Introducing Florida Talks: At Home! With so many of our cultural partners temporarily closed, let us bring the humanities directly to you! Tapping into the immense talent and knowledge of our Speakers Directory, Florida Humanities is excited to announce its new weekly Florida Talks: At Home series! Tune in with your computer or smart device as we connect you with some of our state's preeminent historians, authors, storytellers, and scholars. We'll

The little-known story of U-2 pilots who flew from Orlando to Cuba to secure the photographic proof that the Soviets were installing nuclear missiles on Cuba, sparking an international crisis that brought U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of war. One pilot was fatally shot down by the Soviets, in an incident that was covered up and later revealed by U-2 pilot Jerry McIlmoyle of Venice, Florida. Michael

To some, it's a paradise. To others, it's a punchline. It's actually both, as you'll learn from the author of the New York Times best-selling Oh, Florida! How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country. Craig Pittman is a native Floridian. Since 1998, he has covered environmental issues for Florida's largest newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times. He has won the Waldo Proffitt Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism in

Discover the fascinating history of Weeki Wachee Springs told through vintage photographs of the mermaids from their earliest days performing silent ballets to the heyday when ABC built them a million-dollar theater. When Newt Perry sank a theater into the edge of the spring in 1947, he had no idea his mermaids would become world-famous Florida icons. Lu Vickers has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for

Florida’s painful history of racial violence, highlighted by civil rights activist Harry T. Moore’s fight against lynching and the Ku Klux Klan that led to his death in a bombing of his home. “Strange Fruit” refers to a song made famous by Billie Holiday about the lynching of African Americans in the South. Echoes of these events still routinely make the national news even today. Dr. Tameka Hobbs, Associate Provost

Enslaved Africans brought their foodways and special skills such as rice cultivation with them during their forced journey through the Middle Passage. Learn how African foods and food preparation influence what Floridians eat today. Martha R. Bireda, Ph.D., is Director of the Blanchard House Museum of African History and Culture, located in Punta Gorda, Florida. For over 30 years, Dr. Bireda has consulted, lectured, and written about social issues related

A clandestine cell of Eastern European Jewish immigrants in Key West in the 1890s delivered weapons to the Cuban revolutionary rebels who chased the Spanish Empire out of the Americas. Jews in Key West and Tampa were drawn to the revolutionary movement led by José Martí and paralleled the Zionist cause that led to the creation of Israel. Author Arlo Haskell will discuss this exciting and little-known piece of Florida-Cuban

An examination of the perceptions of women in popular culture through comic books and how this culture has changed over time. Professor emeritus and avid comic collector, Magdalena Lamarre, will give an examination of the perceptions of women in popular culture through comic books and how this culture has changed over time. This event is funded by the Florida Humanities Florida Talks: At Home! program. If you have any questions

How Florida overcame the challenge of mosquitos, perhaps the most vexing struggle humans encountered in the past two centuries. As vectors of diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and dengue, mosquitoes and our species’ effort to institute mosquito control played a crucial role in Florida history. Dr. Gordon Patterson explores how Florida overcame the challenge of mosquitos, perhaps the most vexing struggle humans encountered in the past two centuries. As

Daytona Beach ‘s Museum of Arts and Sciences’ Curator of History, Zach Zaharias, presents a rare look at a part of Florida history that most people have never heard of, urban fires. The Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901 was the nation’s third-largest urban fire in history. Ocala, Deland, St. Augustine, Key West, and other well-known cities all were devastated by urban fires in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Downtowns