Join Us for Our 2023-2024 Season and Commemorate Tallahassee’s Bicentennial!
Current members will receive upcoming program details by email. Not a member? Join today!
“Christmas Dinner and Religious Controversy: What Could Go Better Together?”
Register here for our December 14th dinner and meeting!
Join us for our monthly meeting and a Christmas Dinner as we are joined by Public Historian Barbara Mattick!
Barbara Mattick
Meeting Topic: “Papists and Heretics in Post-Civil War Florida”
Where: Mission Room, Mission San Luis, 2100 West Tennessee Street
When: Thursday, December 14th, 2023 (Dinner at 5:30; Program at 6:00)
For this special dinner event, the Tallahassee Historical Society is providing turkey and beverages while guests are encouraged to bring sides, salads, and desserts! BYOB!
Registration is FREE for members and $10 for non-members.
About the Program:
“Florida was a battleground between lots of groups: Native Americans and Europeans, Spanish and French, and then Spanish and British, but also, from 1564 onward, between Catholics and Protestants. Barbara Mattick will tell the very moving story of a conclave of French Catholic nuns who came to St. Augustine at the end of Civil War to teach the formerly enslaved African-Americans.
Dealing with racism, ignorance, yellow fever epidemics, and worst of all, Protestants (the Protestant American Missionary Association), the Sisters expanded the Catholic presence in Florida and Georgia by efforts that contrasted with efforts by most White, Protestant churches to endorse slavery by another name. It would not be until the 1950s that denominations like the Baptists and Presbyterians endorsed school integration, and some never did. In the aftermath of the war, the Sisters established elite academies and free schools in a society that had never had public education, created orphanages and combatted anti-Catholicism. The Sisters not only fought racial stereotypes, they also reinforced the protestant concept of domesticity in Catholic terms. So what you have is a study of race, gender and religion. No hot button issues there.”
Barbara Mattick is a Public Historian Emerita with the Division of Historical Resources and the author of: Teaching in Black and White: The Sisters of St. Joseph in the American South (Catholic University Press of America).
Proud to Partner with
Visit Tallahassee
and the
Leon County Division of Tourism!
Get ready for it, Tallahassee…
The Bicentennial Antiquarian Book Fair
“Immerse yourself in Tallahassee – Florida History”
At the Elks Club ~ 276 N. Magnolia Drive
Friday, Feb. 23, 2024: Preview Party from 5 PM – 9 PM
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024: 10 AM – 5 PM
Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024: 11 AM – 4 PM
Open to all who love Tallahassee, books, Florida, and history! This is a fabulous way to celebrate our Bicentennial (and to add a treasure to your bookshelves or walls.)
25 old and rare book dealers from Florida and the Southeast will be bringing their best local, Florida, and national history books; plus, first edition fiction and literature, other topical collectible books, old maps, documents, art, early prints, postcards and ephemera!
You’ll enjoy…
- Local collectors sharing their treasures of historic memorabilia
- Elder storytellers sharing tales of growing up and living in old Tallahassee
Check back for updates!
Do you collect special items? Let us know, and we’ll pass your info on to the dealers who are coming!
For more information, contact: Susan Mick ~ shmick@talstar.com
Sponsored by the Tallahassee Historical Society
Corporate Sponsor: Prime Meridian Bank
Upcoming Activities
*Thursday, October 12:
Speaker: Panel Discussion on Marketing the Bicentennial
with Kerri Post, Visit Tallahassee,
Jay Revell, Revell Media, and others
*Thursday, November 9:
Speakers: Beth McGrotha and Bernice Proctor Venable
“Antonio Proctor: The Indispensable Man for Williams and Simmons”
*Thursday, December 14:
Christmas Dinner
Speaker: Barbara Mattick, Public Historian, Division of Historic Resources
“Papists and Heretics in Post-Civil War Florida”
*Thursday, January 11:
Speakers: Delaitre Hollinger and Jaqueline Perkins
“Touring Tallahassee’s Virtual Civil Rights Museum”
*Thursday, February 8:
Speaker: Diane Roberts, nationally-known journalist and professor of English, FSU
“Florida, the Dream State Reconsidered”
Friday, February 23—Sunday, February 25:
Tallahassee Historical Society Bicentennial Antiquarian Book Fair
The Elks Club, 276 Magnolia Drive
Saturday, March 9 (proposed):
Field Trip, Ft. Gadsden
*Thursday, March 14:
Speakers: Sandi Brooks, Doug Alderson, Claude Kenneson, and others
“Collecting Tallahassee Kitsch”
*Note: all attendees are urged to bring their favorite Tallahassee collectibles
Thursday, March 21 & Friday, March 22:
Mission San Luis
Tallahassee Historical Society Bicentennial Historians’ Conference
Saturday, March 23:
Kleman Plaza, 10 am—2 pm
Third Annual History Festival and Expo
Saturday, April 5 & Sunday, April 6:
Springtime Tallahassee
Jubilee in the Park
Downtown Tallahassee
*Thursday, April 11:
Speaker: J. Doug Smith
“George W. Saxon and the Creation of Modern Tallahassee”
Saturday, April 20 & Sunday, April 21:
LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival
Downtown Tallahassee
Friday, April 26—Sunday, April 28:
Word of South
Cascades Park
*Thursday, May 9:
THS Business Meeting and Picnic
Speakers: Gloria Jefferson Anderson and Hunter Hill
“When Freedom Came: Celebrations of Freedom in Leon County, 1865 – Present”
Monday, May 20:
Emancipation Day
Knott House, 311 East Park Avenue
All monthly meetings (*) will be held at Mission San Luis
(2100 W. Tennessee St, Tallahassee, FL)
Reception at 5:30 PM
Program at 6:00 PM
For People Interested in the History of Tallahassee
Founded in 1933, the Tallahassee Historical Society, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) organization that welcomes individuals who enjoy learning about and sharing state and local history. Evening meetings on the second Thursday from October to April offer programs by experts on topics ranging from history and culture to architecture, archeology, and preservation. In May, members gather for a festive picnic. The society also schedules daytime lectures and partners with other organizations to present special events. Every activity features stimulating conversation and rewarding fellowship.
Our Mission
To foster a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the history of Tallahassee, Leon County, and surrounding areas.