Ever heard of the Alachua County Library District's Heritage Collection? No?! The Heritage Collection consists of over 1,100 historical photographs from all aspects of daily life in the Alachua County area. Treat yourself to a journey of amazing historical detail and profound human interest through this annotated photographic exposé of the Alachua region spanning the 1870s through the 1970s. Experience and understand local history in a different way, through the faces and places of the past that still influence the present.
March is Women’s History Month, so we’re focusing this month’s Blast from the Past on them. Throughout history women have been mostly seen as inferior to men, despite their important roles in society. When President Jimmy Carter proclaimed March as Women's History Month in 1980, he wrote, "men and women worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America is as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well." The following photos show the many facets of these women's lives. Click on the images for more information about each picture.
- Love, Marriage, and the Baby Carriage: Wives and Mothers
- Image
Emma Williams, a teacher at the Union Academy, watching over her children as they play. Image
Mary Blitch Godwin widowed with four children. Image
Nell Martin Critzer Miller wife of a UF President, Josephine Brooks Getzen, wife of a Florida state senator, and Edith Bristol Tigert, wife of a UF President. Image
A mother and her children in High Springs.
- A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Teachers and Students
- Image
A teacher with her students in High Springs. Image
Tebeau School students, Gainesville's premier school for young women for over 60 years. Image
Female East Florida Seminary students in 1903. The school was absorbed into the University of Florida in 1905. Image
Graduates of the Tebeau School founded in 1873.
- Caring and Sharing: Community Service
- Image
Members of the Hawthorne Woman’s Club celebrating library service coming to Hawthorne in 1959. Image
Group portrait of the Little Women’s Club in 1954. The club was for younger members of the Gainesville Woman’s Club. Image
Librarian Helen Ellerbe with the Alachua County Historical Commission in 1966. She was the commission chairperson from 1979 to 1987. Image
Mary Godwin practicing her first aid skills on her doll.
- Workin' Hard for the Money: Jobs Outside the Home
- Image
Nina Berkstresser served in the Women’s Army Corps in WWII. She was also the postmaster of Hawthorne for many years. Image
Two women working hard at the counter of the popular Waffle Shop. Image
Librarian Beth Daane, working in the Reference area of the Santa Fe Regional Library Headquarters building.
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
- Image
No twirling batons for these ladies. The Women’s Drill Team at East Florida Seminary practicing with spears. Image
Nine girls performing the Cherry Tree Number in a Gainesville Fine Arts Association program. Image
Women outside the entrance to the Magnesia Springs swimming pools near Hawthorne in 1945. Image
Miss Suwannee County, Miss Desoto County, and an unknown contestant at the 31st Annual Florida Farm Bureau convention with Florida Governor Askew. Image
Esther Serena Jordan driving a decorated car full of children. Perhaps they are going to be in a parade?