Project: 500 Years of Discovering Florida

This exhibit was prepared by eleven students for an Honors College class “Major Works/Ideas” in the Spring of 2012. Under the supervision of librarian-instructor Andy Huse, each student’s assignment was to present an aspect of Florida’s history or culture using only materials from USF Tampa Library’s Special Collections. The summary below is culled from their written introduction.

“In this exhibit, we will explore the history of what is now the state of Florida, including the culture of the Indian tribes that predated European presence by thousands of years, the technological advances that allowed the peninsula’s population and economy to develop into one of the largest of the 50 states, and the development of the tourism industry (and other related fields) that became the state’s trademark into the 21st century. We will present a narrative of Florida’s development based on historical photos and documents, as well as modern texts and accounts of the state’s history.”