Humanities and the Sunshine State Melissa Jerome Project Coordinator, FPRDNP May Mann Je Jennings & th the Creation of f Royal Palm lm State Park UF George A. Smathers Libraries
What is Digitization? • Creation of a digital version of an analog source • For example: sound, image, object • Why digitize? • Preservation • Including avoiding obsolescence • Broader access • Teachable Content Microfilm reel • Newspapers an excellent candidate for digitization Source: 2010 Smithsonian Digitization Plan https://www.si.edu/content/pdf/about/2010_SI_Digitization_Plan.pdf 2
National Digital Newspaper Program “ a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages. Supported by NEH, this rich digital resource will be developed and permanently maintained at the Library of Congress. An NEH award program will fund the contribution of content from, eventually, all U.S. states and territories” 3 www.loc.gov/ndnp
Content Locations 1836-1910 1880s-1922 4
Content In Includes • International • World War I • Spanish American War • Travel Technologies • Heads of State • National • Governance and Elections • Suffrage Movement • Prohibition • Sports News From The Ocala Evening Star (Ocala, FL) November 4, 1908. • Presidents and their Families Image retrieved from Chronicling America. • Ads for National Brands From The Daytona daily news (Daytona, FL) January 8, • Nativism 1910. Image retrieved from Chronicling America. 5
Content In Includes • Florida • Puerto Rico • State Politics and Elections • Spanish Governance • Sale of Land and Slaves • Creation of University System • International News • Travel Reports • Epidemics • Entertainment • Social/Cultural • Agricultural Reports • Education • Railways and Steamboats • Politics • Natural Disasters • Autonomy From The Ocala evening star (Ocala, FL) June 17, 1916. Image retrieved from Chronicling America. 6 From La Democracia (San Juan, PR) June 9, 1902. Image retrieved from Chronicling America.
Access 7
Chronicling America ChronAm is a database of historic newspapers published in the United States and its territories -date range expanded to now include 1690-1963 Currently houses over 12 million pages of newspapers contributed from 40 states and one territory 8 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
ChronAm fu functions Search options: • General • Advanced • All newspapers 9 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
Advanced Search 10 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
Additional Functions Use these options Use these options Save pdf Full screen view! to change page to change issue Zoom in/out by Zoom in and clicking these clip something buttons. Can of interest. also use mouse scroll 11
About the Papers 12
Optical Character Recognition • Chronicling America is fully searchable • Not perfect technology • Extraneous marks on page • Unusual Fonts • Misreading text or combining words • Be patient with searches and think outside of the box • Context • Time period From the Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL.) May 3,1913. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. From The Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) August 16, 1908. Article retrieved 13 from Chronicling America.
Tips and Tricks When searching think about… • Vocabulary • Historic spelling • Change in terms • Typos • Search parameters • Change scope to get more useful results • Diversify name searches • Affiliated organizations, businesses, and governing bodies From the Monroe City Democrat (Monroe City, MO) From the Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) August 22, 1907. Article retrieved from Chronicling November 11, 1919. Article retrieved from America. Chronicling America. 14
A Note on Historical Language 15
th century Environmental Concerns Early 20 th • Early American Environmental Movement • President Theodore Roosevelt • Pelican Island Florida/Lacey Act • Gifford Pinchot-United States Forest Service • John Muir • Efforts to Manipulate the Environment • Governor Broward-Draining the Everglades • Construction of the Panama Canal • Henry Flagler and the Key West Railway Expansion From the Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) January 25, 1906. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. From the Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) May 19, 1922. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. From the Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) January 16 26, 1908. Image retrieved from Chronicling America.
Women • Involved in early conservation efforts • Utilized their Social Networks • Women’s Clubs • Especially prior to the passage of the 19 th Amendment • Raised money to purchase land for conservation purposes • In doing so they “claimed new public ground and established themselves as important public advocates” (Poole Dissertation 15) • In our papers, reports on their activities can be found on the Society pages 17
May Mann Je Jennings aka Mrs. . W.S. .S. Je Jennin ings • Life • Born April 25, 1872 in New Jersey • Family moved to Crystal River, Florida in 1874 • Assisted her father while he served in the state legislature (Vance 38) • Married W.S. Jennings in 1891 • Causes and Civic Work • Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs • Y.W.C.A • Conservation • Improved Public Education • Her papers are digitized and can be found in the “America’s Swamp: The Historical Everglades Project ” in the UF Digital Collections • “Mother of Florida Forestry” Photo of May Mann Jennings, taken in 1901 while serving as Florida’s First Lady. Image retrieved from Florida Memory. 18
Everglades • Land viewed as “empty” or having the potential for development since mid-19 th century • Gov. W.S. Jennings supported drainage • “the was no real settlement in the Everglades until after 1910” (Dovell 190) • The availability of drained land was heavily advertised and resulted in the Florida Land boom of the 1920s • Damaged the ecosystem of the Everglades From The Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) April 9, 1911. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. 19
Women’s Clubs • Serve as an example of “grassroots actions” (Poole Diss 76) • Approached environmental stewardship as an extension of their social roles as mothers and caregivers • Park creation was linked to their larger efforts to save Florida forests From The Ocala evening star (Ocala, FL) November 27, 1916. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. 20
Royal Palm State Park • Dedicated in 1916 • Result of efforts led by May Mann Jennings • Supported by Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs • Wanted to prevent development at and around Paradise Key • Eventually the “nucleus” of Florida’s first National Park • Everglades National Park • Established 1934 • Dedicated 1947 • Still two visitor centers in the area Postcard, date unknown. Image retrieved from America’s Swamp . 21
Creation • Jennings learned of the existence of the area from Mary Barr Munroe • Munroe suggested “the group try to protect” the area at the 1905 Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs convention (Poole Diss 86) • Jennings used her ties to Tallahassee to lobby the state to purchase and maintain the land • Park was a priority in the FFWC’s legislative plan in 1915 From The Lakeland evening telegram (Lakeland, FL) September 7, 1915. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. 22
From the Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) May 9, 1915. 23 Article retrieved from Chronicling America.
Maintenance • Fundraising campaigns to collect money to operate the park • Mile of dimes initiative • Lobbied the legislature for maintenance funds • Focused more on aesthetics than “wilderness preservation” • “Most (women) favored the state policy of draining the Everglades” (Poole Diss 98) From the Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) February 6, 1916. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. 24
From the Pensacola journal (Pensacola Journal) October 1, 1916. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. From The Lakeland evening telegram (Lakeland, FL) July 24, 1917. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. From the Pensacola journal (Pensacola, FL) April 13, 1921. Article retrieved from 25 Chronicling America.
Reports of f Early Public Use From The Ocala evening star (Ocala, FL) January 17, 1919. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. From The Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL) December 26, 1915. Article retrieved from Chronicling America. 26
Conclusions • Everglades National Park dedicated in 1947 • Jennings was included in the ceremony, as was President Harry S. Truman • “The conservation movement of the first half of the twentieth century brought great changes Photos retrieved from America’s Swamp . in thinking to Florida, propelled in large part by the activities of its women” (Poole Diss 112). • Jennings passed away in 1963 27
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