Julien Chandler Yonge, about 15 or 16 years old – From an original photograph belonging to Joel Henry Horne. His cap bears the initials for the Alabama Male College (later Auburn) and his lapel pin shows the initials of his fraternity, Phi Kappa Alpha. This year marks the 145th anniversary…
By Rachel Laue – The life of an activist is often unconventional, but few more so than long-time peace movement advocates, John and Martina Linnehan. When the couple met in 1969 they were both in holy orders. Martina, a nun with the Sisters of St. Joseph in St. Augustine, and…
By Rachel Laue – The pioneer settlements of nineteenth-century Florida were rife with hardships and potential dangers. Settlers contended with adverse weather, fires, wildlife, and accidents often far from the help of modern conveniences, medical care, or other people. In the settlement along the Manatee River, there was another, more…
By James Cusick – In the 1920s, the small movie production company of Norman Studios, in Jacksonville, Florida, became a vehicle for starting the careers of numerous African-American actors and actresses. Prominent among them was John Lawrence Criner (1898-1965), a member of the famed New York acting group…
By Rachel Laue and James Cusick – For Veterans Day 2021 we highlight those who served in the 868th Engineer Aviation Battalion of the U.S. Air Force during World War II. This African-American unit supported the 5th Air Force in the Pacific Theater between 1940 and 1945.
By Rachel Laue – William E.B. Hayman was born in 1837 in Devon, England. It is unclear when Hayman emigrated to the United States, but by 1880 he resided in Newport, Rhode Island, with his wife Rebecca, and his three children, Willie, Clara, and Emma. He owned a business in…
By Rachel Laue, Graduate Research Assistant, 2021 The stories we hear of pioneer lives conjure a certain set of images. Often they are of hardy men breaking new ground, planting new groves, and going off to war. The contributions of women in these stories are typically depicted as domestic,…
By Rachel Laue, Graduate Research Assistant (2020-2021) What do the letters of an orange-grove obsessed young man named Pliny Reasoner and an unknown woman’s handwritten romance novel have in common? More than you might think, as I have learned. I am a fourth year PhD candidate at UF,…
Dormitories at the Dozier Boys School, Marianna, Fla. Photograph from Florida Memory. The Florida Industrial School for Boys, established near Marianna, Florida, in 1900, became infamous for abusive treatment of youth sent to live and work there. Set up as what was essentially a juvenile delinquent detention center…
Álvaro Armada Barcaiztequi, Conde de Revilla-Gigedo The Archive of the Condes of Revillagigedo is made available for research through a contractual…
