The Jacksonville Historical Society Inc

The Jacksonville Historical Society, founded in 1929, has since 2022 done business as the Jacksonville History Center, serving all the people of Floridas largest city. It does so by collecting, preserving and widely sharing the evidence of the people, places and events of the past, by maintaining the only research collection devoted entirely to Jacksonville, by hosting an oral history program focused on the people of Jacksonville, by hosting an ongoing series of public educational programs with authoritative speakers, by supporting history education in local public and private schools, colleges and universities, and by advocating for the value of historic preservation.In the 204 years since Jacksonvilles establishment, it has experienced major events related to banking, politics, law, industry, architecture, sports, medicine, the military (especially the U.S. Navy), shipping, aviation, immigration, and more. As the center of business, politics and transportation over land and by sea, Jacksonville stood for much the 19th and 20th centuries as Floridas most influential city. In the 21st century it continues to be the states largest city in terms of both size and population. It has long been diverse, demographically and in terms of its political economy. For all those reasons, the motto of the Jacksonville History Center is, "One City, Many Stories."The Jacksonville History Center owns a 1.2-acre campus in downtown Jacksonville's sports and entertainment district, on the bank of Hogans Creek and immediately behind the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. There the JHC has recently completed a $3.9 million renovation of a 106-year-old, three-story factory which is being adapted to house galleries and exhibits, a performance and event venue, and a much-expanded collections space. The campus is also home to the ca. 1878 St. Luke's Hospital, the first building in Florida designed and built to be a hospital, and the oldest building in downtown Jacksonville to survive the Great Fire of 1901. Also in the sports and entertainment district, the JHC manages two city-owned properties, the ca. 1888 St. Andrews church, a deconsecrated Episcopal sanctuary now used for special events, and the adjacent James E. Merrill Museum House, a restored and furnished 19th century home available for narrated educational tours. Through these properties the JHC is faithful to its advocacy for preservation and adaptive reuse of historic places.The JHC collaborates with the City of Jacksonville and with neighborhood preservation organizations, smaller local museums, affinity groups, businesses and nonprofits to support preservation and history education.The JHC also convenes a citywide network of organizations, the Jacksonville History Consortium, which strengthens the sharing of resources and best practices in the field of public history. Speakers from the History Center routinely present at meetings of local civic organizations, discussing the evidence of people and events in Jacksonville's past and fostering awareness of the power of historical knowledge. The History Center's digital newsletter, "Jacksonville History Matters," reaches an audience of 4500 and its content is regularly published by Jacksonville.com. Other local media channels rely on the Jacksonville Histroy Center for authoritative, evidence-based information and interpretation of Jacksonville's past. The archives and collections of the Jacksonville History Center includemanuscripts, letters, journals, maps, architectural drawings, objects,ephemera, recordings and over 100,000 historic photographs, all devoted toJacksonville, Florida. No other collection is singularly focused on thehistory of this sprawling, complicated city and its people. Donations offresh material appear continuously, to be processed, catalogued,appropriately conserved, archived and accessioned by credentialed staffmembers, for use by researchers who visit in person or virtually.The Jacksonville History Center receives support from corporations,foundations, individual donors and annually renewing members, as well asfrom a competitive cultural services grant funded by local government andadministered each year by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.Additional revenue comes from fundraising events, merchandise sales andspace rentals. In 2022 the JHC launched an agency endowment fund at theCommunity Foundation for Northeast Florida, the balance in which grows eachyear through additional gifts. In 2025, the Organization launched a capital campaign to continue its mission.