Historical Society of Central Florida

Exhibits: the history center's three floors of permanent exhibitions explore over 14,000 years of Central Florida history, from pre-historic times to today. The exhibits highlght Central Florida's rich history and development long before it became an international tourism destination. Narratives interpret the natural environment, early peoples, the seminoles, pioneer settlers, transportation, and industry into today. Two temporary exhibition spaces are used for sharing new content and collections annually, including occasional national exhibitions from the smithsonian or other major institutions.

Collections and research: the Historical Society owns and preserves a major collection of Historical artifacts, archives, images, and oral histories which fulfill the mission of the institution. They are used to support the programming and exhibitions of the history center. This collection contains more than 30,000 three-dimensional items, 4,500 archival holdings, 16,000 historic postcards, 300,000 historic photographs, and nearly 1,000 oral histories. It also contains more than 2,000,000 linear feet of local television new coverage from the 1950s through the early 1980s. The history center includes a research library and a dedicated staff who assisted 782 members of the public with their research inquiries (totaling 1,193 staff hours). The collection is cared for and preserved in keeping with the museum's american alliance of museums accredited designation standards and best practices.

Education: the history center offers a variety of programming for individuals of all backgrounds and interests, including school tours (public, private, homeschool), youth visitors, adults, and families. The history center offers hybrid (onsite and virtual) programming for lunch and learns, the brechner speaker series, and other programs designed to be as accessible as possible. While daily admissions for the period came in strong at 12,365 visitors, we had 52 local schools do an on-site tour for 6,641 students; a total of 18,100 participated in our programming offerings.