note the tea cup instead of a wine glass to toast the occasion. (State Archives of Florida)
One of the leaders of the temperance movement in Tallahassee was Louella Knott. Louella was the wife of State Treasurer, William Knott, and together they were the future owners of what is now called the Knott House Museum. Moving to Tallahassee in 1897, Louella worked to organize the fight against alcohol in Tallahassee and Leon County. A men’s auxiliary group was created to join the fight in 1904 called the Leon County Local Option League and by the summer of that year, the issue was on the ballot and passed.
However, the now alcohol-free county wasn’t quite that dry. According to a Tallahassee Democrat article by Patrick Riordan in 1990, the Capital City “was wetter than the Gulf of Mexico.” While Dubois and his vineyard left the state and the city’s saloons closed, alcohol was also still sold legally in nearby Gadsden, Madison, and Franklin counties. Speakeasies and bootleggers within the county flourished. Lobbyists were encouraged to bring and conceal their own alcohol when they headed to the capital for the legislative session. It appears that it wasn’t until the national Prohibition of Alcohol and the accompanying Volstead Act that more enforcement tools were available in the county. Florida was the 15th state to ratify the 18th Amendment and on January 16, 1920, the amendment ushered in the Prohibition Era for the rest of the country.
Once Leon County was a “dry” county Temperance organizers widened their focus . In this photo Theo Proctor drives a car in 1917 decorated to encourage state and national Prohibition. (State Archives of Florida)
There were arrests and there were raids over the next 13 years, but the alcohol kept flowing in the dry county. There were still local speakeasies (called “blind tigers”) and pharmacists realized they could legally sell items with alcohol in them for “medicinal purposes only”. Some local law enforcement also avoided the enforcement of the law.
When the Depression came, Florida became the 30th state to ratify the 21st Constitutional Amendment which officially ended the national prohibition on alcohol on December 5, 1933. While Leon County had voted in favor of that Amendment, it was still a dry county. Over and over again, the issue of wet v. dry came up in local elections with the sale of alcohol banned over and over again.
Tallahasee Officers pour moonshine down city drain after a local raid, 1959 (State Archives of Florida)Tallahassee Police Officer Burl Peacock looking over whiskey discovered in raid, 1960 (State Archives of Florida)
There were some wins. In May 1933, Leon County voters agreed to the sale of 3.2% beer. In June of 1960, voters agreed to allow liquor sales at package stores. However, a vote to approve liquor by the drink—the kind that could be sold in bars and restaurants—lost in that same election.
In April 1965, Luella Knott, who had continued to fight against the sale of alcohol over the decades, passed away. Three years later, on May 8, 1967, Leon County voted once again on the issue. Voters decided 12,187 to 6,277 to approve the sale of liquor by the drink which ended Leon County’s dry status.
“The Leon” was a liquor store, bar and pool room that served alcohol from 1892 to 1904 when the county went dry. The bar may have shut down, but the building at the corner of present day Monroe and College streets remains. (top photo: State Archives of Florida)
Confederate General Robert E. Lee may have signaled the end of the Civil War when he surrendered at the Courthouse at Appomattox in April 1865, but on May 10, 1865, Florida’s Confederate forces began their surrender in Tallahassee.
Union Brigadier General Edward McCook in 1870 (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, Union Brigadier General Edward McCook entered Tallahassee with a small band of 5 officers. He had left approximately 500 men from the Second Indiana Cavalry and Seventh Kentucky Cavalry four miles north of town on Thomasville Road while he went on the mission. Once in Tallahassee, McCook met with Confederate Major General Samuel Jones to accept the surrender of Florida’s Confederate Troops.
McCook settled into the Hagner House (later known as the Knott House) at the corner of Calhoun and Park Avenue and made that his temporary headquarters. His troops joined him in Tallahassee the next day. On May 12, the fort at St. Marks was officially surrendered to the Union as well. On May 20th, McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation on the steps of the Hagner House and held a ceremony officiating the transfer of power with the raising of the American Flag over the state capital building.
The Knott House Museum, formerly known as the Hagner House. The Emancipation Proclamation was read for the first time in Florida on the steps of this building. (State Archives of Florida-Queral)
Tallahassee had been the only state capital in the south that had not fallen during the war. Earlier that year, Union troops had tried to take the city from the south. Marching up from the St. Marks lighthouse, the group was stopped by Confederate soldiers and students from West Florida Seminary at the Battle of Natural Bridge.
Abraham K. Allison in 1853. He was acting Governor of Florida at the end of the Civil War. (State Archives of Florida)
The acting Governor of Florida at the time of the May 10th surrender was Abraham Allison. He had taken over for Governor John Milton after Milton’s suicide on April 1st. According to the State Archives of Florida, Allison tried to go around McCook to work with Lincoln’s successor, President Andrew Johnson, to accelerate Florida’s return to the Union. A letter in the archive dated May 12th shows that Allison commissioned David Levy Yulee and four others (John Wayles Baker, Edward Curry Love, Mariano D. Papy, and James Lawrence George Baker) to meet with the President. Allison also called for a state legislative session on June 5th with a new election for governor on June 7th.
Allison’s actions came so quickly after the surrender that he angered many Unionists. McCook was ordered to not recognize any local or state government. On May 19th, Governor Allison resigned. On May 22nd, McCook placed the state under martial law. Union troops arrested Allison on June 19, 1865, and imprisoned him at Fort Pulaski with other Confederate officials for six months. President Johnson appointed William Marvin as the next Governor of the state on July 13, 1865.
Read more https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/341933
Explore more about North Florida’s experiences in the Civil War by watching this episode of WFSU’s documentary series called Florida Footprints.
On May 10, 1875, the second Lincoln Academy schoolhouse was dedicated at the corner of Park and Copeland streets.
The second Lincoln Academy school house at the corner of Park and Copeland Streets. (State Archives of Florida)
The Freedman’s Bureaus established Lincoln Academy in 1869 to help educate formerly enslaved people from the area. The first building had four rooms and was located at Lafayette and Copeland Streets. The school burned down in January 1872. It took four years for this second building to be constructed on the same block. Later the State Normal School for Colored Students building was constructed next door. The book “African-American Education in Leon County, Florida: Emancipation through Desegregation”, by Debra Herman and Althemese Barnes says that Leon County was operating 51 schools by 1887. Twenty-nine of those schools were for black students and included Lincoln Academy.
Photo of Educator and Businessman John G. Riley. (State Archives of Florida)
After the Normal School was moved to the current Florida A & M University campus site in 1891, Lincoln Academy was renovated in 1897 and expanded to include the old Normal School building next door. According to the State Archives of Florida, at this point Lincoln Academy was teaching 450 students in 6 grades.
The first African American principal of the school was Tallahassee’s John Riley. Riley had been born in 1854 and was only 8 years old when the Emancipation Proclamation was read on the steps of the Knott house in Tallahassee. Riley taught himself to read and eventually became a teacher and then Assistant Principal of Lincoln Academy. He was the principal of Lincoln from 1892 to 1929.
Learn more about the life of John Riley and early African American education in this segment from WFSU’s Florida Footprints series.
In Leon County, Lincoln Academy used the Park and Copeland Street location until 1906 when a new wooden building was constructed on Brevard Street in Frenchtown. The Florida State College for Women took over the Copeland buildings as their own campus expanded. The old Lincoln Academy buildings housed music classes and a gymnasium for FSCW and later FSU. However, by 1965 both former Lincoln academy structures had been torn down for new construction.
The Old Lincoln High School when it was new in 1929. (State Archives of Florida)
Meanwhile, the third Lincoln Academy in Frenchtown, which had been made out of wood, was replaced in 1929 with a two-story brick structure. By that point, the name had also been changed to Lincoln High School. The Brevard Street location continued to be used as a school for African Americans until 1968 when schools in Leon County were integrated and Lincoln was shut down. Other buildings on the campus housed other educational resources including the Alternate Learning Center which later became Sail High School. Structural issues forced the demolition of those external buildings in 2022. The 1929 brick structure is still used as a community center today.
The former Lincoln High school and the current Lincoln Center on Brevard Street in 2022.
Happy Birthday to the Apalachicola National Forest
Wild Flowers in the Apalachicola National Forest near Sumatra, FL. (Dani Davis, WFSU Ecology Blog)
Franklin D. Roosevelt in Key West Florida in March 1936, two months before signing the proclamation. (State Archives of Florida)
On May 13, 1936, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Proclamation 2169 which turned Florida lands purchased by the Federal Government into the Apalachicola National Forest, The U.S. Government started buying the land from private landowners in 1933. It had accumulated 269,000 acres when it became a National Forest. The website for the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture says the ANF is “one of the most biodiverse forests in the country” and covers about 574,000 acres.
Since he had taken office in 1933, Roosevelt had focused on the care and improvement of the National Forests as a way to put young men back to work during the Depression under the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC. In March 1935, two National Forestry headquarters in Florida (Pensacola and Lake City) were consolidated and relocated to the more centrally located Tallahassee to save money.
On May 13, 1941, a black man named A.C. Williams was murdered after being lynched for the second time in Quincy, Florida. Williams had been accused of robbery and sexually assaulting a white 12-year-old girl. Gadsden County Sheriff’s officers arrested Williams, but a group of masked men kidnapped him from jail. He was shot several times, beaten, and hung from a tree. Williams managed to survive and escape. Officers later found Williams alive but badly in need of medical help. On the way to the closest hospital for African Americans in the area, the FAMU hospital in Tallahassee, the car Williams was traveling in was stopped by a gang of masked men. Williams was kidnapped again. His body was found the morning of May 13 on a bridge north of Quincy. No one was ever arrested for either attack or the murder.
Gadsden County Courthouse in 1913. (State Archives of Florida)
On May 15, 1947, Florida State College for Women became Florida State University, ending 42 years of single-sex education at the school.
The Senior Class of Florida Female College (later Florida State College for Women) in 1908 after the Buckman Act reorganized higher education in the state. (State Archives of Florida)
Florida State College for Women (FSCW) had accepted only females since 1905 when the Florida Legislature passed the Buckman Act. The Act consolidated and reorganized all of the higher education institutions in Florida under one umbrella that would be governed by the Florida Board of Control. Among the reorganizational decisions, the former coeducational Florida State College was converted into FSCW serving only white women in Tallahassee (originally called Florida Female College). The Buckman Act had also consolidated several schools into what became the University of Florida at Gainesville. UF was structured as an educational institution for only white men. Florida A & M University (as the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students) in Tallahassee continued to serve black men and women under the bill.
Learn more about the Buckman Act in this segment from Florida Footprints: A State of Change
FSCW grew over the next 4 decades. But the end of World War II changed it in a completely different way when high numbers of returning servicemen flooded colleges all over the country. They attended under the GI Bill of Rights (shorted to GI Bill) and officially known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944. The goal of the GI Bill was to help ease the veterans out of the service and back into non-military life. There was money for college, unemployment insurance, and housing.
Governor Millard Caldwell in 1947 (State Archives of Florida)
The influx of men attending the University of Florida reached critical numbers in the Fall of 1946. An Associate Press Reporter on September 3, 1946, said that UF had 8,200 men apply for 6000 spots. With 20 days until the start of the fall term, Florida Governor Millard Caldwell and his cabinet made an emergency decision to allow 500 to 1000 men to attend FSCW. They would be housed at Dale Mabry Field which had been a military base during the war.
That fall, the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida (TBUF) opened. Male students lived and attended some classes at Dale Mabry Field, while also attending classes on FSCW’s campus. FSCW purchased a car to transport instructors to and from the two campuses. The FSCW registrar’s office reported that fall there were 501 men taking classes at the school. Of that number, 410 were there under the GI Bill. Including the FSCW’s female students, there were now 3,496 people attending classes on FSCW’s campus.
TBUF student faces the FSCW students on the first of classes in 1946. (State Archives of Florida)
The TBUF turned out to be a short-term solution. Even while the number of students accepted into UF increased that fall, thousands more veterans were expected to apply. Once the Legislature returned to session in 1947, a new restructuring of higher education occurred. On May 15, 1947, the Governor signed a bill into law that turned Florida State College for Women into the coeducational Florida State University. The University of Florida was also turned into a coeducational university too. With that change in the law, Florida became the last state in the south to return to coeducational state schools.
Same view of the front gate in the 1940s for Florida State College for Women and in 1947 after the school became Florida State University. (State Archives of Florida)
On May 18, 1953, the first Robinson-Trueblood swimming pool was dedicated in Tallahassee. The pool was the second municipal pool in the segregated city and the first one for African Americans in Tallahassee. The Tallahassee Democrat reported at the time that approximately 2000 people showed up for the ceremony which featured a combined band performance made up of students from local Lincoln, Griffin, and Lucy Moten schools. Plus, the Florida A & M Swim team held an exhibition in the new pool. The facility was named after two black soldiers from Leon County who were killed while serving during the Korean War: Pvt. Eddie Robinson and Cpl. David Trueblood.
Swim class at Robinson-Trueblood Swimming Pool in Tallahassee during the 1950s. (State Archives of Florida)
The construction of the pool was part of a grand plan for the city. In 1952, the city decided to build Tallahassee’s first two public swimming pools. One for whites and one for blacks. They later decided to add a third pool, also for whites. The pools for whites ended up in Myers Park and Levy Park, and the pool for blacks was placed off Dade Street at the border between Frenchtown and Griffin Heights neighborhoods. The Robinson-Trueblood pool had a swimming team, taught swimming lessons, and trained lifeguards. For years, it was the place to be during the summer for much of the black community.
Swim Team at Robinson-Trueblood Swimming pool. The first swim team included (standing, L-R) Roy Beard, Eddie Graham, Edward Holifield, Bishop Holifield, Charles Rambo, Manuel Rivas, Ulysees Pittman; and James Barnes. Kneeling are Ricky Eubanks, Eugene Cromer, Ellis Carr, Hansel Tookes, M. Raines, and Raymond Williams (State Archives of Florida)
In 1964, that changed when all three city pools were closed to avoid integration. On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. It prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Two days later, a group of young black swimmers in Tallahassee held a “wade-in” at the whites-only Levy Park pool. “Wade-in” and “swim-in” Civil Rights protests had been happening for years at segregated beaches and pools around the country, including Biloxi and St. Augustine. When the Independence Day “wade-in” happened in Tallahassee, the City Commission ordered that all three pools be closed.
C.K. Steele circa 1970 (State ARchives of Florida)
Tallahassee’s Civil Rights Leader and President of the local NAACP, C.K. Steele, filed a lawsuit to reopen the pool but lost the case. The argument was that it wasn’t discrimination because all three pools received equal treatment. All three pools ended up staying closed for several years. One of the official arguments against reopening them became the cost of repairing and operating the pools.
On May 20, 1834, America’s favorite fighting Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette, died in Paris, France. Born with the full name of Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, the Marquis was a French aristocrat who fought on the side of the Americans against the British during the American Revolution. Years later, as a thank you, the United States gave him given a large section of the newly acquired territory of Florida just north of Tallahassee. It was called the Lafayette Land Grant.
The land was bordered on the western side by today’s Meridian Road, stretched south to today’s Lafayette Street, and then east to just past Lake Lafayette. His eastern boundary then cut north through the present-day Vineyards subdivision on Mahan. It continued north to Roberts Road (one mile east of Centerville Road). The northern boundary then cut through the middle of the current Maclay Gardens, ending on North Meridian Road near the current Maclay School. Check out this map of the Lafayette Land Grant.
While the Marquis never saw the land he owned in person, he did try to settle the region. With visions of creating a land of vineyards and olive groves without slave labor, he encouraged a large group of French peasants to establish a colony on the shores of his land next to Lake Lafayette. That effort failed within a few months. The Marquis also encouraged an i#nflux of wealthier French and European men and women to move to the region. For example, French winemaker Emile Dubois established successful vineyards where Mission San Luis Museum sits today. It is believed that Frenchtown received its name from the large number of French immigrants who settled in that area.
Explore more about Lafayette’s influence on the region by clicking here.
On May 20, 1865, Union Brigadier General Edward McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation on the steps of the current-day Knott house in Tallahassee. It was the first time the document freeing the enslaved people of Florida had been officially read in the state. More importantly, it was now recognized as something the people of Florida would be required to follow if they wanted to rejoin the Union.
President Abraham Lincoln, 1865 (Library of Congress)
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln had issued the proclamation two years earlier on January 1, 1863. It stated that all people enslaved in states that were in rebellion “are, and henceforward shall be free.” Florida had been one of those “rebellious states” since it had seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861. As part of the Confederacy, Florida did not recognize anything that Abraham Lincoln enacted during that time.
That all began to change in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. Lee’s act essentially ended the war. On May 10th, Brigadier General McCook arrived in Tallahassee to accept the official surrender of the state. Ten days later, the transfer of power was complete and an American Flag flew once again over the state’s capital building. The time had come for Florida to accept the authority of the United States Government once again.
The Knott House (Formerly the Hagner House) in Tallahassee where the Emancipation Proclamation was read. (State Archives of Florida)
McCook had set up his headquarters in the home of Tallahassee’s Thomas Holmes Hagner. Built by George Proctor, one of the few free black men in the area before the war, today that building is known as the Knott House Museum. An article by the Tallahassee Historical Society says that on May 19th McCook sent officers to the homes and plantations throughout Leon County to give them a heads-up about the Proclamation. Then on the 20th, McCook stood in front of his headquarters and shared the contents of the Emancipation Proclamation. Ellen Call Long, daughter of former Governor Richard Call, witnessed the event. She wrote in her book “Florida Breezes” that the military fired two-hundred guns in celebration.
May 20th Emancipation Day Celebration with games at Horseshoe Plantation in Leon County, circa 1930 (State Archives of Florida)
Every year on May 20th, Reenactors read the Emancipation Proclamation is read on the steps of the Knott House Museum. (State Archives of Florida-Brockmann)
While May 20, 1865, is the day the enslaved people of Florida were officially freed, in Texas that day came on June 19, 1865. Texas was the last Confederate state to receive the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the enslaved people there. In 1866, African Americans in Texas, Florida, and other southern states began annual celebrations of their freedom. Over the years, many of the celebrations coalesced around the Texas date that had become known as “Juneteenth.” Even in Florida, the Florida Legislature recognized June 19th as “Juneteenth Day” in 1991 even though it did not make it an official holiday. In Tallahassee, the site of the first reading of the proclamation in Florida, the Emancipation Proclamation celebration date has remained on May 20. In 2020, the Tallahassee City Commission and Leon County Commission both made May 20th an official paid holiday for the city and county employees. In 2021, the U.S. Government made Juneteenth a Federal Holiday.
One additional aspect of the Emancipation Proclamation to note is that it only applied to Confederate states. Enslaved people in the border states that supported the North were not officially included in emancipation until the13th Amendmentto the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 6, 1865.
The first page of the Emancipation Proclamation from the National Archives.
History is a work in progress, just like this page…
These are just some of the interesting facts about the history of our community. More moments, events, and people will be added to these memories as time goes on. The WFSU Local Routes team will continue to research, write, and add other historic moments to this month as time goes on. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more new-to-you facts about the history of Tallahassee as well as our other north Florida and south Georgia communities. You can also share local historic moments you’d like to see included in our list. Email localroutes@wfsu.org.
The story of Betty Proctor and her Obsessions Gift business in Tallahassee’s Railroad Square is a personal one. Betty created the business with her daughter, who is on the autism spectrum. As the business grew, Betty added special art courses and projects that helped her daughter and others on the spectrum increase their communication skills. One specific type of project uses a record, a golf tee, and a bunch of paint to create art and opportunity for people of all ages and skills.
Video edited by Alex Campbell, Produced by Freddie Hall.
Article by Suzanne Smith
“My favorite thing about spin art is watching the faces of people doing it. Because spin art is the messiest art we have.”
–Betty Proctor, Co-owner, Obsessions Gifts
The “spin art” that Obsessions Gifts co-owner Betty Proctor is talking about involves an old vinyl record, a golf tee, and a willingness to make a really big mess. “Their reaction to it is like *gasps* or either “Oh my goodness!” or “Wow!” or something like that. So it’s really cool seeing the actual paint fly off the record,” she says with a smile.
Creativity can be a messy. Left: Paint covers a record and a hand after a spin art session. Middle: Splatter from various paint projects cover table. Right: Even the colorful jars of paint aren’t safe from other colors flying off of splatter and spin art projects. (WFSU)
Unlike the t-shirt spin art of the 1980s, there are no machines that look like extra-large, high-speed record players involved. In Proctor’s version, the artist adds the paint to a vinyl record, slips a golf tee through the spindle hole, and then turns the record sideways. The artist then uses their muscles to make the record spin as fast as possible. It’s a hands-on process, designed to connect the artist to the artwork.
Betty Proctor works an art piece at Obsessions Gifts in Railroad Square. (WFSU)
“Some people just make designs like hearts or circles. Some people make lines.” Proctor told us. “One young lady did alternate colors like red and black and it turned out really, really nice.”
There are a variety of art experiences at Obsessions Gifts, which is located in Railroad Square. Spin art, acrylic pours, and splatter paint are just a few activities that people can do as individuals or groups. However, the real reason that Betty Proctor created this business and does this type of art is the real inspiration of this story.
A mother’s love and a gift for the future
Before she started Obsessions, Proctor had been a social worker. “I always wanted to work with teens because teens have my heart,” says Proctor. “I always wanted to have something where teens could come, and they could just feel comfortable and just vibe.”
Proctor’s sister had first gotten her interested in art, but it was her daughter, Nijah, who had Proctor finally leaving the 9 to 5 world. Nijah is on the autism spectrum and Proctor was concerned about her daughter’s job security as she became an adult. When Nijah was getting ready to graduate high school, Proctor started to envision a different future for them both. She says one night she had a dream. “I saw myself where I owned a business,” says Proctor. “I was sitting at a desk and my daughter was standing up and I was kind of moving out of the way and she was taking my place.”
Proctor and her daughter turned a hobby of making jewelry into a jewelry-making business that progressed into Obessions Gifts shop in 2017. One summer, a graduate student asked Betty and her daughter to help her work on a special project for her Ph.D. “She was doing a dissertation on the effects of autism and art for females,” says Proctor. “My daughter went to the art class, and she loved it. And her communication skills increased.” Proctor was so impressed with the results in her daughter, that she permanently added the art classes and workshops to the business. “A lot of the things that I do here is because of my daughter, or either the experience that I had with my daughter and I saw the effects of it.”
Betty’s daughter, Nijah, creates art through a splatter paint method. Nijah is co-owner of Obessions Gifts and co-founder of MPAC with her mother. (Photos taken from video provided by Betty Proctor)
The addition of the art classes also expanded the duo’s work with the community. Together, Betty and Nijah started MPAC, which is a nonprofit that stands for “Motivating People through Arts and Crafts.” Proctor explains the variety of activities provided by MPAC (pronounced by the Proctors as “M-Pac”), “We help persons on the autism spectrum and also with disabilities. We provide art workshops. We also provide entrepreneurship opportunities as well as employment.” Proctor is clear to point out that while MPAC does primarily serve people on the spectrum, it also works with those who are “neurodiverse, with disabilities, and neurotypical persons.” Proctor says the overall goal is to create a supportive environment for everyone. “We’ve had people to say to us, ‘This is our place. This is my time, this is my space where I can freely be creative and be who I want to be without judgment.’ And so that’s what we want to create in here. We want to create a vibe where people can feel comfortable and also can express themselves without judgment.”
“You just do what you feel.”
-Betty Proctor
The Creative Process without Judgement
It is that nonjudgement atmosphere that helped create Proctor’s self-declared messiest and, possibly, the most fun Obsessions Gifts activity: Spin Art.
“We had some FSU students, interns, that they were doing art on records. Vinyl records,” recalls Proctor. “Like painting and also just different things on there that people, you know, whatever they felt like doing.”
Then one of the teenagers tried something different.
“He came up and he put some paint on there and then he threw it like a Frisbee,” said Proctor. “I was like, okay, let me come up with something where people can see it instead of throwing it. They could spin it like spinning records. They’re actually spinning a record. So that’s how we pretty much came up with it.”
Step 1. Pour paint in various shapes on a record.Step 2. Ready, Get Set. Spin! Step 3. Final desginThree steps to creating a spin art record. Notice in “Step 2” that before you can begin to spin, the paint starts to drip off the record. (WFSU)
Proctor says that imaginative teenager then created three “spin art” records that they ended up selling to people at a restaurant in Railroad Square. “You don’t have to be a scholar to do, you know, to do art. You don’t have to have a master’s degree in art to do art. You just do what you feel.”
That lesson is exactly what Betty Proctor has done with her life. Betty’s love for her daughter not only led her to create a business, but also created opportunities for all types of people to find and express their own unique voice.
Producer’s Inside Look
By Freddie Hall
Betty Proctor and I pose for the camera with a piece of Spin Art that I created.
Close up look at my art right after I finished spinning the record.
The moment you take your first step into Obsession’s Gift shop you are instantly hit with the scent of paint along with the view of all the colors around you. The creativity that drips from the place is empowering and strong. Not long after you take it all in you are greeted warmly by the owner, Betty Proctor. She has this wonderful process to help you create your own art with a particular, and literal, spin to it. It’s where you let your ideas fly in the form of paint.
Betty introduced me to the process of “spin art” by making sure I had on a poncho that covered me from my head to my feet. She let me pick out my favorite colors to use (blue and black) and I made a random design on a vinyl record. Next, we put a golf tee through the record and I used all my strength to rotate the disk as fast as possible. The paint not only flew but started to shape into something unique. Something that could only be called mine. This special art experience Betty created for everyone in our community is very self-expressive. In the short time it took me to spin this record, I felt connected to a piece of art that spoke to me. It made me feel great. That is what Betty Proctor does well: she helps people find their creative voice.
Andrew Jackson burns Seminole village at Lake Miccosukee.
Andrew Jackson around the time of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, the First Seminole War arrived on the shores of Lake Miccosukee, located between the present-day Leon and Jefferson County lines. The roots of the war were planted during a series of attacks between U.S. Troops and a Creek tribe in southern Georgia culminating in a massacre of U.S. Soldiers at Fort Scott. The U.S. government ordered General Andrew Jackson, future American President and hero of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, to stop the Native Americans in 1817.
Andrew Jackson reviewing Troops in First Seminole War (State Archives of Florida)
In March of 1818, Jackson pursued Creek and Seminoles into Spanish-held Florida, destroying native villages along the way. On April 1, 1818, Jackson and 3000 soldiers made their way toward the western side of Lake Miccosukee and what was one of the largest Seminole towns in the region. Aware of Jackson’s advance, the Native Americans in the town of Miccosukee evacuated the women, children, and elderly from the community while their warriors fought to delay the American soldiers. By the time Jackson arrived, most had escaped. Jackson’s troops rounded up the cattle and burned more than 300 homes, destroying the town. From there, Jackson and his troops continued the attacks as they headed south to the fort known as San Marcos de Apalache located in present-day St. Marks. This first Seminole War made possibly the Adams-Onis Treaty, which gave Florida to the United States. It did this by helping to demonstrate how little control Spain had over this territory.
Western edge of Lake Miccosukee as seen from Highway 90. (WFSU Public Media)
Florida’s Governor during Civil War takes his own life.
On this day, in the final weeks of the Civil war, Florida Governor John Milton committed suicide at his home near Marianna, Florida. Born in Georgia, Milton had also lived in Alabama and New Orleans before settling in Florida in either 1845 or 1846. In a South Florida Sun-Sentinel article from 1989, it is reported that Milton eventually had a plantation of more than 7,000 acres near Marianna with as many as 52 slaves before he entered politics. A secessionist, Milton won the Governorship of Florida in the October 1860 election. By the time he took office in 1861, Florida had left the Union and the Civil War was well underway.
Civil War Reenactors at the annual Battle of Natural Bridge reenactment south of Tallahassee.
Milton spent most of the war as Florida’s Governor in support of the Confederacy. At the same time, Union troops held major Florida cities like Pensacola, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine and attempted to blockade the waters off Florida’s coastline. Only a few battles were fought in the state. Including an important battle in March 1865. Union troops tried to capture Tallahassee in by attacking from the south. The Battle of Nature Bridge ended in a victory for Confederate troops and Tallahassee became the only Confederate state capital that was not captured during the war.
Governor Abraham Allison served not only after the death of John Milton at the end of the Civil War, but had also filled in as the Governor position in 1853. (State Archives of Florida)
Despite the win at Natural Bridge, Milton saw that the end of the war was in sight and worried about what a Union victory would mean for the state. In his final message to the state legislature, he said that those from the north “have developed a character so odious that death would be preferable to reunion with them.”
On April 1, 1865, Milton, his wife, and his son returned to their home in Marianna from Tallahassee. Reportedly, Milton went immediately to his room and shot himself in the head. Milton was buried in Marianna’s Saint Luke’s Episcopal Cemetery.
Abraham Allison, the President of the Florida Senate, took over as Governor after Milton’s death. Serving about 7 weeks, Allison resigned in May when Union Troops took over the capital city. He was later arrested by U.S. authorities in June 1865 and spent 6 months imprisoned at Ft. Pulaski in Georgia with other Confederate officials.
Helen Hunt West in photo used for campaign literature when she ran for congress.
One of Florida’s most famous suffragettes, lawyer, and a graduate of Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee would never have attended the Tallahassee school if it hadn’t been for an April Fool’s Day prank.
Helen Hunt (later Helen Hunt West) from St. Augustine started off her secondary education at Stetson Academy in Deland, Florida. Apparently, “frolics” on April First were a tradition in Stetson’s dormitory for girls. In 1907, the practical jokers started it late at night by ringing cowbells to wake the other students. Court documents described the bells along with parading in the halls, “cutting the lights” and other events that “were subversive of the discipline and rules of the University. Some of the witnesses spoke of these disorders as bordering on insurrection.”
While the students may have considered the pranks as a “frolic,” Stetson’s President Dr. Lincoln Hulley declared the incident a “hazing” of the other students. Fifteen-year-old Helen, who had been one of the students initially awakened in the middle of the night by the bells, denied being involved in the hazing. However, under questioning did admit to eventually ringing one of the bells. She says the President immediately told her to pack her bags and leave town by nightfall. Several other students were disciplined, but all except Hunt were reinstated at the school. Within three weeks, Hunt was attending Florida Female College (later called FSCW) in Tallahassee to complete her coursework.
Helen Hunt with her Florida Female College/Florida State College of Women classmates in 1908. She is in the back row, second from the left. (State Archives of Florida)
Court Document from one of the several cases. (State Archives of Florida)
Hunt sued Stetson two separate times following the incident. The first time she sued for slander and libel saying her reputation had been threatened. While she won in the lower courts, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the ruling. In the second suit, Hunt said she was “maliciously, wantonly and without cause in bad faith expelled” from said University. She said that since she was still a child and the President (who had promised her parents that she would be looked after while at the school) intentionally failed to protect her. Hunt says the President did not let her parents know she had been expelled, did not make sure she had the funds to get home, and did not allow her to rebut the charges against her. While the trial court initially ruled in Hunt’s favorite, the Florida Supreme Court once again overturned that decision in 1924. The case was cited by colleges in other trials to support decisions regarding a college’s right to discipline students.
After Hunt finished her studies at Florida State College for Women, she wrote for the St. Augustine Record and later the Florida Times Union. She also studied law and in 1917 was one of the first women admitted to the Florida Bar. That same year, Hunt marched in front of the White House as a member of the National Women’s Party. Later Hunt worked with Suffragette leader Alice Paul to pass the 19th Amendment, focusing on efforts to get Florida to ratify the amendment. Even though that plan failed in Florida, enough states voted “yes” and the Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution in August 1920. Hunt became the first woman registered to vote in Duval County and supported work to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
Hunt married the city editor of the Florida Times-Union, Bryon West in 1927. She also ran for the U.S. Congress, but did not win. Helen Hunt West spent the rest of her life writing, speaking and continuing to work to get Florida to ratify the 19th Amendment. Florida finally approved it in 1969, 5 years after Hunt passed away.
Explorer and Conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon landed on Florida’s shores for the first time on April 2, 1513. He had set sail from Puerto Rico almost a month earlier with three ships. Ponce de Leon reportedly was searching for an island he had heard of, most likely Bimini, but the land he saw from the ship on Easter Sunday (March 27, 1513) was Florida. He continued to sail further north and, realizing that he was not looking at an island, landed near St. Augustine on April 2nd. Ponce de Leon claimed the land for Spain, naming it La Florida after Spain’s Easter celebration called La Pascua Florida which means “The Feast of Flowers.” Leon County in Florida is named after the explorer.
Knott was born in Georgia in 1863 during the middle of the Civil War. When he passed away 101 years later, the country was in the middle of a race to reach the Moon.
William and Luella Knott in 1945 on their 50th Anniversary. (State Archives of Florida)
At the age of 17, Knott traveled by wagon with his family to live in Leesburg, Florida. In 1895, he married Luella Pugh. Two years later, Knott and his bride moved to Tallahassee where he worked for the state.
Knott served twice as Florida State Treasurer. The first time from 1903 to 1912 and the second time from 1928 to 1941. In addition to his work as State Treasurer, he also served as the Superintendent of the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee from 1921-1927.
When he and Luella returned to Tallahassee from Chattahoochee, they bought the house on Park Avenue now known as the Knott House. In 1865, the home had been the site where the first official reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in the state took place.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (State Archives of Florida)
Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. Riots erupted in cities all over the United States, including Tallahassee. According to a 1984 article by Susan Hamburger for the Tallahassee Historical Society, the incidents in Tallahassee had begun in grief and with protests but quickly turned to anger and violence. An article called the “FAMU Way Historical Survey,” created by FAMU History professors for the City of Tallahassee, also included a section on the riots. They also said the transition from shock and sorrow on the FAMU campus turned to rage within hours.
It began with rioters targeting cars driving passed FAMU Campus with rocks and bottles. Then someone torched two trailers at Southern Mobile Home Brokers on South Monroe Street. As firefighters and police responded to the fire, rioters pelted them with bottles and bricks.
A man assists firefighters in putting out the flames at Crow’s Grocery store on Lake Bradford. (State Archives of Florida- Tallahassee Fire Collection)
With orders to keep the FAMU students on campus, more than 150 police officers cordoned off the perimeter of the University. The violence escalated as “light-caliber” bullets and arrows were shot at police cars. Officers returned fire, reportedly with “warning shots” and also knocked out streetlamps to make it harder for the rioters to target them. Eventually, police fired tear gas at the students which ended the standoff.
But while the incidents on campus stopped for the night, that wasn’t the end of the violence. Crow’s Grocery Store on Lake Bradford Road was firebombed. The owners lived in an attached home and while most got out, one of the owner’s sons was trapped and died. Two local teenagers were later arrested and sentenced to life for the murder.
Crow’s Grocery Store on Lake Bradford the day after it was firebombed. One person died in the fire. (State Archives of Florida- Tallahassee Fire Collection)
The next morning, Friday, April 5th, a memorial for King was held at Lee Hall. While the University President called for non-violence, there were vocal protests. The riots began again later that day. Two Frenchtown furniture stores, one on North Macomb street and One on West Fourth Street, were firebombed and a laundry mat on West Pershing Street was vandalized and looted. Violence escalated with more gunfire and FAMU President George Gore shut down the University for a week. By Sunday, April 7, the riots had ended.
Famous Apalachicola Botanist, and Author passes away.
Dr. Alvan Wentworth Chapman died on this day in 1899 in Apalachicola. He grew up in the northeastern part of the country but moved to Florida in 1835 to practice medicine. Chapman lived first in Quincy and then Marianna. The physician eventually moved to Apalachicola in 1847. After the Civil War he became internationally known for his work on the botany of the area. He wrote “Flora of the Southern United States” which was one of the first books about southern plants. The Chapman Botanical Gardens in Apalachicola is named after him as well as the “Chapman oak” and “Chapman’s rhododendron.”
One step closer to becoming the Tallahassee Democrat
On this day, Tallahassee’s weekly newspaper officially became a daily paper. John G. Collins founded The Weekly True Democrat in 1905. He later sold it to Milton Asbury Smith. Smith adjusted the name and the publishing schedule several times over the years. During the legislative sessions in 1913 and 1915, he published daily. It reportedly officially became an afternoon daily paper at the end of the 1915 session. That year, the newspaper name morphed from the “Tallahassee Daily Democrat” to just “The Daily Democrat.” In 1949, under a different owner, the name was finally changed to the Tallahassee Democrat.
The front page of the Tallahassee Daily Democrat three days after it became a daily afternoon paper.
Wish you were here! Postcard of Juan Ponce de Leon Statue in State Augustine. (State Archives of Florida)
Happy Birthday to the guy who named Florida!
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first landed on the shores of Florida in April of 1513, but on this day 53 years before that, he supposedly took his first breath on this day. We say “supposedly” because there are no baptism or other records proving that specific date. However, the information most accepted by scholars is that Ponce de Leon was born in Santervás de Campos in Spain in 1460 on this day.
Ponce de Leon first sailed to the New world as part of the second expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1493. He was later named Governor of Puerto Rico. Eventually he when on a quest to search for more lands for Spain. In 1513, he headed out with three ships for what some say was the island of Bimini. He ended up on the coast of Florida instead. After arriving on the shore near St. Augustine at Eastertime, he named the land in honor of Spain’s Pascua Florida celebration which means “Feast of Flowers.” He later died after he was injured on another expedition in 1521.
William and Luella Knott standing in front of their home in 1963, two years before they passed away.
Tallahassee Poet, Author, and Artist who owned Knott House passes away
Tallahassee’s Luella Pugh Knott died on this day in 1965. Born in North Carolina in 1871, Knott taught school in central Florida where she met her future husband, William Valentine Knott. They married in 1895 and two years later they moved to Tallahassee so that William could work for the state. He eventually became the longest serving State Treasurer serving two stints in the position. Between those two time periods, the Knotts lived in Chattahoochee where William served as the administrator of the State Hospital.
When the couple returned to Tallahassee, they bought the historic home now named after them, the “Knott House.” The history of that house goes back to the Territorial days of Florida. In 1842, Attorney Thomas Hagner bought the land and had the house built there a year later, possibly by George Proctor, a free black builder in the area. After the Civil War, Edward McCook, a Brigadier General in the Union army, used the home as a temporary headquarters. McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of the home on May 20th, 1865, in an event still celebrated in Tallahassee today with reenactments at the house.
The Knott House at 301 East Park Avenue in Tallahassee (State Archives of Florida-Queral)
When the Knotts bought the home, the couple added large columns to the front of the building and made it their own. Luella wrote poems that she tied to the furnishings with ribbons leading to the home’s nickname “the House that Rhymes.” The home is now owned by the Museum of Florida.
Luella Knott was heavily involved in social causes, specifically Tallahassee’s temperance movement. She was part of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and worked to convince the citizens of Leon County to outlaw the sale of alcohol in 1904, sixteen years before the 18th Amendment and Volstead Act brought prohibition to the rest of the nation. Alcohol wasn’t sold again in the county until 1960 and then only in liquor stores. The purchase of individual drinks was not allowed until 1967, two years after her death.
Spanish Explorer Pánfilo de Narváez and his crew landed near present day Tampa and St. Petersburg on this day in 1528.
Not long afterwards, Narváez and his men were the first documented Europeans to visit present day Tallahassee area. By all accounts, it failed horribly, starting with a series of really bad decisions. First Narváez split up his men, sending 100 by boat and 300 by land to the north. The boats never could find the soldiers who took to the land. Eventually, those boats headed to Mexico.
On June 25, 1528 Narváez arrived in present-day Tallahassee where a large population of Apalachee people were living. Narváez attacked what he thought was the Apalachee capital of 40 homes, but it turned out to be just a small village outside of the much larger community. Hundreds of Apalachee warriors retaliated, forcing Narváez and his men back toward the Gulf of Mexico.
From a Spanish Postage stamp. Explorer Alvan Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition. (State Archive of Florida)
The expedition ended up struggling for survival at the edge of what is now known as Apalachee bay. While they attempted to build boats to leave the area, the soldiers ate their horses for food. They called the bay the “Bahia de los Caballos” which means Bay of Horses. Just over 240 men were alive in September when five boats were ready to leave the Bay and head to Mexico. But storms, starvation, thirst, and disease reduced their ranks to 80 by the time they reached Texas. Narváez never even made it that far. He died when his boat was blown out to sea. The remaining members of the expedition didn’t have much better luck. By 1532, only 4 of the original crew were still alive. They wandered the region for years and did not find fellow Spaniards who could take them to Mexico City until 1536.
Marchers in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1975. Included in the sea of marchers are Alan Alda, Marlo Thomas, Gwen Cherry, and Betty Freidan. (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, The National Organization for Women (NOW) held a major march in the Tallahassee in support of the Equal Right Amendment (ERA). The wording of the Amendment read that “Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.” An estimated 3500 people joined NOW President Karen DeCrow, NOW Founder and author Betty Freidan, Representative Gwen Cherry, and actors Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas in marching from the Governor’s Mansion to the state capitol in support of the ERA. Florida Governor Rubin Askew welcomed the marchers at the capitol steps. The Florida House had already approved the amendment earlier that month and the State Senate was expected to vote on the constitutional amendment during that Legislative Session.
In addition to the march, multiple ERA events were held leading up to the march. Here Actor Alan Alda speaks while sitting next to Author Betty Freidan and Actress Marlo Thomas. (State Archives of Florida-Dughi)
The ERA had been a goal of women’s rights groups after the passage of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote in 1920. Suffrage leaders of the time believed adding equal rights for women to the constitution was the next step of their movement. In 1921, Suffrage leaders Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman drafted the initial version of the bill which originally read “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.”
Florida House Representative Jim Foster wearing a “Vote NAY ERA in 1975” button. (State Archives of Florida-Dughi)
It took almost 50 years before Congress passed the Amendment in 1972, opening the door for the next stage of the process. Three-fourths of the state legislatures had to approve the Amendment within 7 years in order for it to become part of the U.S. Constitution. The first 30 of the 38 needed state approvals came within the first year, and by the time of the march in Tallahassee five more state had been added.
Florida State Senator Lori Wilson wiping tears after the ERA was defeated in the Senate in 1975. An Independent from Merritt Island, Wilson was the only female elected member of the senate at the time. (State Archives of Florida-Dughi)
Less than a week before the 1975 parade, on April 10, 1975, the Florida House had approved the Amendment 61 to 58. But a few weeks later on April 25, the Senate voted 21 to 17 against the ERA causing the ratification effort in the state to fail. A few years later, President Jimmy Carter extended the deadline for ratification of the ERA to 1982. Florida’s legislature took up the ratification issue one final time in 1982. Once again, while the House voted in favor of it, the amendment failed in the State Senate. In the end, only 35 of the 38 states ratified the ERA before the clock ran out. Florida was never one of those states.
The State Archives of Florida says the ERA was introduced or voted upon in every Legislative Session in Florida from 1972 until the deadline ran out, but the Amendment never passed the Senate.
On this day in 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln started a Navy blockade of Florida and the other Confederate states. Just a week earlier, the seceded state of South Carolina fired on the Union occupied Fort Sumter starting the Civil War. Florida had been one of the earliest states to leave the Union. It also had one of the largest coastlines for the blockade to monitor. The Union Navy focused on the major ports like St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and Pensacola. Smaller ships were able to get around the blockade. More than 620-thousand Americans died in the four-year war.
Drawing of a Union ship chasing a Blockade runner 1864 (State Archives of Florida)
Learn more about the Civil War in Florida by checking out Episode 3 of the Florida Footprints Documentary Series. That episode is called “The Confederate Road.”
Dedication of the Woman’s Club of Tallahassee Building
On April 21, 1927, the Woman’s Club of Tallahassee held a ceremony to dedicate their building in the Los Robles subdivision. The organization had existed since 1903. The Historical Marker outside the front of the building at 1513 Cristobal Drive reads that in the early years, the group worked to raise money for the first Leon High school, supported the 19th Amendment, and helped support the Girl Scouts and 4-H Club. During World War II, the club house was used as a site by the Red Cross to roll bandages for the war effort.
Woman’s Club of Tallahassee in 1929, two years after the dedication ceremony. (State Archives of Florida)
According to the Tallahassee Daily Democrat, the dedication kicked off with a welcome from the President of the Club, Augusta Conradi, wife of FSCW President Edward Conradi. Other speakers at the dedication included President Conradi and Florida Governor John Martin.
The newspaper printed the planned call and response for the dedication in advance of the event.
Leader: In memory of the high hopes and the large faith of those who founded our Republic.
Assembly: We dedicate this building.
Leader: In memory of the brave pioneers of the Woman’s Club of Tallahassee and of those who gave so much of earnest effort and strong faith to the building up of our fair state of Florida.
Assembly: We dedicate this building.
Leader: In memory of those who first discovered and settled this fair region where our town now stands, who planned its early development who cared for its progress and improvement.
Assembly: We dedicate this building.
Leader: In memory of those more immediate of our own place and time who were pioneers with us in the enterprise of founding this organization of the women of Tallahassee, but who have gone on before.
Assembly: We dedicate this building.
Leader: As a meeting place for the womanhood of our town and region with all that that womanhood may accomplish in help and inspiration.
Assembly: We dedicate this building.
Leader: As a place for pleasant entertainment and friendly intercourse
Assembly: We dedicate this building.
Leader: As a home for high ideals and noble purposes.
Passengers board the first flight out of the new Tallahassee Municipal Airport in 1961. (State Archives of Florida)
On April 23, 1961, The Tallahassee Municipal Airport was dedicated south of the city. Known today as the Tallahassee International Airport, the 1961 version was built to replace Dale Mabry Field which had been around since the 1920s. The Tallahassee Democrat in 1961 reported that it took six years to plan and build the new airport to the cost 3.25 million dollars. In addition to speeches for the dedication ceremony, there was reportedly quite an airshow planned for the event. While only a few thousand were expected to attend, an estimated 30,000 people jammed into the field to watch the event which included Air Force Fighter jet flyovers, stunts, military and civilian parachutists, helicopters and more.
Crowds at the new Tallahassee Municipal Airport on April 23, 1961 (State Archives of Florida-Barron)
Within two months of its opening, several Freedom Riders ending their bus trip through the south were arrested at the airport. They had tried to be served at the segregated Savarin Restaurant inside the airport.
Territorial Governor of Florida John Eaton in 1834 (State Archives of Florida)
Former U.S. Secretary of War John Eaton became the Governor of the Territory of Florida on April 24, 1834. Eaton did not arrive in Florida until about 7 months after his appointment but was serving in the position when the Second Seminole War broke out in 1835.
President and Former Military Governor Andrew Jackson had appointed Eaton to the position a few years after a scandal caused Eaton to resign his Cabinet position in Jackson’s administration. It was called the “Petticoat affair” (or sometimes the “Eaton affair”) and referenced the fact that Eaton had married his second wife just a few months after her first husband committed suicide. Despite the Eatons’ protests, rumors persisted that the couple had been having an affair while her first husband was still alive. Several Washington political families refused to socialize with the Eatons because of the rumors. Eaton and Jackson both believed the rumors to be politically motivated to attack the morality of Jackson and his cabinet. President Jackson’s cabinet was fractured by the scandal. In 1831 Eaton and Martin Van Buren chose to resign while President Jackson forced several others to resign as well. Eaton served as Florida’s Territorial Governor from 1834 until March 16, 1836, when he was appointed U.S. Minister to Spain. Tallahassee’s Ricard Call replaced Eaton as Governor.
The 35th Governor of Florida, Haydon Burns, served one term. (State Archives of Florida)
April 25, 1966, will go down as the day that a sitting Florida Governor saw an Unidentified Flying Object. It was Governor Haydon Burns, and he wasn’t alone in what he saw that night out the window of his Convair plane. The Governor, his wife, three staff members, a Florida Highway Patrol captain and four reporters were traveling back to Tallahassee after a campaign stop in Orlando. They, along with the pilot and co-pilot, all confirmed seeing two red-orange lights in the sky following the plane while they were over Ocala.
Don Micklejon, a political writer for the St. Petersburg Times traveling with the Governor, told the Associated Press that the UFO was spotted at 8:52pm. “I first became aware of something when Governor Burns shouted. “It’s a UFO!” I looked out the window and saw two round lights.” Micklejon says the Governor ordered the pilots to follow the lights.
The reporter for Perry Newspapers, Jack Ledden, put a shape to the object. He said “it resembled two inverted saucers or parenthesis, connected by a long pole. The light was solid and not like that produced by a string of bulbs.”
Another reporter, Duane Bradford, who was the Capitol bureau chief for the Tampa Tribune, said at first the object, estimated to be about 15 miles away, matched the 230 mile-an-hour speed of the plane. “As the Convair’s wings dipped toward the glowing UFO, the twin pair of lights quickly diminished in size—snapping off like a light switch a few seconds after the Convair gave chase.”
The folks in the back of the plane say they could only see the lights for a total of 3 to 5 minutes, but pilots may have seen it for longer. Herb Bates, the co-pilot, told the AP that the lights followed them for about 40 miles. Bates said he contacted air traffic control in Miami. Bates was told that while air traffic controllers could see the Governor’s plane on their radar, they saw nothing else in the area.
In the days after the sighting, the Governor wouldn’t say much about the incident. He only confirmed that he saw the same thing the newspaper reporters had mentioned. However, the reporters on board said that before landing, Burns had joked with them that “I told you that my campaign would be out of this world.”
The campaign might have been out of this world for Burns, but the election was not. Burns, a Democrat Segregationist, lost in the primary to the liberal Democrat Robert King High. High, not supported by Burns in the general election, ended up losing to Republican Claude Kirk in the general election.
On a sunny April Sunday in Tallahassee, the main administration building on Florida State University’s campus caught fire with some interesting results.
The 60-year-old Westcott building was also home to Ruby Diamond Auditorium. Cameras caught flames in the upper floors and people could see smoke billowing out of the structure for miles. Firefighters, police, administrators, and students raced to the site to see what was going on.
Firefighters and students on the scene of the 1969 fire at the Westcott Administration Building on FSU’s campus. (State Archives of Florida)
While firefighters rushed to put out the flames, FSU President Stanley Marshall and future Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell rushed to Marshall’s office on the 2nd floor. Marshall wanted to get some important documents from his desk drawer. Campbell grabbed an axe from a fireman and together the duo chopped open the locked desk.
Hundreds of FSU students wouldn’t stay outside the building either. They rushed in to save paperwork, office equipment, and even a potted plant. Some they carried out, some they dropped from upper floors. The Associated Press at the time reported that a Ruben’s painting valued at $30,000 was also rescued by students.
This film was recorded by John Knight on the day of the fire and is housed by the Heritage Protocol & University Archives at FSU Libraries on Florida State University Campus.
No one was hurt in the blaze, but it took years for the damage to be repaired. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that there were not even funds available to fix the building until 1973. In 1969 the damage was initially estimated at $200,000, but by the end of repairs in the spring of 1975 the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the final cost had reached $2.1 million.
For the 6 years that it took to repair the building, employees who had worked at the administration building were spread out across campus. While initially there were concerns that the fire was caused by arson, it was ruled accidental.
In the video below that was created in 2007 for WFSU’s educational access channel, 4fsu, Reporter John Rogers talked with several people who were there that night: FSU Presidet J. Stanley Marshal, Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell, and FSU Chief of Police Bill Tanner. All three men interviewed back then have passed away since this story was originally completed. Tanner passed away in 2012 while Marshall and Campbell both died in 2014.
On this day, Carrie Pittman Meek was born in Tallahassee, Florida. In 1992 Meek became the first African American Woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida.
Carrie Meek in 1980 on the floor of the Florida Legislature (State Archives of Florida-Dughi)
At the time of her birth, Meek’s parents were sharecroppers who already had 11 children. Meek graduated from Florida A & M in 1946 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and physical education. She received her master’s degree in those same disciplines from the University of Michigan. Meek taught at Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach and later Florida A & M. Eventually, she took a position at Miami-Dade Community College.
Following the death of the Gwen Cherry, the first black woman to serve in Florida’s Legislature, Meek ran for her seat. Meek served first in the Florida House in 1979 and then became the first black woman in the state Senate in 1982. In 1992, at the age of 66, Meek ran for Congress. In addition to being the first black woman elected from Florida, she was one of the first three African Americans to serve in the Congress from the state since Reconstruction.
Meek served in Congress until her retirement in 2002, winning reelection 4 times. Her son, Kendrick Meek, ran and succeeded her in the Congressional seat. In 2006, Meek’s work to help secure funds for the Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum on Florida A & M University’s campus prompted the state legislature to name the building partly after her along with James N. Eaton Sr.
Transportation was always big business in the city of Apalachicola in Franklin County, but train travel didn’t arrive to the coastal city until April 30, 1907.
Boats traveling up and down the Apalachicola River would stop at the city on the Gulf on a regular basis as settlers moved into the area. Spain, England, and America all used the port city to ship goods like timber and cotton. Before the Civil War, the city was the largest port in Florida.
The crowd in Apalachicola swarm the first train of the Aplachicola Northern Railroad on April 30, 1907. (State Archives of Florida)
But while sail and steamboats were regular transportation vehicles, the city of Apalachicola had avoided a form of travel gaining popularity that first arrived in the North Florida Area in the 1830s: Railroads. The city of Apalachicola’s website says there had been an attempt to bring trains to the city in 1885. A group of Apalachicola businessmen secured a charter for the Apalachicola and Alabama Railroad company. However, they were unable to secure funding and the plan fell through.
Things changed in 1905. Charles B. Duff and his partners formed the Apalachicola Northern Railroad. It was to be a shortline railroad connecting the city to Chattahoochee which would then connect with the Atlantic Coast train line.
Posing with the first train in Apalachicola in 1907. (State Archives of Florida)
The ANR was completed in 1907 and on April 30th the first train arrived in town to great fanfare. People welcomed the new addition to the city. Many marked the occasion by posing with the train in photos and hanging out on the first train bridge in the area. A few years later a second line to Port St. Joe was built.
History is a work in progress, just like this page…
These are just some of the interesting facts about the history of our community. More moments, events, and people will be added to these memories as time goes on. The WFSU Local Routes team will continue to research, write, and add other historic moments to this month as time goes on. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more new-to-you facts about the history of Tallahassee as well as our other north Florida and south Georgia communities. You can also share local historic moments you’d like to see included in our list. Email localroutes@wfsu.org.
Scott Weisman demostrates a device used to record geographic coordinates.
Have you ever heard someone mention the term GIS…as in Gee-eye-ess? Then that voice in your head says, “I kind of, think I know what it is, but I’m not sure.” Well, this video is for you. GIS stands for Geographic Information System. Your old high school geography textbook is not GIS. Maybe it has geographic information, but it’s not a system. Google Maps is almost like GIS because you can ask for specific things on the map, like hotels and restaurants. But GIS is more than just a map. GIS is when you collect and maintain information about the things in the world around you and place them in geographic relation to each other. Then you can query those things for the information you need to know about them and their relationships to each other. Pretty cool, huh?
Who uses GIS?
Scott Weisman explains the concept of layering geographic information.
So, you might ask yourself, ”Who uses GIS?” Well, insurance companies, agriculture, emergency managers, logistics and supply chain managers, urban planners, and local governments, to name a few, all use GIS. And Tallahassee-Leon County does too. Scott Weisman is the GIS Program Coordinator for Tallahassee-Leon County GIS. He explains GIS like this: “Everything is represented as a point, line, or polygon. So those are the parts we see. But when you click on it, there’s a table of information that comes up behind it. So, attributes, information about that line, who maintains it…the city, the county, private? How many lanes are there? What is the traffic count? The pavement type…for pavement management systems. There’s a wealth of information associated with things we see on the map.” As you might expect, a lot of this information is stored in different agencies like the tax collector for property taxes, the city-county planning department for zoning, or city hall for utilities. But with the Tallahassee-Leon County GIS website, you can pull that public data together through one portal, beginning with a map. Check out the inter-governmental agency’s site at: tlcgis.org. You may be surprised by what you find. I thought it was very cool.
Here comes the curve ball…
Marcus Curtis talks about using GIS to explore history.
Now here comes the curve ball. Do you know what some GIS guys call old information? HISTORY! Crazy, right? I’ll bet you didn’t see that coming. Marcus Curtis is a GIS Specialist for Tallahassee-Leon County GIS. His job entails a lot of mapping for the city and county, and he’s done a lot of research on how local parcels of land were transferred through families over time. He’s studied a lot of old land surveys, and property deeds, and municipal boundaries, and easements, etc. And he’s also been using his GIS skills to tell some of the stories about Tallahassee’s history. “I think it was roughly about eight years ago we started. And we told stories, we connected dots, we provided historical maps and resources, and we also just showed how the community came to be. How it developed over a period of time.” You can find the local history information at tlcgis.org/history. You’ll find information grouped in historically themed galleries. The other thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the information presented is hyperlink-heavy, so keep an eye peeled for text that is colored differently or underlined. The linked information usually opens in a new tab, so you won’t lose your prior place as you click through. Pretty cool, right?
Tallahassee Bicentennial 1824-2024
Oh, and in case you haven’t heard…2024 is Tallahassee’s Bicentennial! So, the city/county GIS crew has put together a Bicentennial Gallery to highlight some of Tallahassee’s historic sites, moments, and early neighborhoods from 1824 to 2024. You’ll find that under the Galleries tab on the history site. That is the site that Curtis Marcus is showing me in the video.
The life cycle of a Monarch butterfly is just one of many stories featured on WFSU Local Routes and the WFSU Ecology Blog
(Originally posted March 14, 2023)
National Learn About Butterflies Day on March 14 may not provide us with a day off of school or work, but according to the National Day Calendar website, it’s something fun to do today. We love that idea too! That’s because WFSU Local Routes has been learning about our own local butterflies for YEARS thanks to WFSU Producer Rob Diaz de Villegas and the WFSU Ecology blog that he runs.
The life cycle of a Monarch butterfly is just one of many stories featured on the WFSU Ecology Blog
When I asked him to share with me some of the his favorite EcoAdventures involving our region’s butterflies, Rob immediately sent me several options.
First, let’s start with the fact that you can explore ALL of Rob’s butterfly stories by clicking on this link to the WFSU Ecology Blog’s Butterfly Archives.
But for specifics, here are the ones Rob thought we might like to learn more right now.
At the top of Rob’s list is one that ties into the work people are doing right now to plant their Spring gardens. It involves the plant known as a “passionvine” and Rob found it key to his story about the life cycle of the butterfly known as the gulf fritillary. He follows it from the egg laying process, caterpillar stage, making chrysalis, and its adult butterfly form.
Passionvine turns out to be a popular plant for local butterflies. Rob calls it an “all-you-can-eat buffet” for many of these winged creatures. In addition to the gulf fritillary, it is also happy place for the butterfly known as zebra longwing. Rob explores more about that butterfly as well as the passionvine.
And finally… there is the frosted elfin. He might seem a little plain compared to some butterflies with vibrant colors, but this little guy is really rare! This is the time the year you might be able to spot it in the Apalachicola National Forest. But you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled! Learn more about frosted elvin in this EcoAdventure.
On this day, the State of Florida declared a Public Health Emergency after the first two positive COVID-19 cases were discovered in Manatee and Hillsborough counties. Later this month on March 19, 2020, the Florida Department of Health in Leon County confirmed the first 3 COVID-19 cases, including one death, had occurred there.
Joan Heggen in 1973 (State Archives of Florida/Parks)
On this day, Tallahassee city commissioners chose Joan Heggen to become city mayor. She was the first woman to hold that position for Tallahassee. Just one year earlier, Heggen had become the first woman to be elected to the commission. She succeeded James Ford, the first African American man to hold the mayoral position.
Since 1919, the city commissioners rotated the position of mayor among themselves with a formal reorganization vote once a year. In the 1973 vote, there was some controversy in the commissioner’s decision to choose Heggen for the position. Traditionally, commissioners would choose the previous Mayor ProTem for the mayoral post. Commissioner Loring Lovell had served in that ProTem position during the previous year, but the commissioners chose Heggen instead.
Heggen served her full term as mayor but later chose not to run for reelection to the city commission in 1975. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 85.
Drawing of Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon of Spain left Puerto Rico with three ships heading Northwest. Ponce de Leon was reportedly hoping to find the island of Bimini, but the land he saw from the ship on Easter Sunday (March 27,1513) was Florida. Ponce de Leon sailed further north and landed near Saint Augustine on April 2, 1513. He named it La Florida after Spain’s Easter celebration called La Pascua Florida which means “The Feast of Flowers.” Leon County in Florida is named after the explorer.
The first official flag of Florida (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, U.S. President John Tyler signed a bill passed by Congress making Florida the 27th state to join the United States of America. Florida had been an official U.S. territory since 1822. There had been some debate over whether Florida should enter the Union as one state or two. Under Spanish rule, it had been divided into East and West Florida. It joined as a single slaveholding state at the same time Iowa, a single free state joined the United States.
The first official flag of Florida was flown in June of 1845 at the inauguration of the first state Governor, William D. Moseley. The flag, which included the motto “Let Us Alone”, Just 15 years after receiving statehood, Florida seceded from the Union to join the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War.
Second issue of The Weekly True Democrat in 1905. This newspaper eventually morphed into the Tallahassee Democrat.
On this day in 1905, the “Weekly True Democrat” newspaper was printed for the first time. There had been several newspapers in the city before its launch, but this was a new one. In the masthead of the new “Weekly True Democrat” paper was the motto “Good Government; Honesty in Public Office; Equal Justice to All—Special Privileges to None.” The founder, John G. Collins, announced it would be published each Friday morning and that a year’s subscription would be one dollar (paid in advance). The paper went through a few name changes and in 1916 it became “The Daily Democrat” and was published each afternoon. In 1948, the name changed again and became “The Tallahassee Democrat” which still exists today.
Dorothy Inman-Johnson in 1986 shortly after her election to Seat 5 of the Tallahassee City Commission (State Archives of Florida/Thomas)
On March 3, 1989 Tallahassee City commissioner Dorothy “Dot” Inman-Johnson became the first black woman chosen as the city’s Mayor. Just three years earlier, she be had become the first black woman elected to the commission. From 1919 until 1997, the commissioners chose among themselves who would serve the one-year term as Mayor. Inman-Johnson became Mayor again February 26, 1993. She served two 4-year-terms representing District 5. In 2022, Inman-Johnson published a book called “Tallahassee’s Black History Firsts: Post Reconstruction Era.”
First Capital Building of Florida in Tallahassee (State Archives of Florida)
Florida had been a territory of the United States for almost two years before Tallahassee was named the capital of the area. Until then, two different cities, St. Augustine and Pensacola, had served as rotating locations. The situation had occurred because, under Spanish rule, the land had been divided into East and West Florida with two separate capitals. The Territorial Legislature established the Tallahassee location midway between the two populous cities, on the lands once held by the Apalachee people.
On this day in 1989, the Leon County Library broke ground on a new building at the corner of Park and Duval street in Tallahassee. More than 500 people showed up on this rainy day to partake in the ceremony and activities which included a storytelling event for kids. The 10.5-million-dollar building would be the first permanent home for the county’s public library. It was first housed at the Columns in 1956, then the Elks Club on Monroe Street, and eventually an old store at the Northwood Mall. The new building opened to the public on January 20, 1991. Two years later, the library was renamed to LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library after the late Governor LeRoy Collins.
In 2016, an Oak tree that had existed at the permanent library’s location since before the Civil War had to be removed due to disease. It was turned into a sculpture that now sits in front of the building.
Ricou Browning in his Creature from the Black Lagoon costume at Wakulla Springs. 1953 (State Archives of Florida)
Wakulla Springs Becomes the Black Lagoon
On this day in 1954, the film “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” opened at theatres across the country. While some of the black and white 3D monster movie had been shot in California, a portion of the film was done in the clear waters of Wakulla Springs south of Tallahassee.
Florida Actor Ricou Browning, who had been an FSU College Student and lifeguard at Wakulla Springs before the movie was made, signed on to serve on as a stuntman for the film. His strong swimming skills had him performing the underwater shots in the Creature costume. The movie launched his career in the movies. He continued playing the monster in the sequels. Browning passed away February 27, 2023 at the age of 93.
The Battle of Natural Bridge was fought on this day in 1865. The roots of the battle began when Union soldiers from the 2nd and 99th U.S. Colored Infantry, as well as the 2nd Florida Calvary, were sent to take the capital city of Tallahassee from the south. Boats with the Union troops landed near St. Mark’s lighthouse on March 4th and began their march north.
In order to reach Tallahassee, the soldiers would have to cross the St. Marks River. With wooden bridges destroyed, the northern troops aimed toward a section of the river that went underground, leaving a natural bridge they could cross over. Meanwhile, word of the Union troops advancing reached Tallahassee. Confederate soldiers on leave in the area, other citizens, and students from the Florida Military and Collegiate Institute (which later became Florida State University) rushed to Natural Bridge where the two sides engaged in battle. The small group of Confederate fighters pushed back the Union forces.
Tallahassee was the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi that was not captured by Union troops during the Civil War. However, after the war, the city was later occupied by some of the same Union troops that had taken part in the battle. Each year, a full-scale reenactment battle takes place the first weekend of March at Natural Bridge State Park. In addition to the reenactment, there are demonstrations and living history programs.
Check out this Local Routes story about the Reenactment and Battle at Natural Bridge.
Courthouse in Milton, Florida in Santa Rosa Country (State Archives of Florida)
The most snow to ever fall on Florida in 24 hours took place on March 6, 1954. The Milton Experimental station in Santa Rosa County reported that 4 inches of snow had fallen during that time. It was the most ever recorded in the state since the first documented report of snow in the state which occurred in 1774. Four years later, Tallahassee Florida would have its own record snowfall of 2.8 inches on February 13.
You may have attended concerts or performances at Ruby Diamond Concert Hall on Florida State Campus, but do you know the history behind the woman it is named after? Born in 1886, Diamond was the daughter of a Tallahassee merchant and city commissioner, Julius Diamond. Her parents gave her the name Ruby Pearl Diamond. Diamond graduated from Florida State College (later Florida State University) in 1905 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry.
Ruby Pearl Diamond in 1910. (State Archives of Florida)Ruby Pearl Diamond in 1969. (State Archives of Florida/Parks)Ruby Pearl Diamond of Tallahassee in 1910 and 1969. Ruby Diamond Concert Hall is named after her.
Diamond reportedly was engaged twice, but never married. After the death of her parents, she moved into the Floridan Hotel at Monroe and Call street. She lived there for nearly 50 years. She later moved to the downtown Hilton hotel. Diamond was known for her philanthropic work with Florida State University, Temple Israel, and others. Ruby Pearl Diamond died on this day in 1982 at the age of 95.
The Floridan Hotel in 1954 at Monroe and Call Streets in Tallahassee. Ruby Diamond lived there after it opened in 1927. (State Archives of Florida/Kerce)
General Andrew Jackson, Military Governor of the Territory of Florida. He later served as U.S. President
On this day in 1821, U.S. President James Monroe named Andrew Jackson as the first Military Governor of Florida. Before this, Jackson had long served the United States, first in the Revolutionary War and later during the war of 1812. After his decisive victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, the Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson was considered a national hero.
He remained in command of troops in the southern half of the United States. Over the years, tensions on the southern U.S. border had increased as runaway slaves sought refuge in Spanish Florida, often among the Native Americans known as Seminoles. In 1817, the War Department ordered Jackson to deal with the situation. Jackson invaded the Spanish-held area starting the First Seminole War. In addition to burning some of the Seminole towns, he seized two cities held at the time by Spain: Pensacola and St. Marks. This first Seminole war eventually led to the 1819 Transcontinental Treaty in which Spain officially turned East and West Florida over to the United States.
The U.S. took possession of the territory in 1821. Jackson agreed to take the position as Military Governor of the area only until the territorial government was organized. He resigned in November. Jackson was elected president of the United States in 1828. Jackson County, Florida was named after Andrew Jackson.
Governor LeRoy Collins in 1958 (State Archives of Florida/Holland)
The 33rdGovernor of Florida, Thomas LeRoy Collins was born on this day in Tallahassee. He attended Leon High School before going to Eastman Business College in New York and Cumberland School of Law in Tennessee. Before becoming governor, Collins served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Senate. In 1954 he won a special election to become Governor. Two years later, Collins won reelection in 1956 making him the first Florida governor to serve two consecutive terms in office. Collins was known for his support of Civil Rights efforts. He died on March 12, 1991. The Leon County Library in Tallahassee was renamed after him in 1993. The Library put together a timeline focusing on the history of Colllins here.
The old Wakulla County Courthouse was built in 1892 after the first one caught fire. Although a newer courthouse is in use today, this one of the oldest wooden courthouse buildings still in existence in the state.
The first Tallahassee sit-in demonstration on February 13, 1960. (State Archives of Florida)
A day that started with sit-in demonstrations on this day in 1960 ended with threats, arrests, and tear gas. The weekly civil rights sit-ins had begun in the Capital City a month before and the first trial of the first sit-in arrests was scheduled to occur the following week. According to Glenda Alice Rabby’s book “The Pain and the Promise,” on March 11th, local CORE (Congress for Racial Equality) members met with the managers of McCrory’s and Woolworth’s stores about their segregation policies. When the stores refused “to negotiate,” the CORE members promised sit-in demonstrations at both locations the next day. The numbers of CORE members had grown over the weeks and leaders planned for this newest round of sit-ins to be integrated. Six black men from FAMU and five white men from FSU showed up at 9 am to take part in the demonstration at Woolworth’s lunch counter. Before the black students scheduled for the McCrory demonstration could even arrive, the mayor and police arrested all 11 protestors at Woolworth’s.
FAMU students marching in Tallahassee on March 12, 1960 to protest the arrests at sit-ins earlier int he day. Shortly after this photo was taken, Police sprayed the students with tear gas. (State Archives of Florida)
Patricia Stephens, one of the founders of the local CORE chapter, called on approximately 200 students waiting at FAMU to form a silent protest outside the jail. When her demands to see the jailed students were not met, Stephens’ directed a second round of sit-ins to take place. Fifty students headed to McCrory’s and fifty to Woolworths. The Woolworths’ students never made it there. Stephens said they were stopped by a group of white men carrying clubs, knives, and sticks. Meanwhile, the first of the McCrory students were arrested shortly after walking in the department store door.
With these new arrests, Stephens arranged for another influx of students carrying signs to march in protest starting on FAMU’s campus. The report of the number of students involved in the march varies. The Tallahassee Democrat reported about 250 students took part in the march. Stephens initially estimated 800 in a letter to her mother, but later she wrote in an article that one-thousand students, in groups of 75, were involved.
When the students were near Duval and Monroe Streets, police fired tear gas at them, scattering the students. In a letter to her mother, Patricia Stephens said that one of the police officers recognized her and targeted her with tear gas directly to her face. The damage the gas did to her eyes forced her to wear dark sunglasses for the rest of her life. Other witnesses of the gassing also saw a mob of white men swing boards with nails at the protestors. Many of the students were treated at the local hospital on FAMU’s campus for injuries. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that police arrested a total of 35 protestors.
Jack Lemmon on the Wakulla Springs set of Airport ’77 in 1976. (State Archives of Florida)
You may be familiar with the Tarzan movies starring Olympic Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller that were filmed at Wakulla Springs. However, in 1976 another big named star dived into those clear waters for another big movie: Airport ’77. Jack Lemmon, seen here with scuba suit and cigar on the dock at the Springs, spent plenty of time in Wakulla’s waters for the airplane disaster film.
In the movie’s storyline, a luxury 747 airplane crashes into the ocean with everyone trapped inside. The underwater scenes shot outside the plane were filmed in the clear waters of the spring south of Tallahassee in 1976.
Part of a 747 was sunk into Wakulla Springs to make the movie. The lodge at Wakulla springs website says that “parts of the 747 body were left on the property after the filming was complete.” The movie also starred Jimmy Stewart and Olivia de Havilland. The film opened nationwide in theatres on March 11, 1977.
Crews placed part of a 747 in the bottom of Wakulla Springs for the filming of Airport ’77. (State Archives of Florida)
Territorial Governor Richard Call in 1936 (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, Richard Call is named the third Territorial Governor of Florida. He served until 1839. After a short break, Call took the office again in 1841 and served until 1844. Born in Virginia, Call had served as a personal aide to General Andrew Jackson and came to Florida to help the future president set up Florida’s Territorial government. During his time in the area, Call built the Grove Plantation in Tallahassee. Call Street is also named after him.
WFSU’s Mike Plummer explores the Grove Museum.
William Pope DuVal was the first civilian Governor of The Territory of Florida. (State Archives of Florida)
DuVal served 12 years in the position with two different Presidents– John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson– reappointing DuVal to the post. Duval Street in Tallahassee is named after him.
Jackie Robinson in 1950 (U.S. Department of State)
More than a year before he became the first black man to play Major League Baseball, Jackie Robinson broke a color barrier in Florida.
Robinson, who was born in Cairo, GA, played second base for the Montreal Royals in an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers on March 17, 1946.
The Fort Myers News-Press reported that the Daytona Beach event was the first time a black man had “participated with whites in an exhibition game for which admission was charged in the state of Florida.” Four thousand people attended. Robinson had been signed to the Royals, a farm team for the Dodgers, and reported to Spring training in Sanford, Florida on March 4th of that year. The Dodgers won the exhibition game 7 to 2.
People in Tallahassee waiting outside the Leon County Courthouse on March 17, 1960 for the verdict in the trial of the Tallahassee sit-in protestors.
On this day in 1960, the eleven protesters who were arrested for sit-in demonstrations in Tallahassee on February 20, 1960, went on trial for disturbing the peace. All eleven were found guilty and sentenced to a $300 fine or 60 days in jail. Three paid the fine, but eight refused to pay, choosing “jail over bail”. The result was the nation’s first “jail-in.” Instead of paying the fee, sisters Patricia and Pricilla Stephens, high school student Henry Steele (son of Tallahassee Civil Rights leader C.K. Steele), siblings John and Barbara Broxton, FAMU Student Government Association President-elect William Larkins, Angelina Nance, and Clement Carney headed to jail to begin serving their sentence on March 18, 1960.
Philadelphia Tribute May 24, 1960 with story about nation-wide tour the leaders of the Jail-In took after their release.
During the 49 days they actually served, the group inspired civil rights protests in Tallahassee and around the country. They received hundreds of letters of support while in jail, including some from Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackie Robinson. After their release, the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), arranged for a national tour for the students to talk about their experiences with the Civil Rights movement.
Discover more about the civil rights moment in Tallahassee in the Learn more about the Civil Rights and the impact on Florida in episode 6 of the WFSU Florida Footprints documentary series. It’s called “The Paths of Progress.” You can also learn more at about the jail where the group served their sentence here.
Governor LeRoy Colllins in 1960 (State Archives of Florida)
Throughout February and March of 1960, Florida had seen sit-ins and civil rights demonstrations around the state. In Tallahassee, the first jail-in, where convicted protestors chose jail instead of paying fines, had begun two days before. The previous weekend a huge demonstration in the capital city ended with police firing Tear Gas into a crowd of demonstrators. It was then that Governor LeRoy Collins felt he could not ignore the issue. Before his first election to the governorship, Collins had expressed hope that the traditions of segregation would continue. That changed on March 20, 1960. Against the advice of his friends, Collins spoke on TV to the entire state about race relations in Florida. When he talked about what had been happening in his hometown of Tallahassee, he expressed shame at how the situation had devolved in the city and that the tension and unfounded rumors of riots were disgraceful. Collins said he believed he represented all the people of Florida no matter what their color or financial standing. Appealing to people who thought the problem would go away if only black men and women would “stay in their place”, he replied:
"Now friends, that's not a Christian point of view. That's not a democratic point of view. That's not a realistic point of view. We can never stop Americans from struggling to be free. We can never stop Americans from hoping and praying that someday in some way this ideal that is imbedded in our Declaration of Independence is one of those truths that are inevitable, that all men are created equal, that somehow will be a reality and not just an illusory distant goal.”
Collins became the first Southern Governor to express that segregation was morally wrong and asked that Floridians work together to solve the racial conflicts. In his speech,Collins not only announced the forming of a biracial committee to work on this issue but encourage every community in the state to do the same.
Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper in 1877 when he graduated from West Point. (U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Military Affairs)
On this day, Henry Ossian Flipper, the first black man to graduate from West Point, was born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia. Flipper, the oldest of 5 children, was 9 years old went the Civil War ended. While 4 other black men had been accepted into the U.S. Military Academy before him, Flipper was the first one to graduate in 1877. He dealt with harassment throughout his entire time at the academy. After graduation, Lt. Flipper became the first African American commissioned officer in the regular U.S. Army. He served in Oklahoma and Texas as part of Company A of the Tenth U.S. Calvary.
The Leon County Library in The Columns, 1960 (State Archives of Florida)
The first public Leon County Library opened on this day in The Columns. The building had been built around 1830 at Park Avenue and Adams Street. Before opening the free Library in the Columns, Tallahassee only had a private subscription-based David Walker Library.
The city had a chance to have a free public library at the turn of the century when Andrew Carnegie offered money to build one in the city. However, the city turned down the deal because it would have allowed black patrons to use the building as well.
Even though the new Leon County Library at the Columns could hold 5,000 books, it quickly ran out of space. Six years later it moved to the old Elks Club building on North Monroe Street and doubled its size. It moved again in 1975 to the lower level of Northwood Mall. After years of temporary homes, the library broke ground on its current permanent home in 1989 and opened in 1991. It was renamed after Governor LeRoy Collins in 1993.
The Territorial Seal of Florida (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, the U.S. Government merged East and West Florida to form the U.S. Territory of Florida. Previously under Spanish rule, the area had been divided into two distinct sections. America had negotiated the acquisition of the area from Spain in the Adams-Onis Treaty that was signed in 1819. While General Andrew Jackson had served as Military Governor in 1821, a few weeks before the territory was formed William Pope DuVal was named the first civilian Governor.
History is a work in progress, just like this page…
These are just some of the interesting facts about the history of our community. More facts about locations, events, and people will be added to these memories as time goes on. The WFSU Local Routes team will continue to research, write, and add other historic moments to this month and others as time goes on. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more new-to-you facts about the history of Tallahassee as well as our other north Florida and south Georgia communities. You can also share local historic moments you’d like to see included in our list. Email localroutes@wfsu.org.
Jennifer Young talks to WFSU at the TC Bakery's kitchen in Crawfordville. Her tasty treats can be found across Tallahassee. (WFSU Public Media/Alex Campbell)
The story of TC Bakery is more than just a tasty tale of cakes and muffins found at locations all around Tallahassee. It’s about the owner and head baker, Jennifer Young. With support from her family and the desire to create delicious food, Young battled through postpartum depression to build a business that not only has treats flying off the shelves but also flying around the country.
She’s been called the Cake Lady and Miss TC. but her real name is Jennifer Young. Young is the owner and Chief Baking Officer of TC Bakery. She says the name of the business originated with her sister.
“So in the beginning I was telling my sister that I needed a catchy name and she was like ‘Oh you tailored the confections to their tastebuds.’ And I was like, “Okay, girl!” grins Young. She started calling it Tailored Confections, but as the business grew, she shortened it to TC Bakery. “Now I’m known as Miss TC which has nothing to do with my name,” laughs Young.
A Labor of Love
Creating the bakery has been a labor of love for Young. In fact, it grew out of her own labor pains. Young has 4 children and the youngest are beautiful twin girls. Young says after the twins were born she went through a horrible battle with postpartum depression. She said it was then she decided to start baking to help her deal with the pressures of life at work and home. “I’m like, ‘okay, I need something just for me’ and so baking was that for me.”
Jennifer Young and her family enjoying the sweet taste of TC Bakery’s success. (Jennifer Young/TC Bakery)
It started as a side hustle, but soon, Young quit her job as a grant manager for the State of Florida. She said she started having trouble concentrating at work. “I can’t think of anything else but cake. I can’t go anywhere in the state because they’re like, ‘You’re the cake lady!’ Everyone was talking about cake.”
TC Bakery’s Butter Pecan Cheesecake in a case. (WFSU Public Media/Alex Campbell)
Jennifer Young and her father, Isaac Williams (Jennifer Young)
Word of Mouth builds TC Bakery
TC Bakery grew quickly. Southwood Sweets, then Red Eye Coffee, and then Smoothie Time began calling Young to stock her confections at their businesses. But Young hit the big time when the Tallahassee International Airport contacted her. Young says as soon as she walked into the airport, someone spotted her TC Bakery shirt. Young recalls the moment excitedly, “And they’re like “You coming in here? I’m like, ‘Yeah!’”
Young’s bakery became the first black woman-owned business at the Tallahassee airport. People now pick up her cakes once they get through security and take them as they fly off all around the country. “Now I have people in Ohio and Charlotte and these different areas around the country saying ‘Hey, I’ve had your product and I got it from Tallahassee Airport.’ That has catapulted the business to another level,” says an amazed Young.
Young says she’s surprised at the success, but says her family always believed in her, especially her late father. “He would speak things into me when I didn’t even believe in myself.” She says an hour before he died, he told her “Baby, you’re going to be a household name.’”
He was right.
Check out the full video at the top of the page to hear more of Jennifer Young’s amazing story and how her father influenced her life.
Producer’s Inside Look
WFSU Producer Freddie Hall and TC Bakery owner Jennifer Young. (WFSU Public Media/Freddie Hall)
by Freddie Hall
Jennifer has muffins, cakes, pies, and more that have put smiles on the faces of many people in this region. To us, it’s hard work and a job, but to her it’s family and passion!
I feel that TC Bakery has one of the sweetest and most wonderful stories coming out of Tallahassee lately. Jennifer Young has been gracing this city with her baked goods for years. As the video and article show you, she has come through so many challenges in her childhood and young adult years, but she always has pushed through to make this vision happen. Jennifer also became the first Black woman-owned business in the Tallahassee International Airport. A feat like that is something she didn’t even try to achieve, it happened because she initially wanted to create something special for herself and now wants to create something special for others. This business is something she holds near and dear, and it has deep roots in her family.
Often described as part cookie and part cake, Tea Cakes are a southern favorite. This version of the recipedates back to Tallahassee during Florida’s early years of statehood. The author of it is Mary Simpson Brown Archer. Mary kept recipes, cleaning tips, and more in a notebook that today provides us and historians with a small window into the daily life of Tallahasseans from the Antebellum to the Reconstruction eras. What follows is not only the tasty recipe of what has been called “THE Florida Tea Cake,” but also explores more about the woman who wrote down this special recipe.
Mary Archer’s Tea Cake Recipe written in her own hand. (State Archives of Florida/Archer)
Mary Simpson Brown Archer was born in Virginia on December 21, 1821. Her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Brown, moved their family and 140 enslaved people to Florida Territory when Mary was around seven years old. One of seven children, Mary grew up in Tallahassee where her father built a large hotel called Brown’s Inn. In 1849, Thomas Brown was elected the second governor of the new state of Florida. By then, Mary was 27 and married to James Tillinghast Archer. Archer was the first Secretary of State in Florida and later served as Florida’s Attorney General.
Florida Governor Thomas Brown in 1849. He was the father of Mary Archer. (State Archives of Florida)
The couple had two children: Thomas in 1849 and Susan in 1850. Mary’s husband James died just a few years later in 1859 at the age of 40. The family strongly supported the Confederacy before, during, and after the Civil War. In addition to her father and husband owning enslaved people, Mary’s son was one of the West Florida Seminar cadets who fought for the Confederacy at the Battle of Natural Bridge south of Tallahassee in 1865. Furthermore, at the request of her brother-in-law, Mary hid all of Florida’s Confederate Battle Flags at the war’s end so they would not fall into the hands of the Union Troops occupying Tallahassee. Mary kept them a secret and protected them until the end of Reconstruction when she returned them to the state.
James Tillinghast Archer in 1849. He was Florida’s first Secretary of State and husband of Mary Archer. (State Archives of Florida)
Mary described in a letter to her sister about the economic hardships the city and her family had fallen upon after the war. However, the family must have still owned her father’s Inn. After his death, Mary took over the operation of it in 1870. She ran it under the name “The City Hotel” for four more years before it passed out of the family. Mary died in 1894 and is buried at Tallahassee’s Old City Cemetery near her husband.
While there are paintings of both her father and husband in the Archives of the State of Florida and a photo of her father and one of her sisters, there is no painting or photo of Mary.
The plain brown notebook that holds Mary Archer’s recipes. (State Archives of Florida/Archer)
Mary Archer’s Recipe Notebook
Mary’s son and his wife died young with no children. Meanwhile, Mary’s daughter lived to be 82, but never married. At some point, Mary Simpson Brown Archer’s notebook with the handwritten recipes was donated to the State Library and Archives of Florida. The entire notebook is online, and you can read it for yourself. At two points in the book, dates are mentioned. The first is “1852,” when Mary wrote her name multiple times in the front of the book. The other is “1869”, when Mary’s 20-year-old son practiced his penmanship. Those are the only clues to when the notebook with the plain brown cover was written.
Inside cover of Mary Archer’s Notebook. (State Archives of Florida/Archer)
Over the years, Mary recorded a variety of things beyond food recipes in the book. She included methods to remove stains (iron stains from marble), steps to cure illnesses (whooping cough), and sayings she wanted to remember (“A still tongue makes a wise head.”) Mary might not have intended some of the entries to be humorous, but when you have a recipe for “Cake” followed immediately by an entry titled “How to Destroy Flies,” you begin to wonder what happened to that cake!
Advertisement for the “New Lee” Cooking Stove by the Richmond Stove Company. This type of stove is similar to what ma have been used in this area during this time period. (Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)
Some interesting challenges come up when you’re dealing with an original recipe that is around 172 years old. First and foremost, how do you translate cooking and baking instructions to modern technology? Sure, there were stoves and ovens in the mid-1800s, but a wood- or coal-heated oven does not exactly have the same type of capability as a modern electric or gas oven that will efficiently preheat to exactly 350 degrees. In some older recipes I’ve run across while researching for this project, I’ve seen phrases like “slow oven” and “fast oven” which I take to mean “low temperature” and “high temperature.”
In families that have passed down recipes like this, they are often modified over the generations to deal with the changing technology. Sometimes, they are rewritten, and sometimes there are just notes in the margins. Since this recipe was first written by Mary in the mid 1800s, there have been no changes or additions that would help me determine how to set the time and temperature using a modern stove. However, I did have an advantage. I knew someone who had not only makes Mary Archer’s recipe regularly but does so with with rave reviews: Beth McGrotha, who is part of the Tallahassee Historical Society and an excellent baker. Beth pointed me in the right direction regarding how long and at what temperature to bake this recipe. Thank you, Beth!
One other challenge with this recipe and others in Mary Archer’s notebook is that she didn’t always write down the preparation instructions. Sometimes, as in the case of these tea cakes, it was just a list of ingredients. Fortunately, there are many tea cake recipes out there and, while the ingredients might vary, the instructions to create these types of cookies are often similar.
My attempt at baking tea cakes after the power went out. On the left is a battery powered lantern my dad held for me to help illuminate the cookies for the photo. They might look good, but in this case, these tea cakes were NOT done. Epic fail on my part! (Suzanne Smith/WFSU Public Media)
In my first attempt at making Mary Archer’s Tea Cakes, I had a humorous and ironic situation happen. Just a few minutes after putting the first cookie sheet into the oven, the power in my house and my whole neighborhood went out, most likely from a blown transformer at a nearby substation. Of course, the heat remaining in the oven would continue to bake the cookies, but since I wasn’t sure how fast the oven would cool, the timer I was using was worthless. So there I was, trying to bake cookies without power using a recipe originally written to bake cookies without power. Since it was nighttime and my house was dark, I sat there shining the flashlight from my phone through my oven window trying to see/guess when the edges of the tea cake turned golden brown. I did NOT do a good job so my first tea cakes ended up way undercooked. Still, if I had thought of it at the time, I would have lit a candle instead of using my flashlight app just to get the full 1850’s baking experience.
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Embrace technology and use a stand or hand mixer. It will take about 2 minutes or so.
1 cup of butter plus 2 cups of sugar mixed together will look like this. (Suzanne Smith/WFSU Public Media)
Add one egg at a time to the butter and sugar. Mix in each one completely before adding another.
In a separate bowl, whisk your flour, Cream of Tartar, and baking soda together.
Add the Cream of Tartar (left) and Baking soda (right) to the flour (back), then whisk away! (Suzanne Smith/WFSU Public Media)
Add about a third of the combined dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Repeat with another third. With the final third, make sure you do not overmix.
You should have a sticky dough (very sticky if you overmix it). Depending on how you like your tea cakes (crispy or soft) will depend on what you do next. Consider this next part a “choose your own adventure” in baking!
Divide dough into manageable sections. Then wrap up each section in plastic wrap. Flatten the plastic wrap-covered dough into thick rectangles and put in the fridge for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Diving up the dough, wrapping it in plastic wrap, and allowing it to chill in fridge help dough become easier to roll out. (Suzanne Smith/WFSU Public Media)
Place one of the chilled dough rectangles on a flour-covered area and sprinkle flour on top. Leave the others in the fridge until you are ready for it because as it warms up it will become harder to handle. Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough until it’s about ¼ inch thick. Make sure the dough is as even as possible.
You can use a round cookie cutter to cut out the tea cakes in the traditional style. I used a 2-inch round cutter. Beth McGrotha has also done them with an adorable Florida cookie cutter that turned out great! She calls them “THE Florida Tea Cakes”.
The dough will be about 1/4 inch thick when rolled out. (Suzanne Smith/WFSU Public Media)
Arrange the cutouts on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Per Mary Archer’s ingredients, you can bake the tea cakes plain or sprinkle them with the seasoning of your choice. In addition to the plain tea cakes, I have also baked them using cinnamon/sugar on top and others using nutmeg/sugar. All are delicious!
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden brown. (The bigger and thicker the cookie, the longer it will take. Keep a close eye on it.)
Remove from cookie sheet and place on a rack to cool.
Beth McGrotha used Mary Archer’s recipe to make this adorable Florida shaped tea cake. I love the little red dot indicating the Capital City! (Bekah Hair-Stewart)
You can chill covered dough for 15 or 30 minutes to make it more firm and less sticky, but it’s not necessary. Coat your hands with a bit of flour and make little balls of dough.
Place the balls of dough on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. These will spread so don’t put them too close together. You can leave them round or slightly flatten them. These will be thicker than the crispier version.
The round balls of dough can be left alone or slightly pressed down like these. (Suzanne Smith/WFSU Public Media)
Sprinkle with the seasoning of your choice. (The plain version is tasty too!)
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-16 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Again, a bigger or really thick tea cake may take more time. These cookies will be higher in the middle and have a softer cake-like texture in the center.
Remove from cookie sheet and place on a rack to cool.
ENJOY!
Sure you can enjoy them with tea, but milk works too! (Suzanne Smith/WFSU Public Media)
There are a lot of other Tea Cake recipes out there. Some call for milk and others call for vanilla. What version of the recipe has been handed down through your family? Let us know at localroutes@wfsu.org.
The Roots of Local Routes Recipes
As Tallahassee celebrates 200 years since its creation in 2024, we decided to take this opportunity to dive into some of the early recipes from the Tallahassee/North Florida area. Over this next year, we’re going to be stirring up some recipes used during the Territorial period and early statehood of Florida, cook up some first foods of Native Americans who lived in this region, and try our hand at recipes that have been handed down through the generations of families who have helped settle and grow our community. With each one, we plan to share some of the local history surrounding the people who created and handed down the recipes over the decades and sometimes centuries. If you have some from your own family that you’d like us to try and are willing to share with our Local Routes audience, please send them to localroutes@wfsu.org.
Mike Campbell, the lead guitarist with “Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers”, was born on February 1st, 1950 in Panama City, Florida. Campbell grew up in Panama City and Jacksonville and started playing the guitar as a teenager. In the 1970s, Campbell met Tom Petty in Gainesville and joined Petty’s band “Mudcrunch.” After a few years of popularity in Florida, the group broke up. In 1976, Petty and Campbell teamed up again with several others for “Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.” Not only was Campbell the lead guitarist for the Heartbreakers, he also was a co-producer for several of the group’s albums. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Campbell played with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers until Petty died in 2017. Since then, Campbell has played with “Fleetwood Mac” and started his own band, “The Dirty Knobs.”
On this day in 2012, Civil Rights leader Patricia Stephens Due died in Smyrna, Georgia after a battle with Thyroid cancer.
Patricia Stephens Due in June 1991. (State Archives of Florida)
Born in Quincy, Florida, Due and her sister, Priscilla Stephens, were leaders of many protest movements in Tallahassee during the 1960s. As college students at Florida A & M University, the duo, along with several others, were jailed following sit-ins at the “Whites Only” lunch counters at Woolworth and McCrory drug stores in 1960.
Article in The Philadelphia Tribute May 24, 1960. (State Archives of Florida)
After one of the arrests, Due and seven others refused to pay the $300 fine. The result was the nation’s first “jail-in.” Instead of paying the fee, Due, her sister, high school student Henry Steele (son of Tallahassee Civil Rights leader C.K. Steele), John and Barbara Broxton, William Larkins, Angela Nance, and Clement Carney were sentenced to 60 days in jail. This jail-in inspired people around the country. Due was also part of the integration efforts and demonstrations at the State Movie theatre in Tallahassee in 1963 as well as many other civil rights efforts around the state and country. Patricia married Civil Rights attorney John Due in 1963. She and one of her three daughters, Tananarive Due, wrote Freedom in the Family: a Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights.
Discover more about the civil rights movement in Tallahassee in episode 6 of the WFSU Florida Footprints documentary series. It’s called “The Paths of Progress.”
Benjamin Franklin, Painting by Joseph Siffrein Duplessis
On this day in 1832, the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida established Franklin County, carving it out of the counties of Gadsden and Washington Counties. It is home to the towns of Apalachicola, the third largest Cotton port before the start of the civil war, and Carrabelle, the location of Camp Gordon Johnston during World War II. The county was named after Benjamin Franklin who was a printer, inventor, and statesman and is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He died in 1790. WFSU members can learn more about Ben Franklin on the WFSU PBS Passport app.
12-year-old Kimberly Dianne Leach (State Archives of Florida)
On this day in 1978, Serial Murderer Theodore “Ted” Bundy kidnapped 12-year-old Kimberly Dianne Leach near her middle school in Lake City, Florida. At the time, Bundy was living in Tallahassee just a few blocks away from his most recent murder. In January of that year, Bundy had murdered two women at a sorority on FSU’s campus and severely injured three others. Police were still looking for a suspect.
On February 8th, Bundy had stolen an FSU van and driven to Jacksonville. Police say he tried to kidnap a teenager there, but the attempt failed. Investigators say he headed back toward Tallahassee, stopping in Lake City for the night. The next morning, Leach went to school and attended her first class of the day but never showed up for the second. Police think Bundy grabbed her between the buildings on campus. A witness told police that they saw a man matching Bundy’s description pulling Leach by the arm in the school parking lot, but had assumed it was her father and the girl had gotten in trouble a school.
Florida Photographic Collection
Bundy tried to permanently leave Tallahassee a few days after Leach’s Murder, but he was arrested driving another stolen car near the Florida/Alabama state line. A stolen credit card used at a hotel in Lake City the night before Leach disappeared was found in his possession. Already wanted for escaping a Colorado jail, Bundy was arrested and later charged for the murders in Tallahassee and questioned in the disappearance of Leach.
Leach’s decomposing body was found in April under a collapsed shed near Suwannee River State Park. She had been raped, mutilated, and her throat was cut. Bundy charged in her death and his trial took place in 1980. Bundy was convicted of her kidnapping and murder and executed for the crime on January 24, 1989.
Union Bank building around 1870s (State Archives of Florida)
Florida’s Territorial Council created the Union Bank on this day in 1833. While on paper that bank was new, the building itself had already been around for three years and had already seen two banks come and go within it’s walls. Benjamin Chaires had constructed the building around 1830 for a man named William “Money” Williams at the corner of Adams and College Streets. Williams opened the Bank of Florida in that location. He also had the private home called The Columns built next door. Within a few years, Williams sold the bank building to Benjamin Chaires, now charter holder of the Central Bank of Florida. The Territorial Council purchased the charters of both the Bank of Florida and the Central Bank of Florida and formerly the Union Bank opened on January 15, 1835. John G. Gamble was president.
The historic Union Bank building being moved to a new location in 1971. (State Archives of Florida-Wilson)
That bank closed in 1843, but the building later served as the National Freeman’s Savings and Trust Company after the Civil War for many years. It served as other businesses over the decades. In 1971, the bank building and the Columns were moved to new locations. The Union Bank building currently sits at the southwest corner of Apalachee and Monroe.
On this day in 1932, the first version of the movie theatre known as the “State Theatre” opened on East College Avenue in Tallahassee, Florida. Previously it had been called the Daffin Theatre.
The first movie at the State Theatre that February was Carol Lombard’s film “No One Man.” Within a year, on December 5, 1932, a fire destroyed the building. A larger version was built on the same site. The website Cinema Treasures says it was “designed in Art Deco style, including a stylish marquee that reached across the entire front of the building, five sculpted panels on the façade, and a two-story tall vertical sign.”
During the 1960s the segregated policies of the State Theatre made it the site of several civil rights protests. The theatre later closed in 1972 (or 1), but the building remained until it was torn down in 1988.
Daffin’s Movie Theater in 1930, la became the State Movie theatre. (State Archives of Florida)Photo of State Theatre in Tallahassee, Taken on March 11, 1949 (State Archives of Florida/Granger)State Theatre in 1976 after it had closed down (State Archives of Florida/Gaines)The State Theatre started off as the Daffin’s Theatre, but after it burned down, the art deco style building replaced it.
Record amounts of snow falls on a car in the early morning hours of February 13, 1958 in Tallahassee. (State Archives of Florida)
On this day, in two different years (and two different centuries), Tallahassee had two record-breaking weather events. In 1899, the lowest temperature ever was experienced in Tallahassee (as well as all of Florida). The temperature in the city was recorded as -2 degrees Fahrenheit.
Also on this day, in 1958 the largest amount of snow ever measured in Tallahassee was recorded, reaching a total of 2.8 inches. Although technically, most of that snow fell on February 12th, the 13th is marked as the record-breaking day. Check out more about this history of weird February 13th weather in the Florida Panhandle at the Weather.gov website.
Snow covers the lawn of the Florida Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee on February 13, 1958. (State Archives of Florida/Jones)Florida State Students enjoy a record snow fall on February 13, 1958 in Tallahassee (State Archives of Florida)Florida State students build a snowman on February 13, 1958 (State Archives of Florida)Snow scenes in Tallahassee on Feb. 13, 1958
Tallahassee CORE members Patricia Stephens [dark glasses]and Charles Steele Jr.[closest to camera] at the first lunch counter sit-in at Woolworths in Tallahassee on February 13, 1960.
On this day in 1960, the Tallahassee chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) held the first sit-ins at the Woolworth’s lunch counter on Monroe Street in Tallahassee, Florida.Made up of 6 Florida A&M students and 2 high school students, they were inspired to act on this day by the civil rights first sit-ins earlier that month in Greensboro, North Carolina. The first one in Tallahassee ended after a few hours and there were no arrests. According to Glenda Alice Rabby’s book “The Pain and the Promise,” the police did not arrive until after the protestors left. A week later, at a second planned sit-in on February 20th, there were 11 arrests which resulted in the first “jail-in” in the country.
Discover more about the civil rights movement in Tallahassee in episode 6 of the WFSU Florida Footprints documentary series. It’s called “The Paths of Progress.”
Red Barber in December 1987. (Photo credit: Beverly Frick)
Sportscaster Red Barber is born
Walter Lanier “Red” Barber is born in Columbus, Mississippi. Barber grew up in Sanford, Florida, and was a major play-by-play sports announcer for radio and television for more than 40 years. He called games for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Yankees. After his retirement, he lived in Tallahassee and was a weekly contributor to National Public Radio’s Morning Edition through WFSU Public Media’s radio station. After Barbrer’s death in 1992, WFSU’s adopted the legend’s name for their new address.
Reverend C.K. Steel shows the cross that the Ku Klux Klan burned in front of his church during the Tallahassee Bus Boycott of the 1950’s. (State Archives of Florida)
On this day in 1914, Civil Rights leader Reverend Charles Kenzie (C.K.) Steele was born in McDowell County, West Virginia. He graduated from Morehouse college and became a Baptist Minister. After serving as a minister in Northeast Georgia, Montgomery, Alabama, and Augusta, Georgia, C.K. Steele became pastor of Tallahassee’s Bethel Baptist Church in 1952.
In May 1956, he was elected president of the Inter-Civic Council (ICC). The ICC was created to organize the bus boycott started by students at Florida A&M University. They held mass meetings, organized carpools, and demanded full integration of the Tallahassee bus system. The Tallahassee Bus Boycott ended in December 1956, but opposition to the integration of the bus system continued by commissioners and the community.
The work to integrate the bus system continued and it finally happened two years later. In addition to leading many other civil rights protests during his time in Tallahassee, Steele also served as head of the local NAACP chapter and was the first Vice President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 where Dr. Martin Luther was President. As a tribute to his work, the city named the new bus terminal after Steele in 1983. In 2018, the state designated part of Orange Avenue in Tallahassee the “C.K. Steele Memorial Highway.”
Discover more about the civil rights moment in Tallahassee in the Learn more about the Civil Rights and the impact on Florida in episode 6 of the WFSU Florida Footprints documentary series. It’s called “The Paths of Progress.”
Calvin Jones takes a break from work uncovering the DeSoto encampment in 1987 (State Archives of Florida/Foley)
On this day, state archeologist Calvin Jones passed away at his home in Wakulla county. He was 59. For nearly 30 years, Jones worked with the Florida Bureau of Archeological Research. His most well-known achievement occurred in 1987 when he discovered the 1539-40 winter encampment of Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto. The DeSoto Historic State Park today is located near Apalachee Road in the Myers Park area. It can be accessed off Lafayette Street. A museum containing some of the artifacts found during the excavation is housed in the historic home of John W. Martin, who served as Governor of Florida from 1925 to 1929.
On this day in 1968, the first statewide teachers’ strike in the United States began in Florida. Over 27,000 teachers and administrators turned in their resignations and walked off the job. At the time, the Leon Education Association reported that 286 out of 784 Leon County teachers didn’t show up to work on the first day of the strike. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that more than 400 people had offered to volunteer to help teach Leon County classes at the start of the walkout. As members of the Florida Education Association (FEA), strikers wanted more money for schools and salaries which were behind the national average.
In 1968, Florida Teachers held the first state-wide strike in the nation. This image taken in Orlando. (State Archives of Florida)In 1968, Florida Teachers held the first state-wide strike in the nation. This image taken in Orlando. (State Archives of Florida)In 1968, Florida Teachers held the first state-wide strike in the nation. These images taken at protest in Orlando. (State Archives of Florida)
Time Magazine on March 1, 1968 wrote that the issue began when Governor Claude Kirk campaigned in 1966 to “hold state taxes steady and at the same time make Florida ‘first in the nation in education.” He followed up on this promise in 1967 by vetoing the $130 million that the state legislature had allocated for schools in the state.
There were protests and smaller strikes throughout the fall leading up to a special session on the issue. The final straw came when the governor refused to approve any bills increasing the funding for education and did not extend the legislative session to work out a deal. Because state law prevented teachers from striking, they had to submit their resignations before walking out.
On March 8, 1968, the State Board of Education held an emergency meeting to approve a settlement with the FEA that gave $10.2 million for public education. While most of the teachers were back to work by the end of March, several school districts refused to rehire teachers involved in the strike. Thousands were left without jobs.
Kurz and Allison lithographic print of the Battle at Olustee (State Archives of Florida)
The Battle of Olustee
On this day, the largest Civil War battle in Florida took place east of Lake City, Florida. The North called it the Battle of Olustee and the South called it the Battle of Ocean Pond. It started after approximately 5,000 Union troops advanced from their Jacksonville stronghold toward Florida’s capital of Tallahassee under the command of Brigadier General Truman Seymour. They met approximately 5,500 confederate soldiers led by Brigadier General Joseph Finegan and battled for two days. In the end, 1,861 Union and 946 Confederate soldiers were either killed, wounded, or missing in the battle. Union troops retreated to Jacksonville.
Many of the wounded from the Confederacy and some of the Union soldiers, were sent by train to Tallahassee for treatment. The Meginnis-Munroe House, which now houses the visual arts gallery of LeMoyne Arts in Tallahassee, served as a hospital in the aftermath of the battle. Each year there is a multiday reenactment of the battle as well as educational activities held at the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park off of U.S. 90 in the Osceola National Forest. You can find out more about this annual event here. Learn more about the Civil War and its impact on Florida in episode 3 of the WFSU Florida Footprints documentary series. It’s called “The Confederate Road.”
The sit-ins and protests that started in Tallahassee on Feb. 13, continued. This image was shot on March 13, 1960.(State Archives of Florida/Granger)
Second sit-in, first arrests
On this day in 1960, the Tallahassee chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) held their second sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter on Monroe Street in Tallahassee, Florida. While the first sit-in a week earlier had ended with no arrests, this time the Tallahassee mayor and several city commissioners arrived with the police about 45 minutes into the quiet protest. While some protestors left, officers arrested the remaining eleven.
Tallahassee sit-in dated March 13, 1960. (Included in the photograph are Policeman Joe Gregory and City manager Arvah Hopkins. (State Archives of Florida)
Despite the arrests, more sit-ins occurred in Tallahassee. At the March trial, all eleven were found guilty and sentenced to a $300 fine or 60 days in jail. Three paid the fine, but eight refused to pay. The result was the nation’s first “jail-in.” Instead of paying the fee, sisters Patricia and Pricilla Stephens, high school student Henry Steele (son of Tallahassee Civil Rights leader C.K. Steele), siblings John and Barbara Broxton, FAMU Student Government Association President-elect William Larkins, Angelina Nance, and Clement Carney headed to jail to begin serving their sentence on March 18, 1960. The group inspired more civil rights protests around the country.
Discover more about the civil rights movement in Tallahassee in episode 6 of the WFSU Florida Footprints documentary series. It’s called “The Paths of Progress.”
Photo of Educator and Businessman John G. Riley. (State Archives of Florida)
John G. Riley passes away
On this day in 1954, John G. Riley passed away at the age of 97 at Florida A&M Hospital in Tallahassee after a long illness. Born into slavery on September 24, 1857 in Tallahassee, Florida, Riley learned to read and write from relatives. He grew up to become a teacher. In 1881 Riley became an instructor at Lincoln Academy in Tallahassee. Riley later became the principal of the school in 1892 and held the position until he retired in 1926.
Also a businessman, Riley owned a variety of rental properties in Tallahassee. He built his home on the edge of the Smokey Hollow community in 1890. While most of the buildings in Smokey Hollow were destroyed through eminent domain in later decades, Riley’s home was eventually restored and on August 1st, 1978, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is now home to the John G. Riley Center and Museum. You can learn more about John G. Riley and his impact on Tallahassee through the museum’s website.
Also, check out this article by the Florida Historical Society. WFSU’s documentary series, Florida Footprints, included this section on Riley and African-American Education following the Civil War.
U.S President John Quincy Adams. Photo taken in 1843 by Philip Haas (Library of Congress)
On this day in 1819, The Adams-Onis Treaty was signed. Also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, this document transferred land from Spain to the United States and redefined the boundaries between U.S. and Spanish lands. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who later became U.S. President, negotiated this treaty with Spain’s Luis de Onis y Gonzalez-Vara. The treaty officially turned over West Florida and East Florida to the U.S. The treaty was ratified in 1820 and the U.S. took possession on March 3, 1821. The land was organized to become the Florida Territory in 1822.
Sergeant Ernest Ivy “Boots Thomas Jr., who grew up in Monticello, Florida, was one of the men who helped raise the first American Flag at the top of Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The flag was replaced with a second larger flag that same day. The raising of that flag was captured in iconic video and phtotos. Thomas was killed in action 8 days later on March 3rd. In addition to a memorial on Highway 90 near Monticello placed in his memory, the VA clinic at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs office in Tallahassee is named after Thomas.
Sgt. Thomas in front of the flag he helped raise at Mount Suribachi.The VA Clinic in Tallahassee is naned after Thomas.The health clinic at the VA in Tallahassee is named after Thomas.Jefferson County’s Sergeant “Boots” Thomas died 8 days after helping raise the American Flag at Iwo Jima during World War II.
James Ford was the first black mayor of Tallahassee as well as the first black mayor in a capital city.
James Ford becomes Tallahassee’s Mayor
Tallahassee city commissioners vote to make fellow commissioner, James Ford, Mayor. Not only was Ford Tallahassee’s first black Mayor, but Ford was also the first black mayor of a capital city in the entire United States. Less than a year before he had become the first black city commissioner in Tallahassee.
James Ford wins the election to become the first black City commissioner in Tallahassee. The 45-year-old was Assistant Principal at Leon High School at the time. One year later Ford was chosen by the other commissioners to become the first black mayor in Tallahassee. That vote also made him the first black mayor of a capital city in the entire United States.
Dorothy Inman-Johnson in 1986 shortly after her election to Seat 5 of the Tallahassee City Commission (State Archives of Florida/Thomas)
On this day Dorothy Inman-Johnson became the first black woman elected to the Tallahassee City Commission. She served two 4-year-terms representing District 5 and served twice as the city’s mayor. Inman-Johnson took on the Mayor’s one-year term first on March 3, 1989 and again February 26,1993 In 2022, Inman-Johnson published a book called “Tallahassee’s Black History Firsts: Post Reconstruction Era.”
History is a work in progress, just like this page…
These are just some of the interesting facts about the history of our community. More facts about locations, events, and people will be added to these memories as time goes on. The WFSU Local Routes team will continue to research, write, and add other historic moments to this month and others as time goes on. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more new-to-you facts about the history of Tallahassee as well as our other north Florida and south Georgia communities. You can also share local historic moments you’d like to see included in our list. Email localroutes@wfsu.org.
“Good evening, this is Station WFSU, the Seminole Broadcasting Association, signing on at 660 on your dial. For the next two and half hours your campus radio station will bring you programs by FSU, for FSU. Stand by for the Voice of the Seminole.”
First words said on WFSU Radio, January 21, 1949, at 8:30 pm.
One of the first photos of WFSU-AM shown in the 1949 FSU Student Handbook. WFSU radio began as an AM station in the Longmire Building run by students. (FSU Heritage Protocol)
Florida State University Men’s Government Association held a forum about what to do with the remaining $2,700 in their Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida Recreation Fund. Afterward, 49 voted for a radio station and 26 voted for a roller-skating rink. A campus referendum is held on the issue in May.
The decision between a radio station and a roller-skating rink is put to a vote among the men at Florida State University. The breakdown of the 617 votes was as follows: 439 chose the radio station, 106 wanted a skating rink, and 72 didn’t want either. Work begins on creating a radio station.
The first student officers of WFSU-AM are shown in the 1950 FSU Tally Ho Yearbook. Advisor Roy Flynn is in the top row center. (Florida State University)
FSU appoints Roy Flynn as WFSU Radio’s Public Relations Director and Student Advisor. Flynn had been the former educational director for WAPI in Birmingham, Alabama. Other than Flynn, the rest of the staff of WFSU radio was made up entirely of students. When the call went out to staff the station, Roy Flynn said 720 students applied. A total of 55 students were selected. The Seminole Broadcasting Association was the governing body of the station.
WFSU 660 AM broadcasts on the air for the first time. The “wired-wireless” station started with three watts and was initially on each night from 8:30 to 11 pm. The first studio was built in room 404 of the Rowena Longmire Alumnae Building by an associate professor and two students from the Physics department. The “Voice of the Seminole” was broadcast to the FSU campus only.
The first remote broadcast is done from Florida State University’s Suwannee dining room. WFSU carried the music of Georgia Bee and his orchestra. The mobile unit was called “The Little Red Wagon” and used a child’s red wagon to transport the equipment.
WFSU’s first mobile radio unit in 1951. They called it “The Little Red Wagon.”
Student playing records at the WFSU radio board in Longmire Building. (FSU Heritage Protocol)
An official with the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates broadcast signals, entered the WFSU radio studios and ordered the station to stop broadcasting. The FCC said that the low-wattage station was operating beyond its assigned borders which at the time was the campus of Florida State University.
In a letter written by Roy Flynn to Susan Law in November 1982, Flynn described what happened that day:
I got an urgent message to go quickly to the station. I found an FCC man there threatening a student DJ, saying “Go off now!” And the kid was saying, “Can’t I at least let the record end and tell the audience what’s happening?” And the FCC man said, “It will go hard on you if you do.” So the boy faded out the record. End of campus station.
WFSU Radio returns to the air on 91.5 FM. Now a ten-watt FM station, it operated out of room 115 in the Music building. In 1988, the Music Building was named the Kursteiner Music Building after the former Dean Karl Kursteiner. According to Roy Flynn, at the time the new and improved WFSU radio was the only FM station broadcasting in north Florida and South Georgia.
FSU named Roy Flynn the Director of Radio and Television at Florida State University. The addition of television to Flynn’s title came 5 years before the WFSU television station went on the air, but they did work with Tallahassee station WCTV and WMBR-TV in Jacksonville. Flynn and other FSU personnel had already produced a TV program called “The Professor and the Problem” for those stations for several years.
Schedule for the 1954 Football Season. WFSU-FM broadcast the games starting with Abilene Christian.
WFSU-FM’s first broadcast of FSU football home games started with the Abeline-Christian game on this day. The station had the exclusive rights to carry the game and brought listeners to the channel. Director Roy Flynn said the purchase of FM radio receivers in the area increased because of the games on WFSU-FM.
Jim Kirk’s Tally Ho Yearbook photo in 1951 as a Junior at Florida Sate Univerity.
Jim Kirk was the announcer of these initial games. Kirk was a 1952 FSU graduate who had received the University’s first degree in speech with a specialty in broadcasting. Decades later, Kirk became a radio station owner in central Florida and in 1986 he donated his large collection of almost 300 antique radios and TVs to WFSU to create a museum at the Public Broadcast Center located near the FSU Golf Course)
WFSU-FM moves into new, modern facilities on the 4th floor of the Diffenbaugh building on Florida State University Campus. The cost of this studio was $250,000.
Florida State University’s Diffenbaugh Building is gutted and reconstructed. However, because WFSU-FM’s studio was still new, that area continued to operate during the construction. WFSU staff, students, and other volunteers had to climb exposed outside steel steps to reach the studio during the rehabilitation of the building.
The Department of Education gave WFSU-FM the contract to reactivate and operate the Florida Public Radio Network for the 1976 Legislative session. Formerly in Jacksonville, FPRN provided statewide coverage of the Florida Legislature and State Government. FPRN’s Capital Report aired Monday-Friday during the session and all 11 Florida public radio stations at the time carried it.
Sports Announcer Red Barber began weekly conversations on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” with host Bob Edwards. Barber broadcast from his Tallahassee home in Waverly Hills.
WFSU-FM begins to air National Public Radio’s Morning Edition program.
FSU President Bernie Sliger (far left) and LeRoy Collins (right of drawing) with others at the Groundbreaking ceremony for the new Public Broadcast Center
A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Public Broadcast Center. The new WFSU-FM and WFSU-TV buildings were to be located near the FSU Golf Course. Florida State University President Dr. Bernie Sliger was the Master of Ceremonies for the groundbreaking. Former Florida Governor LeRoy Collins provided the Keynote address.
WFSU-FM converts to a mostly all-classical music format, dropping other musical programs that from its schedule including the local long-running progressive rock program “Freeform.”
The first WFSU-FM Benefit Concert is held at Opperman Music Hall. Instructors from the FSU School of Music performed at the concert including pianists Carolyn Bridger, Leonidas Lipovetsky, and Alan Thomas. Also performing were bassoonist William Winstead, organist Michael Corzine, cellist Roger Drinkall, soprano Janice Harsanyi, clarinetist Fred Ormand, harpsichordist Karyl Louwenaar, and violinist Gerardo Ribeiro.
The Public Broadcast Center, with the new buildings for WFSU-FM and WFSU-TV, is dedicated in a special ceremony. The initial address for the PBC was 2561 Potsdamer Road. The station’s street and address were changed to 1600 Red Barber Plaza in 1993 after the death of Barber.
At the PBC building dedication ceremony in 1983, the featured speaker was Sharon Percy Rockefeller, Chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Florida State University President Bernie Sliger presided over the event. Also speaking was Dr. Barbara Newell, Chancellor for the State University Board of Regents. Musical selections were provided by local musician Velma Frye who later became the host of WFSU-TV’s Studio A music program.
WFSU-FM Radio Reporter James Call at the news desk in 1987.
The State of Florida House of Representatives passed Resolution 1170 commending WFSU-FM on its 30th Anniversary. (Note: WFSU-AM had begun in 1949 while WFSU-FM began in 1954 so sometimes two different dates were celebrated over the decades.)
WFSU-FM hosts the first live state-wide toll-free radio call-in show with Senator Bob Graham. Broadcast through Florida Public Radio Network stations around the state. Hosts Patricia Kemp (WUSF-FM News Director), Madison Hodges (WFSU-FM General Manager), Jo Miglino (former NPR bureau chief for the Southeast), and Phil Burger (WUWF-FM News Director).
Seated left to right: Patricia Kemp (WUSF-FM News Director), Madison Hodges (WFSU-FM General Manager), Bob Graham (Florida Senator), Jo Miglino (former NPR bureau chief for the Southeast), and Phil Burger (WUWF-FM News Director).
WFSU Staff getting ready for a parade using the new 88.9 signal and logo. On the left is WFSU’s Martha Stewart, WFSU/WFSQ Development Director and on the right is WFSU General Manager Madison Hodges.
At midnight, WFSU-FM moved from 91.5 to 88.9 and became all news and information programming. Meanwhile, the old 91.5 radio channel changed its call letters WFSQ-FM, and the format became all music and entertainment. The new 88.9 started with a wattage of 95,000 using a 1248-foot tower. In the spring of 1991, the old 91.5 channel doubled its wattage from 50,000 to 100,000 Watts from a 662-foot antenna.
Bob Edwards is joined by Red Barber for a live face-to-face broadcast of their Morning Edition show from the Center for Professional Development at FSU. For the previous 9 years, the duo had done the program long-distance, Edwards in Washington and Barber in Tallahassee. WFSU-FM hosted the unique in-person live radio show as a breakfast fundraiser called “Breakfast with Red and Bob” for the station. Tickets were $75 each.
Red Barber and Bob Edwards broadcasting NPR’s Morning Edition at the WFSU “Breakfast with Red and Bob” fundraiser.
Florida State University gives Red Barber a posthumous honorary degree. Also, the Public Broadcast Center that houses WFSU-FM and WFSU-TV officially renames its section of streets to Red Barber Plaza and Red Barber Way. Bob Edwards, Morning Edition host and friend of Red Barber, attends the event.
Just some of the vintage radios, televisions, microphones, and more in the Kirk Collection at WFSU Public Media. The Museum is open 8am to 5pm Monday-Friday.
A dedication ceremony is held for the Kirk Collection containing close to 300 vintage radios and TVs to FSU’s Public Broadcast Center to create a special museum at the PBC. Jim and Biddie Kirk donated the collection. Jim Kirk, an early graduate of FSU, had helped grow WFSU-FM in the early years as the station’s game announcer during the FSU Football games that aired exclusively on WFSU-FM.
As part of the creation of the museum, the breezeway between the WFSU-FM radio building and WFSU-TV building was enclosed.
NPR’s Ira Flatow hosts his program “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday” from Florida State University’s campus before a live audience at the Nancy Smith Fichter Theatre at Montgomery Hall.
NPR’s Ira Flatow hosts his program “Talk of the Nation: Science Friday” for the second time from FSU’s campus before a live audience in the Fallon Theatre.
