Finding Unheard Voices of the Enslaved in Alachua County

with Coleen DeGroff

Wednesday, September 9

7pm

FREE with registration

Author and Historian Coleen DeGroff will join us on Wednesday, September 9 at 7pm to share about her research into the enslaved people that lived in Alachua County and the writing of her book Alachua County Black Book.

Attendees will learn how an unsuccessful effort to change the name of Haile Plantation led to the chance discovery of centuries-old legal records about people enslaved in Alachua County, as well as the people who enslaved them, through the end of the Civil War.

Using excerpts from ancient public documents including bills of sale, wills, and mortgages, Alachua County Black Book traces the half century of slavery in the county, giving a glimpse into the lives of hundreds of enslaved people who were brought here to labor on dozens of plantations before their names and stories disappear to time and memory.

Coleen DeGroff registration

Sarah’s Birthday Bash

Saturday, September 12

11am-4pm

FREE (no registration required)

Due to an incredibly busy summer (inaugural summer camp, new exhibition) and limited funding (several years of significantly reduced or non-funded state grants), we have scaled back Sarah’s Birthday Bash this year.

This year we will be celebrating our namesake’s birthday with free cupcakes, a mini-exhibit about Sarah Hamilton Matheson’s life, self-guided tours of the current exhibit Chains of Steele, and shopping in the newly reorganized gift shop.

To kick off the day Immediate Past Board President and current Advisory Council Chair Robert Mounts is inviting all members and supporters of the museum to a reception and short program from 11am until Noon. The program will highlight the civic life of Sarah Hamilton Matheson and her many contributions to the community. Mimosas to toast her memory and other refreshments will be served. The reception is free and open to the public.

Next year we hope to return to celebrating Sarah’s birthday with a full community party in the Museum and Sweetwater Park.

Curator Talk

with Willett Hancock

Wednesday, September 16

7pm

FREE with registration

The Matheson History Museum is hosting a curator talk with the Curator of Exhibitions, Willett Hancock, on Wednesday, September 16 at 7pm to share about his year and a half of research and curating of Chains of Steele: Money, Power, and Influence.

Curator Talk registration

WE ARE PAN: A graphic novel about revolution, immigration, and the love of family

with Andre R. Frattino

Thursday, October 1

7pm

FREE with registration

The Matheson History Museum welcomes historical graphic novelist, Andre R. Frattino to the Museum on Thursday, October 1 to discuss the experience of researching and writing WE ARE PAN. The graphic novel is based on the true story of Operation: Pedro Pan and the exodus of 14,000 children from Cuba to Miami in the early 60s. He’ll discuss the experience of interviewing surviving Pedro Pans, living in America all these decades later and how transforming their story into a comic has shaped his own approach to fatherhood.

We Are Pan registration

Preserving Your Family Heirlooms

with Elise V. LeCompte

Saturday, October 3

10am

FREE with registration

Matheson Board Member and Museum Collections Care Specialist Elise V. LeCompte will give a presentation on how to preserve your family heirlooms. Participants are asked to bring an object (or photo of an object) that they wish to preserve.

The program will feature a presentation on the care and preservation of precious family heirlooms, including metal objects, ceramics and glass, artwork, textiles, books and paper, photographic material, and audiovisual material, by Elise V. LeCompte, a specialist in museum collections care. The processes and agents of deterioration that work to destroy our precious objects, and how to minimize them, will be described. Then, simple museum-quality techniques for storing and displaying your treasures will be discussed. These are techniques that anyone can carry out in order to preserve their heirlooms and treasures for years to come. Sample storage and display materials will be available for examination, and handouts listing museum-quality supplies and suppliers will be provided.

The presentation will be followed by a hands-on, group discussion of each participant’s object, based on the information provided in the presentation.

Elise V. LeCompte registration

Recordings

1) The Other Book: Part 2 with the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project (2026)

(Recordings by the UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program)

2) “A Legacy of Excellence: African American Education in Rural Alachua County during Segregation” with E. Stanley Richardson