Selections from the vast and varied collections of the Historical Society of Central Florida illustrate Central Florida’s fascinating past.
Explore our past
As an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the History Center presents limited-run exhibitions of great depth and insight.
On display now
Convenient parking options include the Central Boulevard garage across from the Orlando Public Library, the History Center’s neighbor.
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Around the Museum Blog
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25
Jun
Carl Dann’s Dubsdread
Read more about Carl Dann’s DubsdreadOwnership of Dubsdread remained in the Dann family until the City of Orlando purchased it in 1978. The course has seen a variety of changes over the years, almost all of which resulted in making the course shorter to allow for more residential growth.
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10
Jun
Chief Wilson and the Jones High School Band
Read more about Chief Wilson and the Jones High School BandWorking against the odds, teenagers and their band leader became effective goodwill ambassadors for Orlando’s African American community in the days before the Civil Rights Movement.
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03
Jun
Father Nelson Pinder and the Jones High School Class of 1962
Read more about Father Nelson Pinder and the Jones High School Class of 1962Father Pinder led the fight to integrate Orlando’s restaurants and lunch counters, stores, playgrounds, parks, and schools. He helped to persuade the Orlando Sentinel to eliminate its “Negro Section” and to cover African Americans in the main edition of the paper.
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27
May
Orlando Changes
Read more about Orlando ChangesThe change Disney created in Orlando surely qualifies as the most dramatic and complete, with the most far-reaching consequences, but it was definitely not the first. Historian Tana Porter lists other significant events that shaped the City Beautiful.
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19
May
The Crooms Family: A Legacy of Education
Read more about The Crooms Family: A Legacy of EducationThe Crooms’ legacy of education lives on. Distinguished alumni of the Hopper Academy and the Crooms Academy include the author/anthropologist Zora Neal Hurston; U.S. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings; and George Allen, the first black graduate of the University of Florida’s law school.