The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum Announces Three Upcoming Town Hall Talks

The Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum (SBRHM) today announced three upcoming Town Hall Talks in February and March 2023. For more information, please visit www.BocaHistory.org, or call 561.395.6766, ext. 100.

Wednesday, February 15, at 6 pm

Town Hall Talk

The Civil War in South Florida

Rodney Dillon is Vice president of Past Perfect Florida History, Inc. and Your Book Cellar, which operates bookstores in Deerfield Beach and Oviedo, Florida. He is also Associate Professor of History at Palm Beach State College's Boca Raton Campus, and Consulting Curator for the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. His historical specialties include 19th Century American and Florida history. Rodney will give an overview of the terrible conflict which divided our nation and how it impacted the southern half of Florida with a focus on what is today the "Gold Coast." The Town Hall Talk starts at 6 pm with check-in and refreshments, and the lecture begins at 6:30 pm. FREE for BRHS members, $10 for guests.

Wednesday, March 1, at 6 pm

Town Hall Talk

Village Tweets: Suffrage Era Postcards

Longtime human rights activist Carol Crossed purchased and restored the Susan B. Anthony birthplace in Adams, Massachusetts in 2006. Her book, Vintage Tweets: Suffrage Era Postcards, is an amusing and insightful look back at the women's suffrage movement. She will explore both domestic and political views of the topic as found through vintage postcards, the social media of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Town Hall Talk starts at 6 pm with check-in and refreshments, and the lecture begins at 6:30 pm. FREE for BRHS members, $10 for guests.

Wednesday, March 15, at 6 pm

Town Hall Talk

The Pleistocene in Florida

Christian Davenport, Palm Beach County's Historic Preservation Officer, is an archaeologist specializing in the zooarchaeology, the identification of animal and human remains. An adjunct professor at FAU, he was the lead archaeologist recording 33 new sites in Lake Okeechobee during the 2007-2009 drought. In 2010, Davenport led excavations on a portion of a buried sand mound in Dubois Park and is currently researching the large prehistoric Native American mound complexes around the Everglades. He will be speaking about a time when saber tooth tigers, mastodons, and prehistoric camels and horses called Florida home. The Town Hall Talk starts at 6 pm with check-in and refreshments, and the lecture begins at 6:30 pm. FREE for BRHS members, $10 for guests.

Currently on Exhibition

MiMo in Boca Raton:

Mid Century Modern and the Architecture of Howard McCall

This new temporary exhibition takes a look back at the works of longtime local architect Howard McCall whose commercial and residential works helped shape the modern city of Boca Raton. McCall opened his office in Boca Raton in 1958 and was joined by partner Pat Lynch in the 1960s. McCall was responsible for many different structures comprising many styles over many decades in Boca Raton. St. Gregory's Church, the "Church on the Hill" and Advent Lutheran are amongst the dramatic houses of worship he created. He also developed the first Fifth Avenue Shops, local gas stations, many commercial buildings, and lots of midcentury condos. The partners also designed most of the Camino Gardens models and the original houses of Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club. This exhibit will feature a selection of their architectural drawings and photos drawn from the permanent collections of the Boca Raton Historical Society. In addition, an amusing selection of objects showing the influence of mid-mod design on everyday items on loan from our members and friends will be on display. The MiMo in Boca Raton exhibition will be on view through the end of June.