Learning Units

What were Civil Wars soldiers doing in Pensacola, Florida? What do you do when primary source documents tell different stories about the same event?

Students use Civil War diaries, an essay from Zora Neale Hurston, and advertisements from World War II to examine the raw materials of Florida history.

Before Statehood

The Florida Seminoles

This unit introduces major themes, events, and individuals in Seminole history using primary sources from the collections of the State Library and Archives of Florida.

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Civil War in Florida

Florida in the Civil War

Read letters, diaries ("I forgot to mention that President Lincoln and some of his cabinet were assassinated on Saturday night.") and official records.

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Post-Civil War Florida

Florida and the Spanish-American War of 1898

Florida, the closest state to the Caribbean and home to a large Cuban immigrant population, became the setting for much of the action in Cuba's fight for independence from Spain.

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Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary McLeod Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial School for Negro Girls which is now Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona, Florida. Read the transcript of an interview for an unfinished biography.

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The Cigar Industry Changes Florida

In the decades after the Civil War, cigar making became one of the most important industries in the southeastern United States.

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Railroads Change Florida

Trains helped to establish new towns and cities in Florida, and served the lumber, phosphate, tourist, manufacturing and agricultural industries.

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The Depression, the New Deal Years and World War II

Neale Hurston, the WPA in Florida, and the Cross City Turpentine Camp

Zora Neale Hurston was already a published writer when she began working for the Florida division of the Work Projects Administration (WPA). In August of 1939, Hurston went on a recording expedition to the turpentine camps in Cross City, Florida.

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Florida During World War II

Letters, telegrams, advertisements and brochures depicting life during World War II.

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Contemporary Florida

Civil Rights Movement in Florida

This unit introduces major themes, events, and individuals in the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Florida using primary sources from the collections of the State Library and Archives of Florida.

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The Cuban Experience in Florida: Revolution and Exodus

This unit provides insight into the experience of Cuban refugees in Florida using photographs, government documents, letters, videos and interviews.

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NASA and the Space Program Change Florida

This unit provides an introduction to Florida's involvement in the Space Age through photographs, lesson plans, and exercises.

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Lucreaty Clark, White Oak Basket Maker

Clark learned to make white oak baskets from her parents. Originally these sturdy baskets were used to hold cotton and carry vegetables.

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Netmaking and Net Fishing in Florida

Longtime net maker and Fernandina resident Billy Burbank III discusses the history and practices of the net making trade.

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Seminole Doll Making

Seminole doll maker Mary B. Billie and her daughter, Claudia C. John, discuss the history and practices of Seminole doll making.

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Shape Note Singing

Floridians have been singing from shape note books like The Sacred Harp since the mid-19th century.

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