CFK Opens VIP Series with “Florida’s Female Pioneers”

CFK Opens VIP Series with “Florida’s Female Pioneers”

KEY WEST, FL, December 26, 2019— The College of the Florida Keys will open its 2020 VIP Series with “Florida’s Female Pioneers.”  The presentation, led by historian, author, and educator, Dr. Peggy Macdonald, is on Thursday, January 9 at 7 p.m. in the Tennessee Williams Theatre on the Key West Campus.  In its seventh season, the College’s VIP Series invites the community to learn from the Visions, Ideas, and Perspectives of speakers of local, regional, and national prominence.  The 2020 season, sponsored by Centennial Bank, includes presentations that focus on timely and relevant topics.

In her talk, Dr. Macdonald examines some of the women who have shaped the Sunshine State, including: Dr. Esther Hill Hawks, a physician who ran the first racially integrated free school in Florida; Harriet Beecher Stowe, famous for writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin who kick-started Florida’s tourism industry with her 1873 book Palmetto Leaves; and May Mann Jennings, a suffragist and conservationist who helped establish Royal Palm State Park, which formed the nucleus of Everglades National Park.

Dr. Macdonald is a public historian and adjunct professor at Stetson University and Indian River State College.  A native Floridian, she gives presentations on Florida women’s history with the Florida Humanities Florida Talks program.  Her publications include a biography of environmental activist Marjorie Harris Carr and a forthcoming book on Florida’s female pioneers.  Dr. Macdonald has written about local and Florida history and culture for Gainesville Magazine, Our Town Magazine, Senior Times and FORUM Magazine.  She serves on the Alachua County Historical Commission and is an alumna of the University of Florida, where she received a Ph.D. in American History.  Dr. Macdonald served as Executive Director of the Matheson History Museum from 2015 to 2019.

Tickets are $5 at the door.  Admission is free for students at CFK and Monroe County schools. For more information, call CFK at 305-296-9081 or visit www.fkcc.edu.

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