The Winter Park Community Publications Collection reflects the enormous contributions made by the many cultural, social, educational and civic organizations located here in Winter Park. A wide variey of formats, ranging from one-page monthly newsletters, to annual yearbooks, can be found in this collection.
The publications featured on this page are only a sampling taken from the collection. The collection dates from the 1920's(Garden Club of Winter Park), 1930's(University Club of Winter Park), and on through the decades up to the present time.
Even though the formats may differ, all of the community publications have a common theme, involvement in the community. The Winter Park Publications Collection preserves, in a unique way, some of Winter Park's heritage.
The Winter Park Garden Club was started in 1921-22 as the Garden Committee of the Winter Park Woman's Club. The Garden Club was organized as a separate club in 1923 and became a member of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs in 1924. The image above is the title page of the 1924-1925 Garden Club Year Book.
One of the charter members of the Winter Park Garden Club was Mae Spooner Dickson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Spooner, owners of "Weatogue." Another notable member of the club listed in the 1924-1925 Year Book was Mrs. Edward H. Brewer. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
In 1934 a committee of the Chamber of Commerce issued an invitation to "college graduates and faculty members of our winter colony" to an acquaintance meeting. Twenty-eight men showed up and among them were three college presidents, five professors, four clergymen and a noted army general. An organization was formed and in 1935 officers were elected.
Over the years the University Club of Winter Park met in many buildings, for example, The Chamber of Commerce building and a meeting room in the Alabama Hotel. The present clubhouse, completed in 1948, was designed by James Gamble Rogers II and is on the corner of Webster and North Park Avenues.
The above image is the cover of the 1935-1936 University Club membership list and constitution. Among the members listed at that time were Irving A. Bacheller, R. B. Barbour, Edwin O. Grover, Hamilton Holt, James Gamble Rogers II, and Eugene R. Shippen. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
According to a Winter Park Herald article dated February 13, 1958, Friends of the Public Library of Winter Park will be formally organized at a meeting on February 28, 1958. The meeting will be held at the library, officers will be elected, and by-laws adopted. Miss Verna Nistendirk, extension director of Florida State Library, will speak to the attendees following meeting. The article ended with "All interested in the work of the library and in furthering its value to the community are invited to attend and become charter members."
The Friends of Winter Park Public Library have been a very important part of the Library since that time due to its many volunteer efforts on the Library's behalf. The New Leaf Bookstore is operated entirely by its volunteers and the proceeds from the bookstore benefit the Library. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
In this selection from the Friends Of The Library Newsletter dated May 1958, plans for the last section of the Library building are now complete. The article states that the final section will contain the stack area, reference and meeting room, a workroom and an office. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
In 1887, six years after Loring Chase and Oliver Chapman purchased 600 acres of land with the idea of developing a winter resort community, the Winter Park Improvement association was formed. Its three primary goals were to plant trees, improve the parks and to keep the sidewalks clean.
In 1893, the group changed its name to the Village Improvement Association and retained that name until 1909 when it was changed to the Board of Trades.
In 1923, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce was created and took over the tasks begun by the two earlier organizations. A charter for incorporation was received on November 1, 1923 and William C. Comstock was elected first president of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. Membership dues that first year were $ 2.00 and one of the chamber's first actions was to adopt the slogan, "City of Trees" for Winter Park. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
This is an article from the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce newsletter dated May 1976. Former Senator Paula Hawkins, then a member of the Public Service Commission, met with the Congressional Action Committee to review the proposed new rules on the deregulation of the transportation industry. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American art was founded in 1942 by Jeanette Genius McKean, grandaughter of Charles Hosmer Morse. She and her husband, Hugh F. McKean, built its collection and established the Charles Hosmer Morse and Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundations to support and operate the private museum in perpetuity.
Inside The Morse Gallery newsletter is now called the Insider and is published either monthly or bi-monthly depending on the season. The most recent edition of the Insider is available in the Winter Park Public Library's History and Archives Department. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
In April of 1982, the City of Winter Park published the first issue of the Update. The City Commission felt that it was of primary importance to issue periodic updates to its citizens concerning the city's business operations and other areas of interest.
Currently, the City of Winter Park Update is published bi-monthly and has expanded from a 4-page leaflet to the most recent 20 page, graphically illustrated, top-of-the-line newsletter.
Page 1 of the City of Winter Park UPDATE, April 1982. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
Page 2 of the City of Winter Park UPDATE, April 1982. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
Page 3 of the City of Winter Park UPDATE, April 1982. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
The Winter Park Historical Association traces its beginnnings to a January 29, 1974, meeting held at the home of Dr. Alfred J. Hanna. Seven persons interested in the formation of a historical association attended that meeting. They were Raymond Greene, former mayor of Winter Park and a resident since 1912; Dr. Hanna, author and former vice president of Rollins College; Florence and Anne Stone, daughters of one of Winter Park's pioneer settlers; Ray Trovillion, a son of Dr. J. A. Trovillion, pioneer pharmacist, and Ernest Zoller, Rollins graduate and banker, now living in Winter Park. The seventh person was Gertrude Ward Campbell, grandaughter of Charles Ward, a founder of Winter Park.
By the next meeting on February 12, 1974, the attendence had grown to 67 including, Eve Bacon, Jeanette Genius McKean, Carolyn Norem, Dorothy Shepherd Smith and Charlotte Brunoehler. Also listed among the attendees were a "Winter Park Sun-Herald representative" and "two visitors from out of town."
Currently, the Winter Park Historical Association has over 400 members and operates the Winter Park Historical Museum located at the north end of the Farmer's Market at 200 West New England Avenue.
Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
This is a section titled Those Were The Days... from the Winter Park Historical Association newsletter, January 1995. Click on thumbnail to view larger image.
Copyright Notice:
The copyright interests for material included in the Winter Park Public Library Archives Collection may not be transferred to the Library and therefore remain with the current copyright holders. For more information, please see our Copyright Information Page.
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