Upcoming Events
Lecture: Mayhem in Manatee
Saturday, March 23, 2024 | 10 - 11 am
From murders to prison escapes, the Sarasota Vigilance Committee left the nation in awe when a group of men in Sarasota (then part of Manatee County) came together in 1884 to form a group with the sole purpose of eliminating “obnoxious” people. By summer they would have committed their first murder and gotten away with it. In December, they murdered postmaster Charles Abbe in broad daylight but they wouldn’t be so lucky.
If you've attended this lecture before, we encourage you to do so again! More research has yielded additional information, adding to this fascinating story.
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Image: Sarasota Main Street, ca. 1890, courtesy of Manatee County Public Library Historical Digital Collections
Lecture: Medicine and Maladies
Saturday, March 23, 2024 | 2 - 3 pm
Frontier life was full of dangers for the early US pioneers and small injuries like a cut could turn deadly. Yet, they were also living in a time of revolutionary advances in medicine and the understanding of diseases. Come explore how pioneers made the best of their circumstances and overcame (or succumbed) in the wilderness of pioneer Florida.
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Image: Florida. Territorial Legislative Council. An Act to Regulate the Admission of Physicians and Surgeons to Practice in This Territory, 1824. 1824-12-30. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.
Lecture: Florida's First Eco-tourist
Saturday, April 27, 2024 | 2 - 3 pm
Having explored northeastern Florida with his father in 1764, William Bartram returned in 1774 on a solo adventure, to seek out new species of plants and animals and further his understanding of Florida's diverse ecology and Native American societies. Hear the story of William Bartram's adventures traveling by foot, canoe, and horseback throughout central and western Florida.
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Image: Drawing by Howard Pyle
