Read other posts in this series and learn more about the focus of the students in Dr. Graban’s Discourse on Sustainability class which Special Collections & Archives hosted this past spring.
Over the coming weeks, we are showcasing part of the final project from Dr. Graban’s students. Each student wrote a blog post exploring some of the documents they saw on their visits to Special Collections & Archives and what line of inquiry from the class those documents illustrated, illuminated or created more questions for the students. It is always fascinating to see what connections the students will make with the documents and their course each year. Enjoy!
Florida, Forever Young by Alyssa Bernhardt
It is easy to assume that concerns about Florida’s sustainability, in relation to its population growth, are a relatively new phenomenon. But after conducting a deep dive through Florida State University’s digitized archival materials, I was able to discover that Florida’s reputation as a tourist destination has been shining light on conservation and sustainability issues for decades. However as these artifacts have shown, true environmentalism is lost in the historical pursuit of economic worth, leaving Florida forever naive to the destructive environmental consequences which lie in its future.
Figure 1. Tourist advertisements from 1938 (left) and 1960 (right) displaying the various destinations that Florida offers. The advertisement from 1960, showing a higher emphasis on experience, rather than destination, via an increase in the size of the illustrations.
A specific artifact in which I noticed this trend of emphasis towards conservation, was in former Governor LeRoy Collins’ speech to the Florida Historical Society in May of 1967. Here, Collins directs listeners to reflect on Florida’s “nature of change” and evaluate “in what direction we are heading.” Being a major vacation and retirement destination, Governor Collins takes care to honor the experiences that tourists and new residents have gained from Florida. But Florida’s growing culture does not make it immune to the damages of said culture, something that Collins knew and addressed throughout his service as governor.
With heavy increases in population, came a compounding of needs, a response to which the state was unable to provide at the time. Articles from around 1980 until 1988 (part of the Augustus B. Turnbull Papers and written by various unnamed authors), emphasize this by describing Florida more generally, and Leon County more specifically, as a “20 year-old facing an identity crisis,” uncertain of who it wants to be when it grows up. The same article encourages County residents to become more informed about the risks of population growth, in order to limit the impacts which the current legislature had not addressed.
Another article in the Turnbull Papers asserts that this growth is something that citizens must adapt to, rather than fight. While the final article in the collection argues for a limit on the funding of mass transit systems, until cities have contained their urban sprawl. Again placing emphasis on the responsibilities of citizens and local governments, rather than the naive, big-picture focused, state-government, who since Collins’ time in office, had shifted away from environmental attentions.
These articles addressed the human and economic issues of the increasing urbanization of the state, where previously Collins’ administration attempted to encourage a sense of sustainability during a period of growing economic focus in Florida. In doing so, Governor Collins likened our environment to a “nature bank,” one being quite heavily overdrawn, and therefore must be converted into a savings account. The glamor of Florida’s economic growth, he argued, should not shadow the lacking fronts of personal, human, environmental, and conservationist needs.
Since Collins’ emphasis on environmentalism, and a subsequent shift away from it in the 1980s, Florida’s (lack of) sustainability efforts may be said to reflect a “forever young and naïve” attitude towards Florida’s urban and economic growth.
Works Cited
Come to Florida. 1938. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/157555
Map of Florida pointing out various tourist attractions. 1960 (circa). State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/296749
Florida Historical Society, Key West – Conservation Speech, May 6, 1967, Box: 46, Folder: 12. Thomas LeRoy Collins Papers, MSS 1991-012. FSU Special Collections & Archives.
http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_MSS_1991012_B046_F012
Newspaper articles on Conservation in Florida, 1980-1988, Augustus B. Turnbull Papers, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/fa/MSS-93-1
Florida. – State Road Department. Bridge across Fenholloway River on Road S-357 – Lafayette County, Florida. 1955. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/104762
Down the Road to Conservation by Iris Dahlborg
People have long valued Florida for its natural beauty and historic significance. After all, it was named after the blooming flowers upon the Spaniards arrival, and is home to the oldest schoolhouse in the United States. Today, Florida attracts over 135 million annual visitors who enjoy all the Sunshine State has to offer.
When studying Florida’s cultural and environmental significance, questions are raised about what to prioritize: encouraging development and tourism or preserving the natural environment. The FSU Special Collections Archives helped provide insight to this discourse with a variety of pamphlets and newspaper clippings from the late 50s to mid 60s referencing early Florida tourism and Fernandina Beach.
In the mid-1900s, with the popularization of personal vehicles, “tin-can” tourism came to be. Travelers capitalized on their newfound access to cars to adventure across the state. On November 1, 1950, a road known endearingly as “Buccaneer Trail”, and more formally as highway A1A, was opened: running from Fernandina Beach to Daytona Beach. This toll road provided an alternate route for tourists traveling southward from the nearby Highway 1 and was the focal point of my studies in the archives.
As the new road gained popularity among tourists, surrounding areas continued to develop. With tourists, there followed a need for facilities to support them. Readers of the 1951 brochure “Ride Through History on the Buccaneer Trail” would learn about the “excellent travel accommodations”, “resorts”, and “attractions” that were built along the coast for tourists to enjoy.
Already in 1960, Governor Leroy Collins stressed the value of finding balance between the built environment and nature. In a speech on Floridian conservation, he declared that while extensive facilities and highways for all to enjoy must be developed, the “natural beauties (must never) be coarsely or carelessly destroyed”. This discourse also appears in Henderson’s book, Forces of Nature, where he depicts the evolution of Florida’s conservation through the years. These artifacts discuss development and conservation, proposing space enough for both.
While significant expansion occurred along A1A, balance is seen through local citizens encouraging preservation of areas around the highway. The brochure brags about the “long stretches of primitive Florida jungle” visitors to Buccaneer Trail would pass through, and highlights some of the conservation efforts along its path. Fort Clinch with its namesake state park and the St. George Island bird sanctuary are just two such acts along the scenic byway. These parks, and others like them, allow for spaces of greenery and history to shine through even as the state reaches to accommodate all who visit.
Reviewing these materials leaves us wondering about the sustainability of the relationship between development and the natural environment. How can Florida continue to support a growing tourism industry while protecting the ecosystems around it? What role should individuals and the government play in finding this balance?
Works Cited
Dedication of Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve, December 10, 1960, Box: 9, Folder: 11. Thomas LeRoy Collins Papers, MSS 1991-012. FSU Special Collections & Archives.
http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_MSS_1991012_B009_F011
Florida Memory • Tin Can Tourism, www.floridamemory.com/learn/exhibits/photo_exhibits/tincans/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
Island of Destiny, Clippings, July 7, 1963. Florida Reference Files. FSU Special Collections & Archives.
https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/diginole/FSU_MSS_2018003_B27_F07_I004
Research, Visit Florida www.visitflorida.org/resources/research/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
Illuminations 