Stories
-
The Rosewood Massacre (1923)
You must pass through what was once the town of Rosewood to reach the sleepy coastal fishing village of Cedar Key. Few today realize that…
-
Ernest F. Coe—The Father of Everglades National Park
Most people know him because the main Homestead entrance bears his name. But Ernest F. Coe was so much more than a name on a…
-
Dr. Anna Darrow—The Swamp Healer of Okeechobee
Dr. Anna Darrow was the second female doctor in the state of Florida—passing her medical exam there with a 98 percent, the highest score ever.…
-
Josie Billie and Frank Brown—From Boyhood Friends to Culture Keepers
Before they were leaders, they were just two boys in the Everglades—one white, one Miccosukee—learning from each other in a land still wild. Josie Billie…
-
Marian Horowitz O’Brien—Florida’s First Woman Mayor
Marian Horwitz O’Brien, a widow originally from Philadelphia, was elected mayor of the city of Moore Haven on July 30, 1917—the first woman to serve…
-
July Perry—Martyr of the Ocoee Massacre (1920)
Julius “July” Perry, was a prosperous Black landowner in the town of Ocoee. In the weeks leading up to the 1920 presidential election, July and…
-
Betty Mae Tiger Jumper—Seminole Trailblazer
Betty Mae Tiger Jumper was the first, and so far the only, female chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. A nurse, she co-founded the tribe’s…
-
Josiah T. Walls—Florida’s First Black Congressman
Born into slavery in Virginia in 1842, Josiah Thomas Walls could have been lost to history like so many others who bore the chains of…
-
Guy Bradley—The Game Warden Who Gave It All
There was a time when Florida’s skies gleamed white with the wings of egrets and herons. Their feathers—delicate, divine, desirable—were worth more than gold. A…