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

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida International University is hosting lecture exploring women's roles with the Federal Civil Defense Administration in the 1950s. So-called traditional roles for women in the 1950s as housewives and mothers have been well documented. Yet millions of women took advantage of the opportunity to expand their roles by either being employed by or volunteering for civil defense agencies and organizations. The Federal Civil Defense

Beginning with a poem around 1560, the Florida story has been told and retold. This presentation features the stories of over two dozen well-known authors of the past and present who found inspiration and a haven under Florida's sun, including Ernest Hemingway, Judy Blume, Tennessee Williams, and more. Registration is required but the event is free to attend. Jim Clark is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Florida

The Ybor City Museum Society, in partnership with the Centro Asturiano, is hosting the screening of a film entitled "A Legacy in Smoke" as part of a four-part series related to a new exhibit on Spanish immigration, "Following Fernando's Footsteps: A Tale of Tampa's Immigrant Community". As reflected in the exhibit, Spanish immigrants who arrived in droves beginning in 1886 found an environment that existed nowhere else in the United

This presentation takes audiences on a historical journey through the state, featuring performances of songs covering a wealth of historical events, characters, and folklore with in-depth storytelling about Ponce de Leon's voyage to Florida in 1513, Henry Flagler's building of the Florida's East Coast Railroad, and more. Original songs come from Chris Kahl's Florida-themed albums, Orange Blossom Memories and Sunshine Kid. This event is free but registration is required. Light

The Ybor City Museum Society, in partnership with El Centro Español de Tampa, is presenting a lively panel discussion on Spanish immigration to Tampa in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As reflected in a new exhibit at the Ybor City Museum State Park entitled "Following Fernando's Footsteps: A Tale of Tampa's Invisible Immigrants," Tampa had one of the largest and most cohesive community of Spanish immigrants in the United

The Aluna Art Foundation is hosting a lecture by Dr. Adriana Herrera explaining current contemporary art created by Mayan artists from Guatemala. The title of the exhibition, "Tiempo Circular" (Circular Time), pays homage to this ancient culture of astronomers and to its prodigious textiles that-unlike the great architectural monuments that ceased to be built-have continued to incessantly weave millenary traditions and knowledge. Neither wars nor the oppression of the conquest