Florida Frontiers: The Weekly Newspaper Articles of the Florida Historical Society is a weekly newspaper article covering history-based events, exhibitions, activities, places and people in Florida. The newspaper articles premiered in January 2014. We explore the relevance of Florida history to contemporary society and promote awareness of heritage and culture tourism options in the state.
Senator Bob Graham has been called “the hardest working man in politics.” Graham’s 38 years of public service included two terms as Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987, and he represented Florida in the United States Senate from 1987 to 2005. He famously spent more than 400 days working other people’s jobs, including days as a journalist, a fisherman, a construction worker, a truck driver, a...
With the publication of her novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe became the most famous writer in America. That book helped to fuel the raging debate over slavery in the United States. When Stowe met President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, he reportedly said, “So you are the little lady who started this Great War.” Often overlooked is the fact that Harriet Beecher Stowe is also one...
Every year in May, nearly 1,000 students from around the state meet in Tallahassee to compete in the annual Florida History Fair. Next month, the winners of this year’s competition will travel to College Park, Maryland to compete with state history fair winners from across the country. “Florida History Fair is an opportunity for students from sixth grade to twelfth grade to participate in...
The Florida Historical Society was established in 1856, making it the oldest existing cultural organization in the state. The independent, not-for-profit organization was founded in St. Augustine and moved to several other locations during the twentieth century before making Brevard County the permanent home of their statewide headquarters in 1992. Based at the Library of Florida History in the...
Cape Canaveral is the oldest name of a specific location to appear on a European map of what is now the continental United States. Every manned mission into space originating from the United States has been launched from Cape Canaveral. From the Spanish “discovery” of the New World to America’s manned exploration of space, Cape Canaveral helps define the boundaries of the Modern Era. In the late...
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed as his motorcade drove through Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy spent the week before his death in Florida. After a short stay at his family’s winter residence in Palm Beach, Kennedy toured the NASA facilities at Cape Canaveral before visiting Tampa and Miami. On his last day in Florida, President Kennedy met with Florida...
At 4:00 a.m. on April 1, 1864, an explosion disrupted the still waters of the St. Johns River as a Confederate mine ripped through the hull of the steamship Maple Leaf. The ship was transporting Union supplies during the Civil War. “It was participating in the Southeast Atlantic Blockade as a troop transport,” says Keith Holland, founder of St. Johns Archaeological Expeditions, Inc. “After the...
In the classic 1951 film “The African Queen,” a small steam boat with the same name is damaged on river rapids, shot at, and ultimately destroyed while being used as a makeshift torpedo against a German vessel at the beginning of World War I. Models and prop boats were used during filming to portray the damage, and the real African Queen survived. Today, the actual boat used in the film leaves a...