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Listen: The Latin ProgramPhoto Exhibits
Photo exhibits spotlight various topics in Florida history, and are accompanied by brief text intended to place selected materials in historical context.
Gridiron Culture in the Sunshine State
Early College Football
The origins of college football in the United States date to the late 19th century. Influenced by European sports such soccer and rugby, American football gradually adopted rules which shaped the sport into the modern version played today. The first college football teams emerged in the northeastern United States. Gradually, the game spread west and south. This photographic exhibit highlights some of the earliest teams in the state of Florida, the origins of in-state rivalries, and the development of big time college football in the Sunshine State. Organized college football in Florida also dates to the late 19th century. In the late 1800s, schools like Stetson in Deland, the Florida Agricultural College (FAC) in Lake City, and the West Florida Seminary in Tallahassee, fielded club teams that competed in intra-college contests on a limited basis. The first intercollegiate college football game in Florida was played on November 22, 1901, and pitted Stetson against FAC.
Stetson University player, holding faceguard: Deland, Florida (early 1900s)
Image Number: N046115
Stetson University's football team: Deland, Florida (ca. 1890s)
Image Number: PR13037
General Note: The coach of Stetson University's early football team was C. B. Rosa (middle rear, wearing hat).
Stetson University team portrait: Deland, Florida (between 1898 and 1910)
Image Number: N044171
West Florida Seminary team portrait: Tallahassee, Florida (1899)
Image Number: N044028
Florida State College team portrait: Tallahassee, Florida (between 1901 and 1905)
Image Number: RC02435
General Note: Back row, far right: W.S. "Buddy" McLin. Front row, far right: Guyte McCord.
Florida Agricultural College team portrait: Lake City, Florida (1902)
Image Number: RC06300
East Florida Seminary team portrait: Gainesville, Florida (1902)
Image Number: N044027
Florida State College team portrait: Tallahassee, Florida (1902)
Image Number: RC01140
General Note:There are 20 names but 16 persons in the photo. Order is uncertain. W.W. Hughes, coach; F.B. Winthrop, mgr.; A.B. Clark, capt.; C.W. Peters; G.P. McCord; E.P. Watson; L.M. Murray; W.H. Provence; William McLendon Mullen (back 4th from left); W.W. Dickey; J.T. Howard; A.B. Clark; ? Williams; and F.W. Buchholz. Substitutes: I.J. Belcher, R.F. Bradford, Jr., T.H. Hancock, W.S. McLin, F.F. Rawls, J.H. Sheats, and William Van Brunt. Schedule: FSC vs Bainbridge 5-0 FSC vs FAC 6-0 FSC vs FAC 0-6.
Florida State College team portrait: Tallahassee, Florida (1903)
Image Number: RC01134
Stetson University's football team: Deland, Florida (1907)
Image Number: PR13064
General Note:1. Speck Campbell; 3. Carl Farriss; 5. Ed Mickle; 6. Fred Botts; 7. Carney Wilder; 8. Coach Carlton Robinson; 10. Harry Garwood; 13. J. G. Black.
Championship football team of 1910: Gainesville, Florida (1910)
Image Number: PR13085
General Note: Standing in the rear at the left is Dr. A.A. Murphree.
Columbia College team portrait: Lake City, Florida (ca. 1910s)
Image Number: N033757
Columbia College football team: Lake City, Florida (ca. 1910s)
Image Number: N033756
General Note: In photograph are Fleming Appleyard and William Towns Appleyard.
Florida Southern team portrait: Sutherland, Florida (1912)
Image Number: N030701
General Note: The college was located in Pinellas County at Sutherland, now Palm Harbor.
Columbia College team portrait: Lake City, Florida (1914)
Image Number: RC06323
Group portrait of the University of Florida football team: Gainesville, Florida (1915 or 1916)
Image Number: PR24570
Accompanying Note: This is the "drove of gators."
Postcard showing group portrait of the University of Florida football team: Gainesville, Florida (1915 or 1916)
Image Number: PR24572
Singing of the national anthem at a University of Miami football game: Miami, Florida (ca. late 1920s)
Image Number: PHF004
General Note: University of Miami vs. an unidentified team.
F.S.U. football squad: Tallahassee, Florida (1947)
Image Number: PR12752
General Note: Front (L-R): David Middlebrooks, RT; Jack Tully, RG; Buddy Bryant, C; Jim Quigley, LG; Leonard Gilbert, LT; Jack MacMillan, QB (Kneeling).
Related Resources
Features
Territorial Legislative Council Records, 1822-1845
Documenting Florida's legislature prior to statehood
State and County Officer Directories, 1868-1969
Lists of Florida's state and county officials either elected or appointed between 1868 and 1969.
Guide to Military Records and the Wartime Experience
A guide to government records and manuscript collections relating to service members and the wartime experience.
Dust Tracks
21 tracks from Hurston's time documenting African American culture for the WPA in 1930s Florida.
History Day 2025
Resources for Florida History Day from the State Library and Archives of Florida.