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State Archives of Florida Online Catalog

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	Record Group Number:	900000
	Series/Collection Number:	N2022- 11
	Creator:	Collins family.
	Title, Dates:	Governor Leroy Collins film reels and photographic negatives, 1940s-1970s.
	Amount:	15.5 cubic ft.
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	Biographical/Historical:	Thomas Leroy Collins was born on March 10, 1909 in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was raised as the son of a local grocer. After earning his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law, he got his start in politics as a member of the Democratic Party in the Florida House of Representatives in 1934 and was soon elected to the Florida Senate in 1940. With American entrance into World War II, Collins resigned from his newly re-elected term in the Senate to serve in the military. Collins joined the United States Navy, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant by the time he was discharged in 1946. Resuming his political and legal career, he remained in the Florida Senate until 1954 to make a bid for the governorship after the newly elected Governor McCarty died nine months into his term the previous year. Collins challenged McCarty's immediate successor, acting governor Charley Eugene Johns, in the Democratic primary and won before easily winning the general election. He was sworn in at the start of 1955 as Florida's 33rd governor. Collins' legacy as governor is remembered as the first southern governor to call for an end to segregation, though by and large he took a moderate stance on race relations with a focus on incrementalism. Collins' political aspirations largely plateaued after his time as governor as a result of being overshadowed by fellow Democrat George Smathers. Even after Smathers vacated his seat as U.S. Senator, Collins lost the election to U.S. Representative Edward Gurney. An opponent of the death penalty, he participated in a protest held outside the Governor's Mansion he once occupied over the execution of John Spenkelink in 1979. Collins didn't have to go far to attend as he had purchased The Grove Plantation in 1941, which was next door to the Governor's Mansion. The Grove was originally built by territorial governor Richard K. Call , the great-grandfather of Collins' wife Mary Call Darby. He passed away in March 12, 1991 in his lifelong hometown of Tallahassee.
	Summary:	A large collection of mainly film reels from the 1940s through the 1970s, comprising the height of Leroy Collins' political career. Reel subects include campaign advertisements, public speeches, TV appearences, and various other political events captured on film during his period in office. Also included in this collection is a small folder of photographic negatves from the 1940s through the 1950s.
	Finding Aids:	Box listing available.
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	Ownership/Custodial History:	Records previously housed within the University of South Florida Libraries - Tampa Special Collections. That repository deaccessioned these materials and transferred them to the State Archives.
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	Subject Access Fields:	Collins family. Smathers, George A. 1913-2007 Segregation Florida Civil rights Florida Political campaigns. Motion pictures. aat Negatives. aat Hillsborough County (Fla.) Tampa (Fla.)
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