The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.
Arranged by record type (photographs, paper records) and then chronological.
Restrictions:
*RESTRICTED*: Any building plans, blueprints, schematic drawings, or diagrams of government facilities or structures in this series are exempt from public disclosure as per Florida Statutes Chapter 119.071 (Chapter 2002-67, Laws of Florida, HB 735, 2002). This restriction does not apply to facilities or structures that no longer exist.
Terms Governing Use:
Box 6 may be affected by the following: Restricted: Any building plans, blueprints, schematic drawings, or diagrams of government facilities or structures in this series are exempt from public disclosure as per Florida Statutes Chapter 119.071 (Chapter 2002-67, Laws of Florida, HB 735, 2002). This restriction does not apply to facilities or structures that no longer exist.
Biographical/Historical:
The original Governor's Mansion was built on the current site in 1907 but it was dismantled in 1955 when it became structurally unsound. The current mansion was completed in 1956, and the First Family moved into their new home in the spring of 1957. That same year, the Florida Legislature established the Governor's Mansion Commission (also called the Governor's Mansion Advisory Council), which was responsible for supervising and maintaining the home and its furnishings, equipment, and grounds, keeping the "structure, style, and character consistent with the original plan of construction and furnishing" (Ch. 57-61, Laws).
Summary:
This series consists of records maintained by the Governor's Mansion Commission (GMC) that document the commission's function as supervisor of the home and its grounds. This series includes budget and project work files that describe the various maintenance and improvement projects; correspondence among the GMC members and contracted specialists regarding furnishing of the mansion, grounds keeping and improvements; and meeting materials such as agendas, minutes, and meeting packets.
A notable part of this series is the material from binders kept by three First Ladies (Mary Call Collins, Mildred Burns, and Donna Lou Askew) that served as manuals and scrapbooks of life in the Governor's Mansion. These binders provide information for social functions and inventories of the Governor's Mansion. There are also photographs of the mansion, events, and the Governors' families.
for detailed listing.