THE DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES MARCH 11TH
The Historical Society of Palm Beach County presents Jerald Milanich’s lecture on a journalist’s perspective of pioneer life in Palm Beach County
West Palm Beach, FL | February 27, 2015 – On Wednesday, March 11, 2014 at 7:00 PM, Jerald Milanich will continue the 2014-2015 Distinguished Lecture Series with a talk entitled Frolicking Bears, Wet Vultures, and Other Oddities: A Nineteenth-Century Journalist in East-Central Florida, a look into the work of journalist Amos Jay Cummings in the 1870’s and 1890’s. This season’s lectures are based on the theme of “Florida Storytellers,” with four speakers based in Florida or speaking about unique aspects of our culture and history, sharing stories in a style that features richly textured tales, humor, and smarts.
In 1873 and 1874 the New York Sun published a series of articles recounting journalist Amos Jay Cummings’ journeys through north and east Florida, who was at the time among only a handful of white people who had ventured to the unforgiving environs of Lake Worth. Cummings wrote about Florida bruins and buzzards; rednecks and racists; murderers and mosquitoes; rich soils and poor souls. His personal tales strip the veneer off the paradise touted in brochures, revealing a barely explored, untamed frontier. Twenty years later he would return and witness the initial efforts to drain south Florida. For over a century, Cummings’ Florida articles lay untouched in the New York Public Library archives, until Jerald Milanich “discovered” his work and set out to tell Cummings’ stories anew.
Jerald T. Milanich, Emeritus Professor at the University of Florida, is a contributing editor for Archaeology magazine and the author of more than twenty books describing the Indian societies of the Americas and their interactions with Europeans during the colonial and post-colonial periods, including Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida; Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe; and Laboring in the Fields of the Lord, Spanish Missions and Southeastern Indians. He also has been editor for more than sixty other books for the University Press of Florida.
Distinguished Lecture Series Highlights.
- The series will be held for the second year in the Historic 1916 Courthouse, home to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum.
- Museum galleries will remain open throughout the evening, so attendees should arrive early to view this season’s special exhibition Courage Under Fire: 120 Years of Fire Rescue.
- The Society’s Bookstore will also remain open and attendees will receive a 10% discount off store purchases.
- Parking is free in the non-metered parking lot off 4th Street, between Dixie and Olive Avenues.
- A book signing and reception will follow the lecture.
Tickets. Advanced reservations are strongly advised. Limited seating is available, and those with reservations are seated first. Call (561) 832-4164, ext. 100 to reserve your ticket.
- Free for Historical Society members.
- Non-member admission is $20.
Funding for the series is provided in part by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, Tourist Development Council, and The Florida Humanities Council. Palm Beach Illustrated is the Official Magazine Sponsor for the 2014-2015 Season.