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William T. Cash papers, 1918-1951, (bulk 1936-1947).
Amount:
2.25 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
Arranged by type of record.
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Biographical/Historical:
William Thomas "W. T." Cash was born in Lamont, Jefferson County, Florida, on July 21, 1878, the son of Benjamin Franklin and Susan C. Cash. Benjamin Franklin Cash died when W. T. was 13 years old. He left his mother's house when she remarried and supported himself by working as a farm hand. After five years, he had saved enough money to attend school in Taylor County, where his mother lived. Cary A. Hardee (who later became Governor of Florida) was Cash's teacher who inspired him to study for the teaching certificate examination, which Cash passed when he was 19 years old. Cash began teaching public school in Taylor County and became President of the Taylor County Teacher's Association. In 1917, he taught Florida History and Civic courses during Summer School at the Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee.
W. T. Cash won election to the Florida Legislature several times: House of Representatives in 1909, 1915, and 1917, and Senate in 1918. He served two years of his term in the Florida Senate before leaving to campaign for the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for Taylor County. He won election in 1921 and served one term. In 1925, Governor Martin helped pass legislation that created the State Library Board of Florida, which consisted of three members appointed by the Governor. On April 1, 1927, the Board appointed Cash as the State Librarian to serve the Board as the Secretary of the Library.
Cash's small office and the State Library were originally in the House of Representatives side of the Florida Capitol and soon relocated to the basement of the Capitol, where he collected rare books and wrote several articles and books about Florida history. In 1949, the State Library moved from the Capitol to a basement office in the newly constructed Florida Supreme Court building. Cash often received research questions from reporters, legislators, and the public. Shortly after his retirement, Cash died in Tallahassee on July 8, 1951.
Summary:
This collection contains personal correspondence, articles on Florida history, financial papers, and news clippings created and maintained by William T. Cash while he served as Florida's first State Librarian. The collection consists of personal correspondence between Cash and United States House Representative Robert Sikes, correspondence between Cash and various political figures in Florida, business correspondence, and personal correspondence.
The bulk of the materials date during the Great Depression and World War II and document ways that the Library Board and Cash dealt with financial difficulties during that time. Other correspondence includes discussion between Cash and Florida Senator Claude Pepper about the Rare Books Project (a New Deal program). Cash's correspondence also documents his discussions with other conservative Florida Democrats about their dissatisfaction with more social spending Democrats such as Claude Pepper and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The collection also includes several handwritten and typed drafts of articles and books on Florida history. Allen Morris used a few of the article drafts in researching for "The Florida Handbook" and for Cash's book, "The History of the Democratic Party in Florida." There are also histories of people, places, and events in Taylor County.
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Folder listing available. 0
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Subject Access Fields:
Cash, William Thomas, 1878-1951. Pepper, Claude, 1900-
State Library of Florida.
Librarians Florida Libraries Florida Library administration Florida. New Deal, 1933-1939. World War, 1939-1945 Florida
Financial records. aat Clippings. aat Articles. aat
Perry (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.) Taylor County (Fla.)
for detailed listing.