Not too long before Thanksgiving many years ago, I first saw a Florida beach. I mostly remember the blazing light on the white expanse at Cocoa as the wheels of my granddad’s woody station wagon whirled, stuck in soft sand. No swimming that cool day, but there was plenty to be thankful for. A kind soul helped tow us out, and despite the trouble, we were happy to be in Florida.
Now Thanksgiving weekend often seems mostly associated with eating and shopping, but at its heart the holiday is indeed about giving thanks — something that can actually lift our spirits, some medical experts say.
In my youth, I also soon discovered some of Florida’s many springs as well as our beaches. I had no idea then that, in the Gilded Age days when women carried parasols and gents sported mutton-chop sideburns, visitors had flocked there to “take the waters.”
Healing waters
Orlando author Rick Kilby tells the story in his new book, “Florida’s Healing Waters: Gilded Age Mineral Springs, Seaside Resorts, and Health Spas,” and he’ll talk about it Tuesday, Dec. 1, during a free Zoom program at noon, presented by the Orange County Regional History Center (visit thehistorycenter.org/events).
Rick and I have been friends and co-collaborators for years, so I can’t claim a shred of impartiality about his work, which is imbued with his love of Florida and unfettered delight in diving, literally, into its past.
During his research, he and his wife, Julie, even traveled to faraway sites including Bath, England, for a real immersion into the history of soaking up water for better health. Yes, Florida is all wet, but in a good way, and we’re grateful for this book to fill in a little-known aspect of our state’s story.
‘To share and preserve’
“Everybody’s history is important,” Francina Boykin noted recently after receiving the Historical Society of Central Florida’s Donald A. Cheney Award, which pays tribute each year to a Central Floridian who over years has embodied unfailing dedication to the area’s history.
Her thought may seem self-evident now, but it hasn’t been all that long since America’s history books discussed mostly the attainments of a few folks, mostly men and mostly white, who held elected office. Lots of people and plenty of powerful stories were overlooked.
Now president of the Apopka Historical Society, Francina has long worked to preserve the past of south Apopka and west Orange County. As a high school student, she experienced the difficulties of integration directly when she and other Black students at Phyllis Wheatley High were moved to previously all-white Apopka Memorial High, where she graduated in 1970.
Francina’s research over years to bring the story of the 1920 Ocoee Massacre to light has been invaluable. In the 1990s, with her colleague Curtis Michelson of Democracy Forum, she discovered the long-unknown location of lynching victim July Perry’s grave, in Orlando’s Greenwood Cemetery.
The history she’s preserved and the stories she tells so well include great joy and humor as well as the tough stuff. “I have the voice of those who have long ago been forgotten,” she said at the recent award ceremony. “To share and preserve and serve is what it’s all about.”
Free Fridays at the Morse
The Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park sprang from deep roots in the community’s history and the love of art shared by its founder, Jeannette Genius McKean, and her husband, Hugh. They also believed in making art widely available, and in that spirit, the museum is open on Fridays for free through Dec. 18, space permitting.
Current hours are Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with added holiday Sunday hours, 1 to 4 p.m., starting today through Dec. 27. COVID-19 safety measures are in place. Please make appointments to visit in advance at admissions.morsemuseum.org/mainstore or call 407-644-1429. You’ll find the free Fridays under the “Holidays at the Morse” tab. The museum is at 445 N. Park Ave.
Joy Wallace Dickinson can be reached at joydickinson@icloud.com or FindingJoyinFlorida.com.
