History

For our Halloween episode, we listen back to our 2023 conversation with writer, researcher, folklorist and host of the podcast "Tripping on Legends," Christopher Balzano about some of Southwest Florida's lesser-known folklore, legends, and myths.

Four students from Fort Myers High School took second place in the group performance category at the National History Day competition in College Park, Maryland this summer.

Every country needs a flashy flag. The fledgling United States was no different. On June 14, 1776 the Second Continental Congress took a break from writing the Articles of Confederation and approved the country’s first flag.

Several students from Lee and Sarasota county schools were among those scored winning entries in the annual Florida History Day contest administered by the Museum of Florida History. This year’s state contest was held at Tallahassee Community College on May 6 with the top student entries from the 32 Florida counties participating. Winners were announced today.

Art conservators are nearing completion of their restoration of Rachel at the Well on McGregor Boulevard. The Grecian maiden was severely damaged when a heavy wrought iron fence fell on her during Hurricane Ian.

Flanked by veterans who served in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a measure that will lead to the history of communism being taught in grades as low as kindergarten.The governor, standing behind a placard that read “anti-communism education,” touted lessons that will be required under the bill.

In January of 1742, while sailing around waters south of Florida in search of Spanish vessels to "sink, burn or destroy" the British Royal Navy’s HMS Tyger ran aground at Garden Key in what’s now Dry Tortugas National Park. What unfolded after the Tyger ran aground at Garden Key is a fascinating narrative that is compiled in a new paper published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology titled “Hunting HMS Tyger, 1742: Identifying a Ship-of-the-Line in Dry Tortugas National Park” co-authored by Andrew Van Slyke & Joshua Marano. To get a sense of the Tyger and its crew's story, and the archeological efforts that go into this kind of identification, we talk with the team lead for the HMS Tyger identification effort.

In episode two of “Forgotten Park," dive deep into the traditions rooted in Glades County's annual Cane Grinding Festival, and uncover the legacy of Larry R. Luckey and the surprising archaeological revelations tied to Ortona Indian Mound Park.

The new book, “La Florida: Catholics, Conquistadores, and Other American Origin Stories” opens with the story that takes place in what’s now Florida in the fall of 1565 when Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés celebrated a ‘feast day of commemoration’ with his men after their successful landing at the future site of the town of St. Augustine. This celebration had many of the same trappings as what we think of when we recount the story of the first Thanksgiving, celebrated 56 years later in the fall of 1621, by Pilgrims in Plymouth Plantation. But, it’s not considered the “first Thanksgiving.” Why is that?

The United States was founded with three branches of government which were designed to act as checks on each others’ authority, and the role of the head of the Executive Branch — the President — was intended to be that of a head of state who would be a unifying force that stayed above the partisan fray. But the role of the president has changed greatly since George Washington left office, and has evolved to become more of a party head who makes bold promises in order to gain and maintain support for their policy agenda. Our guest says this evolution has not strengthened the United States and in many ways has led to the deeply partisan divide we’re living through right now.