The Florida Memory Blog

Apix, Florida

Katrina — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:51:26 +0000

In the late 1950s, in order to keep pace with the Soviet Union, the U.S. government created a fictitious town named Apix (Air Products Incorporated, Experimental) to build and test rocket engines powered by liquid hydrogen.

Testing the XLR-115 hydrogen fueled rocket engine, Apix, 1958

Assembling Pratt & Whitney designed liquid hydrogen rocket engines, Apix, 1958

The project, codenamed “Suntan,” was highly classified and required a large degree of secrecy. Land near the testing ground in rural Palm Beach County was platted for houses to conceal the true nature of the site. Apix was given a bogus population to add to its cover as a small fertilizer-producing community.

Rocket engine test stands, Apix, 1958

By June 1959, the use of liquid hydrogen was determined to be too costly. The project was abandoned and Apix was dismantled.

Four open air rocket engine test cells and control rooms, Apix, 1958

Women and World War II

Jody — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:01:04 +0000

On May 14, 1942, Congress approved an Act that allowed women to enlist for noncombat duties in the U.S. military. The Act led to the creation of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), the Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), and the Semper Paratus Always Ready Service (SPARS). Many Florida women were quick to sign up and serve their country.

Portrait of Sarah Kaplan during World War II

Jacqueline Cochran – internationally known aviator
In 1943 Jacqueline Cochran was appointed to the General Staff of the U.S. Army Air Forces to direct the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program. In 1945 she received the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal.

Annie Will Langford in her Navy uniform

Portrait of U.S. WAVES sailor Shirley Rudler in uniform: Orlando, Florida

Portrait of USMC-WR 1st Lieutenant Alice “Martha” Dorn

Miami Golf in the 1920s

Jon — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:46 +0000

William A. Fishbaugh worked as a commercial photographer for more than 40 years. During his tenure as an employee of real estate developer George Merrick, Fishbaugh captured a remarkable visual history of the 1920s Florida Land Boom, particularly the development of Coral Gables, Miami, and Miami Beach. In addition to photographing homes, businesses, and attractions, Fishbaugh also documented area golf courses.

Miami Biltmore, early 1920s

Mr. Hirsch with caddies at the Coral Gables Country Club, 1924

Golf course construction, Coral Gables, 1924

Miami Biltmore, 1925

Julian Lifsey, William Crowley, an unidentified man, and Fonville McWhorter, Coral Gables, ca. 1925

Golfers at the Miami Biltmore, ca. 1925

Green in front of the Glen H. Curtiss home, Country Club Estates, Miami Springs, 1926

Coral Gables Country Club, 1926

Charles Thom, Coral Gables, late 1920s

Visit Florida Memory to see more photographs from the William A. Fishbaugh Collection.

We’re Just Toying With You

Beth — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:04:58 +0000

Boys with a toy train set, Fort Meade, 1880s

Girl with toy lion and blocks, 1890s

Girls with their toys, Gainesville, ca. 1900

Ida Raa and her baby stroller, Tallahassee, ca. 1908

Girl holding a doll in a toy car, Pensacola, ca. 1910

Ted Mack with his toys, Bartow, ca. 1915

Jimmy Keith and his mechanical dog, Sarasota, ca. 1925

Arthur and Jack Courshon with a toy airplane, Miami Beach, ca. 1925

LeRoy Collins Jr. driving a toy car, Tallahassee, 1937

Sharon Monts-DeOca and her toy rabbit, Jacksonville, 1946

Seminole children in a toy wagon, Brighton Reservation, ca. 1948

Koreshan boy on a Castelli tractor pedal car, Estero, ca. 1950

Boys and girls with hula-hoops, 1950s

Minnie Doctor and child with Seminole dolls, Dania Reservation, 1961

Boy with toy castle and soldiers, Tallahassee, 1963

Get Whacky…

Madison — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:28:10 +0000

May is Florida Golf Month! Get out there and hit the links at one of the more than 1,200 golf courses in the Sunshine State. Enjoy a few of our favorite photographs of Florida golfers getting whacky.

Golfer standing on Rosie the elephant, Miami Beach, 1927

Ringling Circus clown Paul Jerome golfing in Sarasota, 1960

Marie Fajardo playing golf on Daytona Beach, 1960

Oh Baby!

Jody — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:06:12 +0000

During the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th centuries, midwives commonly attended to women during childbirth, particularly in the ethnic communities in the North and in African-American communities in the South.

E.J. Kirkland at the West Florida Midwives Institute, Florida A&M College, Tallahassee, 1933

Marion County midwives at the Florida State Board of Health Midwife Institute, St. Augustine, 1934

By the 1920s and 1930s, immigration restrictions, resistance by physicians, and a decreasing birthrate all led to the rapid decline of midwives in the North. In the South, however, black midwives continued to practice, at least until state health officials moved to regulate and largely eliminate a profession that they believed was obsolete.

Midwifery demonstration, ca. 1944

Midwife feeling contraction, ca. 1944

In 1931, the Florida legislature passed a law for “the control and licensing of midwifery for the protection of mothers at childbirth and authorizing the State Board of Health to make regulations thereto.” The law required that midwives in Florida be licensed and that they be at least 21, be able to read the Manual for Midwives and be able to fill out birth certificates, “[b]e clean and constantly show evidence in behavior and in home of habits of cleanliness,” possess a diploma from a school for midwives, and have attended, under supervision of a physician, at least fifteen cases of labor.

Midwife washing her hands, ca. 1944

Male midwife with his wife, ca. 1944

Midwife with a newborn infant, ca. 1944

Fire It Up…

Adam — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:00:32 +0000

May is National Barbecue Month. Some etymologists believe the word barbecue comes from the Timucuan Indian word “baribicu” meaning “sacred fire.”

“Mode of Drying Fish, Wild Animals, and other Provisions,” from an engraving by Theodor de Bry

There is no doubt that barbecue and barbecuing is sacred to many Floridians today and was certainly enjoyed by the Timucuans of yesterday. From the meat lover to the vegan, Florida’s beautiful spring weather demands that we come together for a barbecue!

Barbecue at the Koreshan Unity, Estero, ca. 1945

Barbeque at the annual cattle round-up, Big Cypress Reservation, 1949

Barbecuing ribs at the Mathews Bridge barbecue, Jacksonville, 1953

Barbecuing at the boat-a-cade, Kissimmee, 1955

Barbecued corn on the cob, Tallahassee, 1961

Family picnic at Lake Talquin, Leon County, 1963

Tallahassee Fire Department Lt. Tommy E. Roberts grilling with his daughters, Tallahassee, 1968

Barbecuing at the Florida Folk Festival, White Springs, 1983

Rosalie Pitts (L) and Rovenia Certain barbecuing at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival, Eatonville, 1991

The Space Race (May 5, 1961)

Jody — Sun, 05 May 2013 08:00:10 +0000

On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard Jr. made the first manned spaceflight in U.S. history. He piloted the spacecraft Freedom 7 during a 15-minute and 28-second suborbital flight that reached an altitude of 116 miles (186 kilometers) above the earth.

Shepard entering Freedom 7

Shepard was the second person to travel into space. Twenty-three days prior to Shepard’s flight, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first-ever human in space. The space race was on…

Launch of Freedom 7 from Cape Canaveral

Great Jacksonville Fire (May 3, 1901)

Jon — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:00:12 +0000

On May 3, 1901, a devastating fire swept through downtown Jacksonville and destroyed much of the city. Jacksonville persevered, despite suffering from the largest urban fire in the 20th century United States, and its resilient citizens rebuilt downtown.

Church Street after the Great Fire: Jacksonville (1901)

Visit Florida Memory to view more photographs of the Great Jacksonville Fire of 1901, including a photographic exhibit showing scenes from before, during, and after the blaze.

When Dogs Look Like Their People

Jody — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:10:19 +0000

Do dogs resemble their people? Take a look at these Florida pet owners and tell us what you think…

Young girl with her dog, South Florida, 1890s

Woman with her Boston Terrier, Pensacola, late 1800s

Gentleman with his Chihuahua, Orange City, ca. 1900

Woman with her dog, 1910s

Boy with his dog, 1910s

Boy with his dog, Deland, 1915

Mail carrier Clara Page Ferrell with her dog, Woodville, ca. 1917

Captain Will Newman with his dog and cat, Palatka, 1920s

Noriam Sretaw with Skipper on U.S. 1, 1947

Young boy fishing with his dog, Palm Beach County, ca. 1955

Ralph Proctor Jr. with his German Shepherd, Tallahassee, ca. 1965

Katherine McCrow with her Yorkie, Tallahassee, 1967

Robert, Kathy, and Chris Graham with Daisy, Tallahassee, 1969