When Walt Disney realized cheap tourist traps were enveloping Disneyland, he began a nationwide search for enough land to hold every dream he could imagine. What happened next would require a heightened degree of CIA-level secrecy for Disney's undercover team, who launched a misinformation campaign that included dummy corporations and secret transaction. However, when a keen-eyed reporter cracked the code, Disney was forced to show his hand. Audiences will be

From Ray Charles to Gloria Estefan to the Adderley Brothers to the Allman Brothers, Florida's musical roots run deep. This engaging pop-up series explores Florida's music and culture through storytelling and performance, hosted by Tampa Bay musician and teaching artist J.J. Pattishall and friends. Join us for an evening of cuisine, cocktails and soaking up soulful sounds and stories from across the Sunshine State. Pattishall will be joined by Aron

Florida stories have never been the same since Ponce de Leon first arrived in 1513. Flowing seamlessly between Spanish and English, this presentation connects personal, historical, and traditional Florida tales with the history, peoples, and cultures of Florida, con un poco sabor Latino- with a bit of Latino flavor! Registration is not required and admission is free to attend. This event is a part of the Harn Museum's Museum Nights:

The Ybor City Museum Society, in partnership with J.C. Newman Company, is hosting a Fernando's Footsteps Lector Reading as the first of a four-part series und by a Florida Humanities Community Project Grant. Fernando's Footsteps is a historical work of fiction by Tampa native, Tony Carreño, that follows the path of an 18-year-old Spaniard named Fernando, who immigrates to Tampa via Cuban in 1900 at the age of 18. Carreño's

The Key West Art and Historical Society hosts "Charting the Land of Flowers: 500 Years of Florida Maps" by curator Rodney Kite-Powell. From the earliest depiction of Florida on the 1511 Martyr Map to a 21st century view of Florida from space, this presentation shows the dramatic changes that have occurred in Sunshine State over the past 500 years through historic maps. Rodney Kite-Powell is the Director of the Touchton

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida International University is hosting a lecture that explores the Golden Age of Motown from 1959 to its peak 1969. Audiences will be treated to the big hits they all know, the strategies behind the hit-making machine, the political climate of the time, and the tactics Motown's managers used to overcome racial divides. Available to attend in person or virtually. This lecture is being

The LGBTQ Resource Center at the Gulfport Public Library is hosting the fourth in its six-part SpeakOut series with a focus on the "Intersections of LGBTQ Identity and Literature." This year, multiple school districts in Florida (and elsewhere) have removed a number of books claimed to contain obscene LGBTQ content (e.g., Lawn Boy, Gender Queer, Losing the Girl). Why is LGBTQ literature important? What has - and hasn't - changed

The Pinellas County African American History Museum presents "Bloody Streets and Crooked Lines: 100 Years of Black Voter Suppression in Florida" by editor James Abraham. From the violent and fatal 1921 election riots in Ocoee through modern redistricting issues, this presentation explores voter suppression in Florida over 100 years and the prime figures in the struggle for full and equal access to the polls. James Abraham is a former journalist

The Language Program of the Humanities Department of Flagler College will present "Panama and its Indigenous Peoples," a community event planned as part of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Sogui Diaz, a representative of the Kuna Yala of Panama, will share her culture, history, artifacts and language. A photography exhibition exploring culture and traditional aspects of the Embera indigenous group will be on display. During the event, attendees will also hear

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida International University is hosting a second lecture series on Folk Music from the 60s in collaboration with Brockway Memorial Library. The 1960s was a tumultuous time in America. The Civil Rights movement and The Vietnam War affected a new generation commonly called "the Baby Boomers", who were now entering college and expressing their freedom and power. Beatniks, then hippies, represented an alternative lifestyle