Museum of Florida History

Transcription

♪ Welcome to the Museum of Florida History. Opened in 1977 in Florida's capital city of Tallahassee, the Museum collects, preserves, exhibits, and interprets evidence of past and present cultures in the state ranging from prehistoric times through World War Two. Paleo-Indians came to Florida around 12,000 years ago, where they mostly lived along the coastlines and rivers. As the earth warmed and the sea level rose, most of these sites were flooded. Many of today’s animal species lived here in Florida 12,000 years ago. A number of large, now-extinct mammals lived here too. This relative of the modern armadillo was much larger, and grew up to nine feet long. Florida’s First People exhibit explores the interaction between early human inhabitants and their environment, and how the first peoples made tools needed for survival. A tool can be as simple as a sharpened stick to dig up edible roots to complex objects like these chipped stone tools. Examples of these type of tools shown here were used either as spear points, knives, drills, or scrapers. The skeleton of a Mastodon was found in Wakulla Springs in 1930. He lived 12,000 years ago, stood nine feet high and weighed approximately seven tons. Changes in the physical environment and the arrival of humans led to the extinction of many species. These canoes are actual artifacts used by prehistoric Floridians to travel the state's waterways. Many different styles and examples as old as 5,000 years have been found across the state. This replica demonstrates the different steps used to make canoes. A full scale diorama depicts the St. Johns' River culture in the year 1450 A.D., on Hontoon Island near Orlando. The river provided the people with most of their food. They made clay pottery for cooking and storage, built up huge shell mounds and traded with groups from as far away as the Appalachian mountains. The recreation of a shellmidden demonstrates how archaeologists can determine the different uses of an area by what is contained in the many layers. Between 300,000 and 1,000,000 people lived in Florida when the Spanish explorers first arrived. From the Apalachee in the northwest to the Matecumbe tribe in the Keys, Florida's indigenous populations showed great political, cultural and linguistic variety. The development of each group was heavily influenced by the environment they lived in. Juan Ponce de Leon made the first recorded contact with Florida's indigenous people in 1513. Many natives and explorers died in violent confrontations resulting from basic misunderstandings of the others cultures. Exploration of the New World and La Florida was authorized by the Spanish Crown, in search of gold, new land to colonize, and to spread Christianity. Florida's wealth was not in precious metals, a disappointment to many early explorers. In the sixteen and seventeen hundreds, vast quantities of gold and silver were shipped to Spain from Central and South America. Several of these treasure fleets encountered hurricanes and sank along Florida’s coast. Florida became a state on March third, 1845. Less than 20 years later in January of 1861 she became the third state to secede from the Union as an independent nation, then joined other southern states to form the Confederate States of America. During the Civil War, Florida’s main contributions were cattle to feed the armies and the large qualities of salt needed to preserve the meat. On the home front, women took on new demanding roles left vacant by men serving in the military. The Union naval blockade resulted in shortages and contributed to the wartime hardships. Over 40 percent of Florida’s population during the war were enslaved African Americans. Many were forced to provide labor for the Confederacy, but when given an opportunity, many others escaped to the freedom of Union lines. Over 15,000 Floridians joined the Confederate army. However, several thousand served with Union forces. The images behind the tent show Confederate troops near Pensacola early in the war. Citrus first came to Florida with the Spanish explorers. Groves were established as early as 1570 around St. Augustine. Today citrus is an important part of Florida's economy. In 1894 five million boxes of oranges were produced and shipped from Florida. Packing houses like this one were commonly used. The equipment washed, dried and polished each piece of fruit, preparing it to be packed by hand into wooden crates. Orange crates had labels that were used to catch the eye in an era when colored ads were uncommon. Represented were Florida scenes, animals, birds, images of riches and Florida history. Over 5,000 different labels were produced in Florida between the late 1800s and 1960. Florida experienced a tourism boom in the early 1900s. Working class people now had vacation time and access to affordable motor vehicles thanks to Henry Ford and his Model T assembly line production system. Some tourists turned their cars and trucks into campers to live in while they traveled. The campers contained cooking and sleeping facilities. The campers name came from the tin cans they ate out of to save money. Boats have always been an important form of transportation in Florida. After the Civil War wealthy tourists came to see the Florida frontier and steamboat travel boomed from the 1870s through the early 1900s. The Hiawatha was the queen of the Ocklawaha river, a famous luxury boat for gala voyages. This full-scale model of the upper front of the Hiawatha demonstrates the special features needed to navigate Florida's winding, overgrown and narrow rivers. A miniature recreation of Silver Springs in 1900 gives a glimpse of what visiting tourists saw - the two riverboats Metamora and Okeehumkee; the Brown House Hotel; glass bottom row boats for viewing the springs and the railway to Ocala among other things. Visitors could stay for a few hours or weeks. The interior of the riverboat contains exhibits relating to water travel in Florida, steamboat technology and life on Florida's rivers. Re-creations of a passenger stateroom and captain's cabin are on the top deck. Florida was home to 170 training facilities during World War II. America's entry into the war brought lasting social, demographic, technological and economic changes to the state. After the Japanese Empire attacked American installations at Pearl Harbor, Floridians listened to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s "Day of Infamy" speech on radios like this one. Thousands of Floridians served in all branches of the Armed Services. Approximately 20,000 Women's Army Auxiliary Corps recruits received training at Daytona Beach and at least 11 of the 50,000 black Floridians to enter the military during the war served in the ranks of the famed Tuskegee Airmen pilots. The daily life of everyone in the state was affected by rationing, collecting scrap metal and shortages. Over 300,000 Floridians volunteered for civil defense activities on the home front. World War II transformed Florida into the modern dynamic state we know today. The Museum features other exhibits such as the Highlights Gallery, the Florida Highwaymen painting collection and much more. The Museum of Florida History is located in downtown Tallahassee at 500 South Bronough Street, two blocks west of the Capitol building. We are open seven days a week. You can find us on popular, social media sites. Thank you for watching the tour and we look forward to your visit. New Entry