Lakeland History Room

Hours: 

Mon - Thurs. - 9 am - 7 pm
Fri - Sat: 9 am - 5 pm
Sun: 1:30 pm - 5 pm

Lakeland History Room Service Desk: 863.834.4284

Lakeland History Room Librarian Supervisor: LuAnn Mims
Ph: 863.834.4269
Email: luann.mims@lakelandgov.net

Image from the Greetings from Lakeland postcard collection

• Using the Lakeland History Room

  Services: 

  • Research assistance with local history 
  • House/property records research 
  • Family Genealogy, Newspapers and Obituaries — please contact LuAnn Mims at 863.834.4269 or email LuAnn.Mims@lakelandgov.net
  • DIY Digitize Lab — guided assistance by appointment only to reformat analog materials to digital formats (excluding film). Please contact Rebecca Whalon to schedule an appointment in the DIY workspace at 863.834.4212 or email Rebecca.Whalon@lakelandgov.net

   

• Digital Collections

  The Lakeland History Room collection features a variety of materials—documents, photographs, maps, building plans, audio/visual media, and scrapbooks with specialty items like citrus crate labels, artwork, yearbooks, posters, and postcards. There are also 8000+ images viewable online via our Digital Collection on CONTENTdm.

  Click on the icons below to explore digital collections, photo albums, and story maps of Lakeland history:

                      

                        

   

• In-Person Classes and Self-Paced Learning

  In-Person Classes 

  Genealogy:

  • Generators – meets the first Monday of each month @6pm- is an ad hoc group that discusses genealogical topics of interest
  • Beginning Genealogy – offered twice a year – basic introduction to researching your family history
  • Get Started with Ancestry.com – offered twice a year – guided tour through the premier genealogical database
  • Focus on Family Search – offered twice a year – step by step look at this FREE family history resources

  Archival:

  • Photograph Preservation instruction offered in person twice a year to introduce reformatting from analog to digital concepts

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  Self-Paced Learning: Organizing and Preserving Your Materials

  Trying to get your personal memorabilia better organized?  Start with the Personal Archiving at Home video series. These short videos give detailed instruction on how to take care of your treasured memorabilia – photographs, slides, negatives, papers, audio and video tapes and more. Topics include preservation, storage, digitization, standard formatting, organization tips and adding to your family archives.

  Part I: Historic Preservation
  Part II: Organization & Maintenance
  Part III: Digitization

   

• Lakeland History and Culture Center Lecture Series

  Fresh-Squeezed to Frozen Concentrate: The History of Florida Orange Juice 
  from the Florida Department of Citrus
  Lakeland Public Library Meeting Room 
  Thursday, November 13th at 10 AM 

  Join us at the Lakeland Public Library on Thursday, November 13th at 5:30 PM as the Florida Department of Citrus presents "Fresh-Squeezed to Frozen Concentrate: The History of Florida Orange Juice"

  From fresh-squeezed to frozen concentrate, breakfast wasn’t the same without a glass of Florida Orange Juice. Learn more about the history of how this state beverage developed through time as an icon of Florida.

  Find out more information about "Fresh-Squeezed to Frozen Concentrate: The History of Florida Orange Juice".  No registration is required. All ages welcome.

   

• History Tours

  Lakeland History Room Staff host historical walking tours for the public featuring Lakeland history, as well as providing curated exhibit tours of the Lakeland History and Culture Center.

  • Stories and Stones – Saturdays (check dates/registration) monthly walk and talk biographical tours of Lakeland’s oldest cemeteries – Roselawn, Tigers Flowers and Lake View
  • Green Hat and White Gloves – Second Tuesdays monthly (check dates and registration) walking tour of Lake Mirror with “Serena Bailey” Lakeland’s first librarian (1929-1959)
  • From the Groves — Lakeland's Citrus Story – curated exhibit tour available by appointment

   

  For more information contact, LuAnn Mims: 863.834.4269, LuAnn.Mims@lakelandgov.net 

• Lakeland History & Culture Center

  Opened on September 8, 2022, the Lakeland History and Culture Center features a 1400 square foot exhibit space dedicated to telling the many stories of our community.

  The inaugural exhibit, Ties That Bind: 1880-1925, Lakeland's Formative Years, showcased the early days of Lakeland's founding and the role of the railroads in helping to develop the area.

  Explore the current exhibit, From the Groves — Lakeland’s Citrus Story, to discover how the citrus industry impacted Lakeland’s economy, why Lakeland was formerly called the “World Citrus Center,” the location of early groves, who helped to market the products, and what defines the local citrus industry today, as well as hear reflections through oral histories from people historically connected to citrus.

  This free, self-guided, interactive exhibit is open:

  Monday-Thursday  9am-7pm
  Friday-Saturday 9am-5pm
  Sunday 1:30pm-5pm

  For information about curated tours, call LuAnn Mims at 863.834.4269

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  Learn more about the Lakeland History & Culture Center.

Popular at the Lakeland History Room

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  Ancestry.com

  Start your family history search here at the library! Ancestry.com offers free access to all library patrons. (In library only)

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  Digital Photo Collection Feature: Fonchen Lord Photographs

  Explore Lakeland’s History through Photos! 

  Florence Usher Lord (1911-1993), better known as Fonchen, was a celebrated Lakeland artist. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she began painting and drawing in her youth, moving from landscapes to abstract art. She attended college at Ratcliffe College and Washington University. She married William W. Lord in 1935, and together they had four children. The Lord family came to Lakeland in 1949 for William Lord’s job in the engineering industry. He founded the Wellman-Lord Engineering Company.

  Fonchen was noted for her abstract paintings, which were designed to be viewable from any angle, allowing the paintings to be hung upside down or sideways. In the early 1970s, she began working with sheets of aluminum to challenge her artistic ability with 3-D sculptures, which were enriched with bright colors and geometric shapes. She evolved the minimalist style of her sculptures into flowing folded sheets of metal featuring primary colors.  When discussing the meaning of her sculptures, Fonchen said, “If sculptures are not always understood, neither is life, of which they are an expression.”

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  Good Eats!

  Our story begins with you...what better way to tell the many stories of Lakeland and its history, than visually by showcasing highlights from our Digital Collection through Flickr.   

  Check out our featured album:

  Good Eats!

  Lakelanders have a long history of enjoying food and restaurants have not let them down.

  Enjoy this photographic stroll through Lakeland's local restaurants, eateries, diners, pubs, cafeterias, sweet and soda shops through the years.

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  Lakeland Stories Feature: Veterans' Memorial Tour at Oak Hill Burial Park

  Discover more about Lakeland’s History through Stories! 

  Divided into three district areas--Temple Emanuel, Laurel Hill, and Oak Hill--Oak Hill Burial Park in Lakeland, Florida is the final resting place of many notable citizens, including military veterans. The service of these members of the United States armed forces ranges from World War I to the Vietnam Conflict. There are many veterans who rest here with stories waiting to be told, and ten of these heroic men and women are featured in the Veterans Memorial Tour.

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