Florida Citrus Archives
The Florida Citrus Archives are designated by law as the official citrus archive of Florida.[1]
The designation occurred in 2001. The Senate bill analysis stated "Florida Southern College in Lakeland has accumulated and maintains an extensive collection of citrus related materials. The collection is called The Florida Citrus Archives and is dedicated to Thomas B. Mack, the person most responsible for the success of the project. Florida Citrus Mutual, an association representing growers statewide, maintains that The Florida Citrus Archives are the largest collection of its kind by far and that they function now as the unofficial statewide citrus archives." [2]
According to the Archives website:
"The mission of the Florida Citrus Archives is to:
gather collect procure accept and properly prepare for storage: historical data writings and publications printed materials books periodicals pictures photographs maps graphs films various other manner of citrus memorabilia of significance
It is the further purpose of the Florida Citrus Archives to digitize these materials on CDs, as much as is possible, for research both here and remotely, far into the future, and to physically store these materials in such a manner as to make them available to researchers for many years to come, and to make these materials available to the general public as much as is practical given our current financial status.
What we do in the Florida Citrus Archives
Donations of citrus-related materials are evaluated, inventoried, digitized, prepared for storage in acid-free sleeves, folders and boxes, listed, cataloged, preserved for posterity and made available for use by those researching the history of the Florida citrus industry."[3]
Professor Thomas B. Mack
Professor Thomas B. Mack was an avid collector of information on citrus. As he wrote hundreds of articles on citrus, more and more people contributed to his store of information.[4] In 1988, Florida Southern College devoted a special room in the Jack Berry Citrus Building to Professor Mack's collection, and an archivist to manage it. His intent was to create an open source of information for the citrus industry.[5]
Professor Thomas B. Mack
1914-2004
B.S.A. M.Ed.
Professor Emeritus
Director, Florida Citrus Archives
In 1997, Professor Mack was inducted to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame[6] as "an integral member of Florida's Citrus community for over half a century." Professor Mack wrote a column called "Citrifacts" on various citrus-related trivia that earned him the nickname "Mr. Citrifacts." His columns were eventually compiled into the books "Citrifacts I"[7] and "Citrifacts II,"[8] with the proceeds from sales going to benefit Florida Southern College.
Notes
- ↑ Section 15.0325, Florida Statutes.
- ↑ http://archive.flsenate.gov/data/session/2001/Senate/bills/analysis/pdf/2001s1912.ag.pdf
- ↑ https://www.flsouthern.edu/citrusarch/mission.htm
- ↑ https://www.flsouthern.edu/citrusarch/mack.htm
- ↑ https://www.flsouthern.edu/citrusarch/story.htm
- ↑ http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/inductees/1990-1999/1997/thomas_mack
- ↑ Citrifacts, Associated Publications, 1992, ASIN: B0006OXY6M
- ↑ Citrifacts II: A portion of Florida citrus history, Associated Publications, 1998, ASIN: B0006R2H44
External links
- , from Florida Southern College
- [* , from the Florida Citrus hall of Fame
- Florida Citrus Industry Oral History Project at the University of South Florida Tampa Library
- Selling Sunshine: Florida's Citrus Industry, an online exhibition by the University of South Florida Tampa Library