In 1971, Florence Jandreau was fresh out of high school and beginning her first job at the University of South Florida—where she’d stay for 50 years and become USF’s longest serving non-faculty staff member. Florence’s institutional knowledge is invaluable: She has served under six presidents, many provosts, and seven of the eight library directors and deans. To commemorate her extraordinary five decades of service, … Continue Reading
In celebration of July being Park and Recreation Month, we are highlighting our USF Libraries research developed by the Digital Heritage and Humanities Collections (DHHC) relating to work in our national, state, and local parks and recreation areas. Parks are home to significant historical and natural treasures that represent collective experiences and memories and are places that preserve and protect heritage, … Continue Reading
For City of Tampa’s Archives Awareness Week 2021, the USF Libraries Tampa Special Collections and the Tampa Bay History Center (TBHC) screened City Within a City, the 1955 promotional film about Ybor City — created by Paul Rubenstein, Cesar Gonzmart, and the …Continue Reading
Every year in January, the copyright protection of a new group of material will expire and those items will become part of the public domain. In celebration of this key characteristic of copyright law, USF Libraries select titles from our physical collections to digitize each year, and this year we intend to digitize 22 items. We need your help to decide which will be highlighted by our public domain celebration! Vote for your favorites before July 21st … Continue Reading
Years before Famous Funnies was first published in 1934, considered by some to be the first comic book as we’ve come to know it today, kids of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had dime novels to while away their free time. Dime novels were cheap magazine-sized books that serialized stories typically featuring Old West heroes, soldiers, … Continue Reading
Juneteenth is a holiday celebrating and commemorating the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans in the United States, where on June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Texas to demand all enslaved peoples be free. This was two years after the …Continue Reading
The month of June celebrates Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community and the ongoing strides being made to fight for equality, create awareness, build acceptance, and celebrate accomplishments. At the Tampa Special Collections, we host more than two dozen archival collections and thousands of …Continue Reading
On a beautiful spring day last Friday, April 23rd, the USF Tampa Library acquired a particularly special collection: The Tampa Chapter of The Links, Incorporated archives. The Links, Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation established in 1946, whose membership consists of more …Continue Reading
Young adult (YA) literature is a dynamic and expanding genre that has moved well-beyond the adventure series of the 19th and 20th centuries, into novels that explore sexuality, identity, prejudice, life choices, substance abuse, and family. At the Tampa Special Collections, Children’s …Continue Reading
The Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) was established by Hillsborough County voters in the late 1980s. Since its establishment, ELAPP has protected over 61,000 acres of rare habitat in Hillsborough County. The citizen led effort to protect valuable wildlife habitat in the county … Continue Reading