Print Collections--a growing collection of approximately 21,000 images from this all-inclusive anthology beginning in the 1800s

Collection Number: M82-5
Creator:
Title: General Photographic Collection, 1845-2001.
Quantity: 21,238 photographs

Description: This collection of photographic images forms a comprehensive visual history of Florida. Comprised of photographs provided to the State Archives by hundreds of individual donors, the collection reflects the homes, families, work, pasttimes, and social, cultural, and natural environments of Floridians from the mid-1800s to the present.

The "General Collection" is comprised of three primary components: a browsable "Reference Collection" of mounted, captioned prints; a "Print Collection" of unmounted prints; and a "Negative Collection" of unprinted negatives. This page features the Print Collection.

Historical Note: The "General Collection" embodies the bulk of the Florida Photographic Collection, which was established in 1952 by Allen Morris, a political columnist and compiler of The Florida Handbook. Realizing that the visual documentation of Florida's history was being lost to neglect and destruction, Morris initiated steps to prevent further loss. With the assistance of Dr. Doak Campbell, President of Florida State University, Morris began to assemble photographs of Florida people and places.

The collection became part of the library on the F.S.U. campus, housed first in Dodd Hall and later in R.M. Strozier Library. In 1982 the collection became part of the Florida State Archives and was moved to the Archives facility in the R.A. Gray Building, where it continues to expand in size and scope.