The Other Book Part 2: The Shoulders We Stand On

with the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project

January 10, February 14, March 14, April 11

10am-12pm

Before schools were integrated, Black teachers taught from two books… the official book sanctioned by the segregated school boards, and the other book; teaching the truth about Black history. This lecture series will begin to fill in our history that has been “white washed”, discussing contributions of Black Americans to our country.

Lectures will be held the second Saturday of each month from 10am to 12pm, January 2026 through April 2026. All sessions at the Matheson History Museum, 513 E. University Ave, Gainesville. Suggested donation is $5.00 per class. Registering helps us plan, but is not required. All are invited to attend.

Registration:

Yes, You! An Entertaining Memoir in Three Easy Steps

Memoir Workshop with Liz Coursen

8 Sessions from January 13 – April 28, 2026

$135 – Matheson Member

$180 – General Public

This is the year!

If you’ve been promising to sit down and write your memoir for longer than you’d care to admit, then 2026 will be the year you do it!

If you’re ready, please join the Matheson History Museum as we welcome Liz Coursen, author of The Complete Autobiography Workbook, who will lead an 8-session, 4-month-long memoir writing workshop, starting in January 2026 and continuing through April. The comprehensive and fun workshop will cover all areas of the process, from selecting illustrations to what stories you’ve just got to tell, from designing your book’s cover to what stories you just might want to leave out—our goal is for all participants to complete the workshop with the first draft of their memoir in hand.

The workshop will take place at the Matheson on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, starting on January 13, from 10:30am until 12:00pm.

Only 20 spots available! If you would like to receive the Matheson Member discount but you haven’t joined/renewed for 2026, you can do so here: https://mathesonmuseum.networkforgood.com/projects/260469-2026-annual-membership

Each participant will receive a copy of Coursen’s The Complete Autobiography Workbook, a 400-page doorstopper that will get you started, keep you going, and carry you over the finish line.

Are you ready? Yes? Then let’s go!

Schedule:
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Registration: https://www.simpletix.com/e/yes-you-an-entertaining-memoir-in-three-ea-tickets-247777

“Remembrance Quilt Exhibition” Grand Opening

with the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project

Wednesday, January 21

7pm-9pm

FREE

The Matheson is hosting the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project’s six Community Quilts in an exhibit that examines the role that injustice and violence had in our county’s history and the ways that our community moved towards reconciliation in the recent past. The quilts were made by Alachua County residents from various walks of life to remember and honor the 47 lives lost to racial violence in the 19th and 20th centuries in Alachua County.

The quilts will be on display in the Mary Ann Cofrin Gallery through May 2026.

Annual Meeting

Monday, January 26

6pm-8pm

We invite all current members to attend the 2026 Annual Meeting on Monday, January 26th. The evening will include:

  • Election of new Board officers and members
  • Presentation of Annual Awards
  • Light Refreshments

Registration: https://mathesonmuseum.networkforgood.com/events/95445-2026-annual-meeting

Not a member? You can easily join by visiting our website here: http://www.mathesonmuseum.org/membership.

Unsure of your membership status? Please email Joanna at info@mathesonmuseum.org.

Baseball in Paradise: A History of Spring Training in Florida

with Liz Coursen

Wednesday, January 28

7pm

FREE with registration

The history of America’s Pastime and the Sunshine State has been intertwined since the dramatic (and perhaps apocryphal) advent of the Grapefruit League. Hear about spring training’s humble beginnings, the game-changing roles played by Hank Greenberg and Jackie Robinson, and how baseball has influenced and directed Florida’s growth and development in this lively, fast-paced lecture by author and historian Liz Coursen.

Registration: https://mathesonmuseum.networkforgood.com/events/94697-baseball-in-paradise-a-history-of-spring-training-in-florida

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®: Gainesville Roots — Worldwide Influence

with Mark Enting, President & CEO of Myers Briggs Foundation®

Wednesday, February 18

7pm

FREE with registration

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® instrument is a global phenomenon, but many people do not know that its roots are in Gainesville, Florida. Mark Enting, President & CEO of Myers & Briggs Foundation®, will tell us the story of how the most popular personality assessment in history came to call Gainesville home. The story begins with a passionate mother-daughter team who built and tested the first versions of the MBTI® instrument with family members, medical students, and personnel consultants, and unfolds in a research laboratory at the University of Florida, Department of Psychology, where a team of 3 women developed the first computer scoring program for the MBTI assessment in the 1970s. Mark will also bring us up to date on the Gainesville nonprofit that has been of national influence in the field of psychological type for decades and the current mission of Myers & Briggs Foundation that drives research, education, and community in personality type worldwide.

Registration: https://mathesonmuseum.networkforgood.com/events/94826-the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-gainesville-roots-worldwide-influence