Florida History Day

Resources for Florida History Day 2024

Florida History Day is an annual statewide activity sponsored by the Museum of Florida History. A Florida History Day entry can address any person, event or idea from any time or place in history, but it must relate to the 2024 National History Day theme Turning Points in History.
The NHD 2024 Contest Theme Book (PDF) describes this year's theme as "broad enough in scope to encourage the investigation of topics ranging from local to global history. To understand the historical importance of their topics, students must ask questions of time and place, cause and effect, change over time, and impact and significance."

The following resources address several turning points in Florida history.

Turning Points: People

• The Conquistadors
  • Florida Memory:
    • Florida Photographic Collection: Early Florida Maps
    • Florida Photographic Collection: Juan Ponce de León
    • Florida Photographic Collection: Hernando de Soto
    • Document: An Act to Remove the Remains of Ponce de León to Florida
    • Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Florida Photographic Collection
    • Documents: Spanish Land Grants
    • Floridiana article: The First Known Christmas in Florida
    • Floridiana article: The Fountain of Youth
    • Floridiana article: Florida Fountains of Youth
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Florida’s Spanish Colonial History Bibliography
    • Native American Tribes in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Drawing of Juan Ponce de León in Florida

• James Moore and the Destruction of Apalachee
• Florida Memory:
  • Florida Photographic Collection: Mission San Luis
  • Floridiana article: The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine
  • Floridiana article: Spanish Cattle in Florida
• State Library of Florida:
  • Florida’s Spanish Colonial History Bibliography
  • Native American Tribes in Florida Bibliography
• Other Resources:
  • Mission San Luis website
  • Florida Native American Heritage Trail

Featured:

Council house at the San Luis Mission - Tallahassee, Florida

• Jonathan C. Gibbs and Reconstruction
  • Florida Memory:
    • Jonathan C. Gibbs
    • Document: 1868 Constitution of Florida
    • Document: Journal of 1868 Constitutional Convention
    • Documents: 1868 Voter Registrations
    • Learning Unit: Florida in the Civil War
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Florida's Black History Bibliography
    • Emancipation and Reconstruction in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Portrait of Jonathan C. Gibbs

• Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the Everglades
  • Florida Memory:
    • Photo Exhibit: The Everglades in the Time of Marjory Stoneman Douglas
    • Research Starter: The Florida Everglades
    • Video (29:23): Marjory Stoneman Douglas
    • Floridiana article: Exploring the Everglades
    • Floridiana article: Land by the Gallon
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Environmental Science in Florida Bibliography
    • Women's History in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Wild deer in the Everglades.

• Mary McLeod Bethune
  • Florida Memory:
    • Learning Unit: Mary McLeod Bethune
    • Mary McLeod Bethune
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Florida's Black History Bibliography
    • Women's History in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Mary McLeod Bethune - Daytona Beach, Florida.

• The Tabert Scandal and Convict Leasing
  • Florida Memory:
    • Photograph: Martin Tabert
    • Research Starter: Convict Labor Leasing in Florida
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Law and Justice in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Martin Tabert

• Gideon v Wainwright
  • Florida Memory:
    • Photograph: Portrait of Clarence Earl Gideon
    • Photograph: Florida State Prison mug shots of Clarence Earl Gideon
    • Document: Judgment from the U.S. Supreme Court Regarding Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963
    • Document: Order of the Florida Supreme Court Regarindg Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963
    • Document: Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus by Clarence Earl Gideon, 1961
    • Document: Response from Florida Supreme Court to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus by Clarence Earl Gideon, 1961
    • Photograph: Group Portrait of State Public Defenders
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Law and Justice in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Portrait of Clarence Earl Gideon

• LeRoy Collins and Civil Rights
  • Florida Memory:
    • Video (10:44): Selma, Alabama Demonstration
    • Video (38:45): A Great Floridian
    • Video (27:32): To Reach for Tomorrow
    • Video (08:24): Gov. LeRoy Collins on Civil Rights
    • Video (09:58): Governor LeRoy Collins Comments on Civil Rights
    • Video (21:12): Interviews With LeRoy Collins for "Great Floridians"
    • Floridiana article: When LeRoy Collins Went to Selma
    • Document: Interposition Resoulution in Response to Brown v. Board of Education, 1957
    • Document: "Facts About the Community Relations Service" Brochure, August 1964
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Florida Governors Bibliography
    • Florida's Black History Bibliography
  • Other Resources:
    • The Grove Museum website

Featured:

Former Governor LeRoy Collins mediating during civil rights march - Selma, Alabama

• The Stephens Sisters: Civil Rights and the Tallahassee CORE
  • Florida Memory:
    • Learning Unit: The Civil Rights Movement in Florida
    • Primary Source Set: Patricia and Priscilla Stephens and the Congress of Racial Equality
    • Documents: Stephens Sisters Jail-In Papers, 1960
    • Patricia Stephens Due Photograph Collection
  • State Library of Florida:
    • Florida's Black History Bibliography

Featured:

Picketing at the Florida Theatre in Tallahassee.

Turning Points: Places

• St. Augustine and Permanent European Settlement
• Florida Memory:
• Floridiana article: The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine
• Document: Fort Marion and Fort Matanzas Brochure
• Document: Saint Augustine Map, 1589
• Documents: Spanish Land Grants
• State Library of Florida:
• Florida’s Spanish Colonial History Bibliography
• Native American Tribes in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Saint Augustine Map, 1589

• Mission San Luis: The Spanish, Native Americans and Christianity
• Florida Memory:
• Florida Photographic Collection: Mission San Luis
• Floridiana article: The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine
• Floridiana article: The First Known Christmas in Florida
• Floridiana article: Spanish Cattle in Florida
• State Library of Florida:
• Florida’s Spanish Colonial History Bibliography
• Native American Tribes in Florida Bibliography
• Other Resources
• Mission San Luis website
• Florida Native American Heritage Trail

Featured:

Costumed men reenacting military muster at the historic Mission San Luis site in Tallahassee, Florida.

• The Adams-Onis Treaty: Florida Becomes a U.S. Territory
• Florida Memory:
• Primary Source Set: Florida and the Politics of Westward Expansion
• Photograph: The Change of Flags, July 10, 1821, at Castillo de San Marcos - Saint Augustine, Florida
• Floridiana article: Joseph M. Hernandez: A Famous Florida First
• Document: Message from the President of the United States, Communicating the Correspondence [...]
• Documents: Territorial Legislative Council Records, 1822-1845
• Documents: Spanish Land Grants
• Documents: Territorial Period
• State Library of Florida:
• Florida’s Spanish Colonial History Bibliography
• Native American Tribes in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

The change of flags, July 10, 1821, at Castillo de San Marcos - Saint Augustine, Florida.

• Florida's Secession Convention of 1861: A Meeting that Changed Florida History
• Florida Memory:
• Document:Ordinance of Secession, 1861
• Documents: Call and Brevard Family Papers
• A Guide to Civil War Records
• Learning Unit: Florida in the Civil War
• Exhibit: Distant Storm: Florida's Role in the Civil War
• Floridaina: March 1862: Invasion!
• State Library of Florida:
• Civil War in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Ordinance of Secession, 1861

• The Union Blockade: Turning Point for the Civil War
• Florida Memory:
• Documents: Call and Brevard Family Papers
• A Guide to Civil War Records
• Exhibit: Distant Storm: Florida's Role in the Civil War
• Document: Contrabands escaping to the United States bark "Kingfisher," off the coast of Florida.
• Floridiana article: Corn, Not Cotton in the Civil War
• Floridaina: March 1862: Invasion!
• Floridaina: Needs More Salt
• Documents: Letters from Louis James M. Boyd to His Wife, Jannie, 1862
• Learning Unit: Florida in the Civil War
• State Library of Florida:
• Civil War in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

The U.S. Gunboat Mohawk chasing the rebel steamer Spray into the St. Mark's River.

• Cuba and the Cuban Exodus
• Florida Memory:
• Video (20:56): Julio 26
• Video (27:50): FYI-The Plight of Pepito: Cuba's Lost Generation
• Audio: Interview with Director of Latin Americna Studies at the University of Florida, Dr. Helen Safa
• Audio: Marta Keen Interview
• Learning Unit: The Cuban Experience in Florida: Revolution and Exodus
• Floridiana article: The Mariel Boatlift of 1980
• Florida Photographic Collection: Mariel Boatlift
• State Library of Florida:
• Cuban Heritage Bibliography

Featured:

The "El Dorado" arriving with Cuban refugees during the Mariel Boatlift - Key West, Florida

• The Tallahassee Bus Boycott
• Florida Memory:
• Primary Source Set: Tallahassee Bus Boycott, 1956-57
• Photograph: Statue of C.K. Steele by Artist David Lowe at the Plaza in Tallahassee, Florida
• Floridiana article: The Tallahassee Bus Boycott
• State Library of Florida:
• Florida's Black History Bibliography

Featured:

Reverend C. K. Steele (center left), and Reverend H. McNeal Harris (center right), protesting segregated bus seating in Tallahassee.

Turning Points: Ideas

• The Cuban Cigar Industry Moves to Florida
• Florida Memory:
• Photo Exhibit: Florida Cigars
• Learning Unit: The Cuban Experience in Florida: Revolution and Exodus
• Learning Unit: The Cigar Industry Changes Florida
• Audio: Domingo Rojas interview for the North Florida Folklife Project
• Photograph: Cigar Maker Domingo Rojas in St. Augustine, Florida
• Florida Photographic Collection: Cigars
• State Library of Florida:
• Cuban Heritage Bibliography

Featured:

Tampa's tobacco industry.

• The Grand Hotels of Flagler and Plant; The First Great Era of Florida Tourism
• Florida Memory:
• Florida Photographic Collection: Henry Morrison Flagler
• Florida Photographic Collection: Florida East Coast Railway
• Florida Photographic Collection: Flagler College
• Floridiana article: Flagler's Royal Poinciana Hotel
• Floridiana article: Staying at the Ormond
• Floridiana article: The "Shocking" Ponce de Leon Hotel
• Research Starter: Henry Flagler and the Florida East Cost Railway
• Floridiana article: Room and Board
• Florida Photographic Collection: Henry Bradley Plant
• Florida Photographic Colletion: Tampa Bay Hotel
• State Library of Florida:
• History of Florida Tourism Bibliography

Featured:

Flagler's Royal Poinciana Hotel

• The Yellow Fever Epidemic and Public Health in Florida
• Florida Memory:
• Yellow Fever, Florida Photographic Collection
• Exhibit: Pestilence, Potions, and Persistence: Early Florida Medicine
• Floridiana article: The Dreaded Yellow Jack
• Floridiana article: Step Aboard for the Gospel of Good Health!
• State Library of Florida:
• Public Health in Florida Bibliography
• Florida State Board of Health. Annual Report, 1889-1968
• Florida State Board of Health. Florida Health Notes, 1892-1973

Featured:

Drawing related to Yellow Fever - Gainesville, Florida

• The Great Freeze of 1895 and the Citrus Industry
• Florida Memory:
• Exhibit: The Rise and Fall of the Citrus Industry in Florida
• Floridana: The Great Freeze
• Documents: Florida Crate Lables, 1920s -1950s
• State Library of Florida:
• Agriculture in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

View of Lake Morton - Lakeland, Florida

• Florida in World War II, Laying the Foundation for Postwar Growth
• Florida Memory:
• Exhibit: Florida in World War II
• Floridiana article: Eyes on the Skies
• Floridiana article: Florida's First Lady at War
• Floridiana article: Preparing for D-Day: Camp Gordon Johnston near Carrabelle
• Learning Unit: Florida During World War II
• Primary Source Set: Civil Defense in Florida During WWII
• Primary Source Set: Industry and Agriculture During WWII
• Primary Source Set: Military Training in Florida During WWII
• Document: Blackout Order Issued by Governor Spessard Holland During World War II
• Florida Photographic Collection: World War II
• Video (16:37): Wakulla Springs & WWII Troop Maneuvers
• State Library of Florida:
• Florida During World War II Bibliography
• Military and Defense in Florida Bibliography
• Florida's Air and Space History Bibliography
• Women's History in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Soldiers training for war - Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida

• The Space Program in Florida
• Florida Memory:
• Exhibit: Florida and the Apollo Program
• Learning Unit: NASA and the Space Program Change Florida
• Research Starter: NASA and the Space Program in Florida
• Video (14:49): Florida: Moonport USA
• Video (22:15): Florida and the Spacecenter: Partners in Progress
• Video (04:35): Twenty Years of NASA
• Video (13:30): Menu for an Astronaut
• Florida Photographic Collection: NASA
• State Library of Florida:
• Florida's Air and Space History Bibliography
• Military and Defense in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Aerial view of the "Rocket garden" at Kennedy Space Center - Merritt Island, Florida.

• Road Trip: Automobiles and Road Development
• Florida Memory:
• Documents: Early Auto Registrations 1905-1917
• Documents: Early Auto Laws
• Floridiana article: Allen H. Andrews, Trailblazer
• Floridiana article: Great Floridian Feats: The Gandy Bridge
• Floridiana article: The Dixie Highway Comes to Florida
• Floridiana article: The Old Stagecoach Line
• Floridiana article: The Trials and Tribulations of the Early Automobile in Florida
• Floridiana article: The Yellow Dog
• Florida Photographic Collection: Automobiles
• State Library of Florida:
• Map: Best Roads of Florida, c. 1915
• Map: Clason' s Guide Map of Florida
• Map: Florida Road Condition Map, 1923 with Fernandina
• Transportation in Florida Bibliography

Featured:

Automobiles on Citrus Avenue - Crystal River, Florida