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.
Legislation in 1979 (79-322, SB 1208) transferred the Florida Folk Arts component of the Stephen Foster Memorial to the Florida Department of State. Operating as the Bureau of Florida Folklife Programs from ca. 1985 until 1995, the Bureau coordinated the annual Florida Folk Festival and directed such programs as Folk Arts Apprenticeships, Folk Arts in Education, Folk Heritage awards, annual research surveys and numerous other projects and programs. From 1995 through June 30, 2021, the renamed and reorganized Florida Folklife Program continued the majority of these operations from within the Division of Historical Resources, Bureau of Historic Preservation in Tallahassee. During the 1995 reorganization, the State Archives of Florida acquired the Florida Folklife Collection from the Bureau of Florida Folklife Programs’ previously maintained Florida Folklife Archives. Legislation in 2021 (2021-71, L. O. F., HB 909) transferred the Florida Folklife Program and its operations from the Division of Historical Resources to the newly renamed Division of Arts and Culture, previously the Division of Cultural Resources, effective July 1, 2021. The program is charged to "identify, research, interpret, and present Florida folk arts, artists, performers, folklore, traditions, customs, and cultural heritage and make folk cultural resources and folklife projects available throughout the state."
The city of Tarpon Springs was incorporated in 1887. The area began to develop in the mid 1800s where the Anclote River delivered fresh water to the area. Indians and settlers used the area as a safe haven and for hunting and fishing. A reputation began to grow about recreational fishing and hunting in the area, and the population began to increase.
In 1891, an entrepreneur named John King Cheyney started the Anclote and Rock Island Sponge Company. His company initially harvested sponge from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico from boats. In 1897, he employed a young Greek sponge buyer and technical expert named John Cocoris. Cocoris informed Cheyney of the sponge divers in Greece using rubberized wet suits. These men could harvest four times as much sponge being submerged in the suits than could people working from the boats.
Since American divers did not care for this deep water work, an advertisement for sponge divers was placed in several Greek language newspapers in Greece. In 1905, some 500 Greek men answered the ads and came to Tarpon Springs to work in the developing sponge industry. This group of sponge divers has influenced the cultural and industrial outlook of Tarpon Springs to this day.
Sponges were a major industry for the state of Florida at one time, providing up to 95% of the nation's sponge supply. In some years sponges provided more income than any other fishing activity for the state. However, in the mid to late 1950s, due to over-fishing and high sponge mortality in the 1940s, the sponge industry was greatly diminished. It is only now that it is slowly starting to make a comeback.
Summary:
The series consists of slides, negatives, contact sheets, and audio cassettes, in addition to the field research sheets for the slides and informant information sheets. The photographic research of the Tarpon Springs Centennial Celebration was conducted on March 21 and 22, 1987, and the photographers of this collection were Merri Belland, Nancy Michael, and David Taylor. The records document only the Greek aspects of the celebration, including Nikitas Tsimouris making a tsabouna, food preparation, music, dance, and sponge divers. The audio cassettes in this series contain interviews with some of the Greek citizens from Tarpon Springs about Greek life, culture and sponge diving. The audio cassette labeled "Tape 12" contains a recording of the stage performance which took place on March 22, 1987.
Finding Aids:
Searchable index to images and sound recordings available online at http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/ #
for detailed listing.