Online Catalog - State Archives of Florida - Florida Department of State

State Archives of Florida Online Catalog

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.

Details Page
Click on for detailed listing.

	Record Group Number:	900000
	Series/Collection Number:	N2022- 17
	Creator:
	Title, Dates:	Verle Pope family interviews, 1970-1971.
	Amount:	.185 gigabytes 3 files (194,202,687 bytes)
	Medium Included:	Audio tapes.
	Organization/Arrangement:	Chronological by date of interview.
	Restrictions:
	Terms Governing Use:
	Biographical/Historical:	Verle A. Pope (December 12, 1903 - July 18, 1973) was a legislator in both the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representative. He was known as "The Lion of St. Johns," supposedly because of his white hair giving him the appearance of having a lion's mane alongside his loud and boisterous character. Verle's parents were both deaf, which he was adamant had greatly affected his own speech development in early childhood. He was an known advocate for the deaf and blind throughout his career in office and championed improvements for educating those with these disabilities. He was also a major figure in the 1968 revision of Florida's State Constitution. Verle led the Florida Senate as President Pro Tempore from 1964-1965 and then as President of the Senate from 1966-1968. His ultimate aspiration, to become Governor of Florida, was derailed by the terminal illness of his wife. His career ended just over a decade after his wife's death, when he was diagnosed with bone cancer. He died a year later in 1973.
	Summary:	This collection contains personal interviews with Florida state legislator Verle A. Pope and his immediate family conducted in 1971, only two years before his death in 1973. The unnamed interviewer primarily questions Senator Pope and his family about their upbringing and the effects this had on his career in politics. Topics include the relationship Pope and his siblings had with one another as well as their unique experience in being raised by deaf parents, Pope's childhood personality and activities, his endeavors and first steps into politics as a young man, how his political career impacted and occasionally intersected with his family life, and places his family lived including Jacksonville, Live Oak, St. Augustine and Tallahassee. The participants in these interviews, in addition to Senator Pope, were his older sister and eldest sibling Wanda Pope Wilson, his younger brother Neil Pope, his youngest sibling and brother Carlton Pope, and his daughter Peggy Pope Watson.
	Finding Aids:	Box listing available. 0
	Additional Physical Form:
	Reproduction Note:
	Location of Originals/Duplicates:
	Associated Materials:
	Language Notes:
	Ownership/Custodial History:
	Publication Note:
	General Note:
	Electronic Records Access:
	Subject Access Fields:	Pope, Verle Allyn, 1903-1973 Pope family. Family Florida Political parties Florida Political campaigns. Children with disabilities. Children Florida. Audio tapes. aat Jacksonville (Fla.) Live Oak (Fla.) Saint Augustine (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.)
	Added Entries