Camellias and Their Connection to Local Medical History

with Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, M.D.

October 6 at 7pm

Free with registration

Did you know that the American Camellia Society was established on the University of Florida campus in 1946? UF Associate Professor Dr. Alice Rhoton-Vlasak will join us to share about the fascinating history of the relationship between horticulture and medicine, specifically in Alachua County.

An African American and Latinx History of the United States

with Paul Ortiz, Ph.D.

October 13 at 7pm

Free with registration

How does US history look when we place Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa at the center of the story between 1776 to present? How does our understandings of the national narrative change when we juxtapose the American Revolution with the Haitian Revolution and the Mexican War of Independence? Dr. Paul Ortiz will be answering these questions and more when he discusses his book An African American and Latinx History of the United States.

Writing a Florida Novel

with Rebecca J. Johnston

November 3 at 7pm

Free with registration

Not to Keep, the debut novel by Rebecca J. Johnston, follows the lives of five young friends as they grow from their shared childhood in the woods and swamps of North Central Florida through their experiences in WW1 and their return home from war. In her presentation, Johnston will share about World War I, Floridians returning from the war, prohibition, the Bonus Army, the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, and the process of writing these topics into her novel.

Dreams in the New Century: Instant Cities, Shattered Hopes, and Florida’s Turning Point

with Gary Mormino, Ph.D.

November 6 at 2pm

Free with registration

Eminent Florida historian Dr. Gary Mormino illuminates early twenty-first-century Florida and its connections to some of the most significant events in contemporary American history in his newest book Dreams in the New Century: Instant Cities, Shattered Hopes, and Florida’s Turning Point.

Native American Heritage Month: Indigenous Florida

with Nicole Nesberg (Migizi Miigwan)

November 13 at 2pm

Free with registration

We are excited to welcome Nicole Nesberg to the Matheson to discuss the history of the indigenous people who lived in Alachua County and North Florida areas. Her presentation will offer an overview of the lives of the Potano, Timucua language family, and Alachua Seminole and the impact of their interactions with the variety of non-indigenous moving into this area.