A Florida Heritag I fii 11 :i rafiM H rtiS ^^I^H ^bIh^^^^^^^Ji ^I^^Bfi^^ Florida Association of Museums The Florida raises the visibility of muse- Women 's ums in the state and serves as Heritage Trail a liaison between museums ^ was pro- and government. '/"'^Vm duced in FAM is managed by a board of cooperation directors elected by the mem- with the bership, which is representa- Florida tive of the spectrum of mu- Association seum disciplines in Florida. of Museums FAM has succeeded in provid- (FAM). The ing numerous economic, Florida educational and informational Association of Museums is a benefits for its members. nonprofit corporation, estab- lished for educational pur- Florida Association of poses. It provides continuing Museums education and networking Post Office Box 10951 opportunities for museum Tallahassee, Florida 32302-2951 professionals, improves the Phone: (850) 222-6028 level of professionalism within FAX: (850) 222-6112 the museum community, www.flamuseums.org Contact the Florida Associa- serves as a resource for infor- tion of Museums for a compli- mation Florida's on museums. mentary copy of "See The World!" Credits Author: Nina McGuire The section on Florida Women's Clubs (pages 29 to 31) is derived from the National Register of Historic Places nomination prepared by DeLand historian Sidney Johnston. Graphic Design: Jonathan Lyons, Lyons Digital Media, Tallahassee. Special thanks to Ann Kozeliski, A Kozeliski Design, Tallahassee, and Steve Little, Division of Historical Resources, Tallahassee. Photography: Ray Stanyard, Tallahassee; Michael Zimny and Phillip M. Pollock, Division of Historical Resources; Pat Canova and Lucy Beebe/ Silver Image; Jim Stokes; Historic Tours of America, Inc., Key West; The Key West Chamber of Commerce; Jacksonville Planning and Development Department; Historic Pensacola Preservation Board. Edited by staff of the Florida Division of Historical Resources: Catherine Clark Frederick P. Gaske, Susanne Hunt, Julie Weiler, and Rusty Ennemoser. © 2001 Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources Mr- n tia h Contents Introduction 2 North Florida 3 Central Florida 13 South Florida 18 Florida Women's Heritage Trail Sites 26 Florida "Firsts'' 28 The Florida Women's Club Movement 29 Acknowledgements 32 On the Cover: Sections from three 1880s crazy quilt blocks from the Tallahassee Museum of History & Natural Science permanent collection. Crazy quilts, popular during the late 19th century, are made from differently colored and sized pieces of wool, velvet and silk fabrics, sewn together with fancv embroidery stitches. Many of the sites listed in this publication are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, either indi\iduall\ m- as contributing resources in a historic district. The National Register is a\-\ official list of hisloricalh' significant properties located throughout llu' countr\'. The list is mainl.iined bv iht.' National Park Sei\ice, and includes places that have been documented as significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or culture, at the local, stale, or national level. For information iC)W the National Register, consult the National Park Service's National Register website at www.cr.nps. go\7nr/, call the I loritia Department ol Stale, bureau ot I listoric Preservation at (850) 245-6333 or (800) 847-727S or visit www.tllu'ritage.com. /> (^ . / Introduction Zora Neale Hurston, portrayed quilts as ritual. Hurston's novel. Seraph on the Suwanee, features middle-aged Arvay, closing her dead mother's ^W eyes and wrapping her in three quilts of her mother's making. In "Cracker Orange City Elementary Chidlings," a work of short fiction, School students and their Rawlings draws the picture of a 1^1^n| teacher, Miss Pickney. group of women gathered together at Vf 1934. Florida Photo Aunt Mag's for a quilting bee from where the word goes out that a joke ^ Archives ^^mt d will be played that night on a new- Within this book are brief from mother to daughter, it inspired comer to town. outlines of over 100 quilting bees and sewing circles — women significant in the forerunners of modern women's At the beginning of the 21st century, Florida's history. In each case, a clubs. Quilts provided warmth, women continue to redefine their historic site or marker exists to beautified the home, and marked roles as reflected in the achievements illustrate their role in defining the important passages in life — birth, of Floridians such as Gwendolyn state's past, present, and future. marriage, and death. Quilts reflected Sawyer Cherry and Elaine Gordon. These stories begin with early native women's role as mother, daughter, Quilts and quilting have also been Indians and Spanish pioneers, and sister, and wife. redefined. The AIDS Memorial Quilt continue through the end of the 20th became a national symbol, a creative century. The impact of their lives and Into the 20th century, the fabric and means for remembrance and healing. work often reaches far beyond the patterns of American women's daily The quilt has become widely ac- shores and borders of the Sunshine life began to change. Hard won cepted among both male and female State. Although these women are no opportunities redirected energy and artists as a work of art, collected by longer with us, their impact is felt interest toward the working world museums and displayed in exhibits today in the State of Florida and its and public service. Many women re- such as the annual Capital City quilt people. directed their talents to support show of the Museum of Florida social reforms such as the temper- History. Quilts tell women's stories. Patterns of History ance movement and the right to vote. They represent the strong and Historically, the creation of quilts delicate threads which weave was the province of women. These Florida authors of the 1930s and women into Florida's heritage — a products of labor and love came to 1940s, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and past we all share, and that binds us represent the intricate, diverse all together. patterns of women's lives. Quilts speak today of women's changing roles. Details from the blocks of an elaborately embroidered, late 19th- century crazy quilt from the collec- tion of the Tallahassee Museum of Science and Natural History are featured on the cover of Florida Women's Heritage Trail. Details of a 20th-century Yo-Yo quilt illustrate the features inside. In the 19th century, quilting often Quilting at the Florida Folk Festival^ served as a woman's self-expression. 1957. Florida Photo Archives^ An essential skill, often passed down aS. North Florida Escambia County Pensacola Barkley House 410 South Florida Blanca Street (850) 595-5985 Built for Clara Louise Garnier Barkley (1800-1867) in 1830, this home is one of the oldest masonry houses in Florida. Once called a "high house" because of its el- evated first floor, the building's construction resembles that of early masonry houses of New Orleans and Louisiana. The Creole influ- ences are evident in its wide gallery porch and gables, combined with a center-hall floor plan. The Barkley freedom of her fellow blacks. The Leon County House was restored by the cottage was later owned by a Pensacola Heritage Foundation. succession of free black women. TALLAHASSEE The simple wooden vernacular Dorr House Bellevue building, built between 1804 and Tallahassee of 311 South Adams Street Museum History 1808 during the Second Spanish and Natural Science (850) 595-5985 Period, is Pensacola's only surviv- 3945 Museum Drive Clara Barkley Dorr (1825-1899), the ing example of "to the sidewalk" (850) 575-8685 daughter of Clara Louise Garnier construction. Its pegged framing Bellexue is the former home of Barkley, grew up in the Barkley and beaded ceilings were carefully Catherine Daingerfield Willis Gray House. In 1870, following the death preserved for its new role as a Murat (1803-1867), great-grandniece of her husband and eldest son, she black history museum. of George Washington, widow oi purchased land in Pensacola's most Achille Murat, Prince of Naples and prestigious residential neighbor- Lavalle House nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. hood and built this classically 205 East Church Street Catherine bought the modest story- inspired house. Here she raised her (850) 595-5985 and-a-half house and 520 acres of five remaining children. During the Carlos Lavalle and Marianna land in 1854. Built between 1838 and 1890s, the home was used as a Bonifay (1760-1829), a French 1841, the house is <\n example of private school for the children of indigenous southern widow, built this rare surviving architecture, Pensacola's wealthv families. The part of a "carpenter tradition" using example of French Creole colonial home remains substantially un- construction practices passed from architecture in 1805 during changed and is completely fur- generation to generation. The high Florida's Second Spanish Period. nished with antiques from the ceilings, central hallway, and wide The house is furnished with 18th- 1850s to the 189()s. porches are well-suited tor a hot, and 19th-centiuv antiques recreat- humid climate. It is a simple, frame ing frontier lite in the 1820s. Julee Cottage Museum \ernacular plantation residence. 210 East Zaragoza Street Catherine Murat li\ ed at Belle\ue (850) 595-5985 part of each year. She was an active The cottage belonged to Julee supporter of the Confederate cause during the Ci\il Panton, a "free woman of color" War and once tired a camion trom the Capitol ^teps who worked to purchase the announcing Florida's secession from Knott House Museum the Union. In 1967, 100 years after 301 East Park Avenue Catherine Murat's death, the Junior (850) 922-2459 League of Tallahassee, the Florida The Knott House was built about Heritage Foundation, and the 1843 as a wedding gift for Catherine Tallahassee Museum of History and Gamble and territorial lawyer Natural Science saved Bellevue, and Thomas Holmes Hagner.