Past “Zoom In” Series

Cori Convertito

‘Key West Hand Print Fabrics: An Island Industry’

FREE Zoom Talk

In 1961, two friends from Broadway visited Key West. Peter Pell and Jim Russell fell in love with their surroundings: brightly-colored flowers, exotic fruits, and resplendent birds. Residents urged them to open a silk-screening factory, which became Key West Hand Print Fabrics. The company began printing and selling textiles to visitors and hired an artists name Suzie dePoo who produced a marvelous array of tropical imagery on fabrics. One of the company’s principal customers was Lilly Pulitzer. This presentation tells the story of how Key West Hand Print Fabrics became the backbone of the industry on the island.

Click here to stream the talk!

(Available until December 9th, 2022)

Art Levy, Journalist:

“Made in Florida: Artists, Celebrities, Activists, Educators and other Icons in the Sunshine State”

FREE Zoom Talk

Art Levy has traveled the state interviewing prominent Floridians for a Florida Trend magazine feature called Icon.

Click here to stream the talk! 

Austin Bell, MIHS Curator of Collections:

“The Case of the Curious Cat Casting”

FREE Zoom Talk

Austin unravels the origin of a beautiful but baffling bronze casting of The Key Marco Cat.

Click here to stream the talk! 

Author Jason Vuic:

“The Swamp Peddlers”

FREE Zoom Talk

Jason Vuic dives into his latest book, The Swamp Peddlers, and “how lot sellers, land scammers, and retirees built modern Florida and transformed the American Dream.” This raucous tale of the sale of residential lots in postwar Florida is one you won’t want to miss!

Click here to stream the talk! 

Meg Kassabaum:

“Teaching with Collections at the Penn Museum: Key Marco & Beyond”

FREE Zoom Talk

This talk highlights the collection’s importance to the Museum’s educational mission by providing examples of how the collections have been used in undergraduate, graduate and public education .

Click here to stream the talk! 

Caren Neile Presents:

“Short Takes-A Grab Bag of Old Florida Stories”

FREE Zoom Talk

Enjoy lively interpretations of some of the better-known Florida tales of lovers, criminals and celebrities as well as others you may not have encountered.

Click here to stream the talk! 

Dr. Peggy Macdonald presents:

Marjorie Carr, Female Environmentalist”

FREE Zoom Talk

Watch Dr. Peggy Macdonald present the inspiring life of Marjorie Carr, one of Florida’s first female environmentalists.

Click here to stream the talk! 

Austin Bell Presents:

“A Second Shot at Life  – The Key Marco Cat Since Its Discovery”

FREE Zoom Talk

Watch Austin Bell present the incredible journey of the Key Marco Cat since its discovery by Frank Hamilton Cushing in 1896.

Click here to stream the talk! 

“Doc Anna: Swamp Doctor of Florida”

FREE Zoom Talk

Watch Carrie Sue Ayvar present the inspiring story of Doctor Anna Darrow, wife, mother pharmacist, artist and veterinarian and the second woman licensed to practice medicine in Florida.

Click here to stream the talk! 

“Hidden History of Florida”

FREE Zoom Talk

Watch James Clark present little-known facts of Florida History taken from dozens of stories in his book, “Hidden History of Florida”.

Click here to stream the talk! 

“Florida’s Burrowing Owls”

FREE Zoom Talk

Watch Dr. Liz White talk about our upcoming season and incredible statistics on this unique urban population.

Click here to stream the talk! 

“Weeds & Seeds: A History of Dining in Southwest Florida” FREE Zoom Talk

Watch Florida Archaeological Network’s Rachel Kangas as she explores what people would have had for dinner 2,000 years ago in SW Florida.

Click here to stream the talk! 

“The Olds Diaries – A Peek into the Past” FREE Zoom Talk

Watch Heather Otis, Collections Manager, as she brings one of the historical society’s most treasured collections out of the vault and onto your screen!

Click here to stream the talk! 

“The Dolphins of Marco Island” – FREE Zoom Talk

Bob McConville, Master Naturalist, delivered an update of the dolphin population in and around Marco Island.

You can stream the presentation from this website if you missed it, or would like to see it again.

Click here to stream the talk! 

“Feline Facelift” – FREE Zoom Talk

If you missed this Zoom Talk by Heather Otis, Collections Manager,  on a behind-the-scenes look at how the MIHS and a team of conservators “nipped and tucked” the Key Marco Cat Sculpture after Hurricane Irma damage, you can stream the presentation from this website.

Click here to stream the talk!