State of Water, State of Mind
Amid a scourge of pollution a half-century ago, the United States and Florida passed bedrock water legislation with the Clean Water Act at the federal level and the state’s sweeping water and land-management laws of 1972, some of the strongest in the country. As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of these water laws and celebrate their triumphs, our waters face new challenges. Florida-based author Cynthia Barnett has written four books that span the hydrologic cycle, from freshwater to rain to her new book on the sea, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans. In our final “Let’s Talk About Water Lecture,” Barnett, an environmental journalist in residence at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications, will weave together lessons from the past and new challenges for the future. Her closing lecture, State of Water, State of Mind, reflects on water as Florida’s defining element–and how citizens can get more engaged with our state’s most precious resource. State of Water, State of Mind is part of a conversation series, Let’s Talk About Water, convened by Florida Humanities to celebrate water as a life-sustaining source.
Let's Talk About Water | View Full Playlist >
The 50-year history of the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve and the efforts to establish it as the first estuarine preserve in Florida.
Video | 0h 27m
Explore efforts to restore Florida’s waterways and the motivations of environmentalists who love and advocate for these water bodies.
Video | 0h 59m
A team of artists, will carry you through their fascination with water and water-related phenomenon and issues through this presentation. Video | 1h 10m
While also a critical space for commercial activity, the gulf also serves as the home for a host of bird and wetland species. Video | 1h 09m
As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of these water laws and celebrate their triumphs, our waters face new challenges.
Video | 0h 59m
Rick Kilby discusses his latest book, Florida’s Healing Waters: Gilded Age Mineral Springs, Seaside Resorts & Health Spas.
Video | 1h 11m
"Florida Talks: At Home!"
Central Florida has become an area of rapid growth. From Zora Neale Hurston to Mary McLeod Bethune, Black women made significant contributions across Florida. Our scholars will discuss the sites and stories unique to Black women in Central Florida. Video | 1h 07m
Two hundred years ago a group of pirates and privateers invaded Amelia Island, Florida in hopes of striking a blow for the Spanish American Revolutions.
Video | 1h 04m
The state of Florida has recently mandated public schools and institutions teach the history of the Ocoee Massacre. What happened in Ocoee, Florida in 1920?
Video | 1h 00m
Art historian, Mallory O’Connor, presents a 'Look' at Florida through the many eccentric images that tell the story of our state.
Video | 0h 55m
Explore efforts to restore Florida’s waterways and the motivations of environmentalists who love and advocate for these water bodies.
Video | 0h 59m
America has faced many crises, from its very beginning as a new nation, to the Civil War and Great Depression, to World War II, the Cold War, and 9/11.
Video | 1h 27m
To some, it’s a paradise. To others, it’s a punchline. It’s actually both, as you’ll learn from the author Craig Pittman.
Video | 1h 04m
For more than a decade, journalist Art Levy has traveled the state, interviewing prominent Floridians for a Florida Trend magazine feature called Icon.
Video | 1h 15m
Stereotypes created during the Jim Crow era are deeply embedded in the collective American consciousness and unfortunately have been internalized by many.
Video | 1h 16m
A rare look at a part of Florida history that most people have never heard of, urban fires.
Video | 1h 17m
An examination of the perceptions of women in popular culture through comic books and how this culture has changed over time.
Video | 1h 28m
After the Civil War, gaining voting rights and starting businesses, African-Americans saw education as essential to progress.
Video | 1h 00m
Diane Roberts will discuss how each new wave of Florida settlers through time has reinvented the state to suit themselves.
Video | 1h 06m
Questions that continue to impact Floridians: Who has the right to vote, what are the freedoms of citizens, and whose voices will be heard?
Video | 1h 18m
Mark Catesby surveyed Florida sixty-two years before William Bartram. This lecture is an overview of the over 200 watercolors and drawings.
Video | 1h 10m
Enslaved Africans brought their foodways with them during their forced journey through the Middle Passage. How African influence what Floridians eat today.
Video | 1h 10m
The fascinating history of Weeki Wachee Springs told through vintage photographs of the mermaids from their earliest days.
Video | 1h 13m
How Florida overcame the challenge of mosquitos, perhaps the most vexing struggle humans encountered in the past two centuries.
Video | 1h 32m
Eastern European Jewish immigrants in Key West in the 1890s delivered weapons to the Cuban revolutionary rebels.
Video | 0h 54m
The true story of how two separate oil tankers split in half off Cape Cod and how the Disney movie about the disaster was made. Video | 1h 01m
