Historic photographs from the State Library and Archives of Florida’s Florida Memory Project are now available for public viewing and comment on Flickr: The Commons.

The State Archives of Florida is mandated by law to collect, preserve, and make available for research the historically significant records of the State.

Viewers can contribute to this historical record by tagging and commenting on the photos. We also welcome any identifying information. Perhaps you may recoginize a person, place, or event.

To view the photos on Flickr, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridamemory/.

You do not need a Flickr account to view the images; you would need to sign up for a free account to add comments or tags.

Contributors to The Commons include the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Bibliothèque de Toulouse, the George Eastman House, and other noteworthy repositories.

The first group of photographs the State Library and Archives of Florida has added to The Commons are samples from the following collections:

Florida Folklife Collection (1910-1995): The photographs depict folklife festivals and events, artisans and craftsmen, persons employed in traditional Florida industries, and Florida architecture.

Commerce Collection (1940-1996): Publicity photographs, including prints, negatives, slides, and transparencies, produced by the Division of Tourism and its preceding agencies.

Department of Environmental Regulation Glass Lantern Slide Collection (1950s): Color images depicting a variety of Florida’s natural features, including scenes of rivers and river banks, forests, nature trails, fishing, sand dunes, and swimming.

Harper Collection (1884-1911): Images taken by noted Tallahassee portrait photographer Alvan S. Harper. The collection includes views of Tallahassee buildings and street scenes, along with outlying areas, and portraits. Harper’s portraits of middle class African-Americans are especially noteworthy.

Bedell Collection (1933-1961): Black-and-white images of Florida’s Seminole Indians and the missionary activities of Deaconess Harriet Bedell.

Brown Collection (1898-1912): Photographs of the Brown family taken in and around Eastpoint and St. George Island between 1898 and 1912.

The State Library and Archives encourages Floridians to enjoy the historic photographs on this site, and perhaps to contribute to it by adding tags and descriptions.