It’s been two centuries since Alachua County officially became a county, and artists, writers, and historians are kicking off the celebration with two events that aim to make us reflect on where we came from and where we are going.
The Alachua County African and African American Historical Society is hosting a bicentennial symposium, “The Making of Alachua County: Past, Present and Future” from 9:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the Matheson History Museum (513 E. University Ave., Gainesville) to tell the story of Alachua County’s Black community. Click here for in-person registration.
“It allows attendees to reflect on the past, present, and future as a multiracial and multicultural community in Alachua County. This is who we are,” said Society President Dr. Jacob U’Mofe Gordon.
“Alachua County was incorporated in 1824 with a diversity of peoples that have made it what it is today. Native Americans who settled in this area for thousands of years before the 1800s, Africans, and Europeans who came and further developed this area of Florida,” he said.
Speakers at the symposium include James Cusick, curator of the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History, Jane L. Landers of Vanderbilt University, Karen Kirkman of Historic Haile Homestead, E. Stanley Richard, Alachua County’s first poet laureate, and many more speakers from the University of Florida’s African American Studies Program. Vivian Washington Filer, board chair of the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, will call the program to order.
“The papers presented at the symposium will be published in a book for dissemination,” Gordon said. “We hope that attendees will come to learn and depart to serve as active advocates for teaching Black History as a part of American History in our schools and institutions from K-12 and our institutions of higher education.”
But that’s not the only event marking Alachua County’s Bicentennial. The Climate Collaboratory is working with Matheson to present an online exhibit tracing the county’s environmental, social, and cultural changes.
The exhibit, which goes live on Dec. 18, tells our story through the arts with contributions from the Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFAA) the Writers Alliance of Gainesville (WAG) and the Star Center to reflect the past through the visual, literary, and performing arts.
“We are telling Alachua County’s climate story from 1824 to 2024, looking at the environmental and social changes over these 200 years,” said Climate Collaboratory Director Sue Blythe. “Our story includes the natural beauty of our part of the world and the changes brought by the clashes of different cultures and advances in agriculture, technology and population growth. We have weathered hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires and extreme heat.”
Author and artist Mallory O’Connor, who worked closely with Blythe on this project, underscored the importance of naturalist, writer and explorer William Bartram to this project. Bartram first visited Florida with his father in 1765.
“Bartram’s lively drawings, combined with his effusive narrative, provide us with an inspired vision of what Florida in general, and North Florida in particular, looked and felt like over 200 years ago,” O’Connor wrote.
The online exhibit includes musings from WAG members drawn from Matheson’s collection of old postcards that address topics ranging from historical events and scenes from the past to local flora and fauna and climate happenings.
Other entries include “The Big Story,” told by youths and elders from the Star Center Theatre; Our Water, Our Florida by environmental journalist Cynthia Barnett; artworks illustrating Alachua County scenes by many local artists; and original musical
compositions, productions, and songs by local musicians. Also included are videos from a variety of groups and individuals.
The Matheson’s official bicentennial exhibit and programs will kick off in March 2025. Executive Director Salvatore J. Cumella said the Matheson will announce the bicentennial exhibit’s title and opening date at the county’s bicentennial event on Jan. 11, 2025.
“As 2024 winds to a close, the Matheson History Museum, Inc. is especially proud to join with other organizations in commemorating Alachua County’s Bicentennial history,” said Matheson President Robert Mounts. “There is no better way for the community to understand and commemorate its long and sometimes challenging history. It’s the history of north Florida, the South, and America.”
Saturday’s symposium is open to the public. In addition to the 10 speakers, there will be multicultural foods, posters, music and other events. Beside the Matheson, sponsors include Alachua County, UF’s Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, the Cotton Club Museum & Cultural Center, and UF African American Studies.