Florida's Political Past: A Guide to Manuscript Collections, Archival Records, and Other Primary Historical Documents of Florida's Politicians
Superintendents of Public Instruction/Commissioners of Education - Sorted Alphabetically
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Bailey, Thomas D.
Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1949-1965.
Florida State Archives Bureau of Archives and Records Management
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/fsa.html
- Dept. of Education. Superintendent of Public Instruction Bailey correspondence, 1949-1965. The correspondence covers such topics as teacher certification and recruitment, scholarships, accreditation, and matters related to public instruction. It documents Bailey's interactions with his staff, other departments and state institutions, educational organizations, and the general public. The Archives also holds the following Superintendent of Public Instruction Bailey series: legal files, 1950-1963; conference files, 1953-1963; subject files, 1949-1965; and county correspondence, 1949-1962.
University of Florida Smathers Libraries, Special and Area Studies Collections, P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History
http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/index.html
- As part of the Florida History Miscellaneous Manuscripts, one small collection includes a newspaper clipping, 1966; addresses dated 1971 and 1972; and statements made 1954-1972.
- Education in Florida Subject Files, 1947-1978. Subject files created by Howard Jay Friedman during his service with the Department of Education, primarily news clippings pertaining to public education in Florida. In addition to Friedman's own correspondence, much of the correspondence and speeches are by Thomas D. Bailey and Floyd T. Christian.
Florida State University Libraries Department of Special Collections
http://www.fsu.edu/~speccoll
- Papers, 1949-1967. A handful of documents: Development of the Florida Department of Education 1900-1965; Florida schools during the administration of Thomas D. Bailey; When I took office in 1949; Statement by Bailey regarding Progress in Florida education; a statement by Bailey, August 23, 1965; and Bailey's resignation, submitted to Governor Burns.
Cawthon, William S.
Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1923-1937.
Florida State Archives Bureau of Archives and Records Management
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/fsa.html
- Dept. of Public Instruction. Superintendent of Public Instruction Cawthon administrative files, 1922-1937. The records include letters, reports, court documents, and memoranda on a wide variety of topics. Subjects covered include appropriations, budgets, land transactions, annual reports, position vacancies, accreditation, universities, state prisons, and other state institutions. The Archives also holds the following Dept. of Public Instruction series: Scholarship files, 1923-1927; and High school accreditation files, 1916-1924. The Archives also holds the Office of the State Supervisor of High Schools Records, 1920-1927, and the Dept. of Education teacher certification files, 1917-1928.
Christian, Floyd T.
Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1965-1969. Commissioner of Education, 1969-1974.
Florida State Archives Bureau of Archives and Records Management
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/fsa.html
- Dept. of Education. Commissioner of Education Christian general correspondence files, 1966-1973. Contains correspondence, memoranda, and other materials of Floyd T. Christian documenting his interactions with his staff, other departments and state institutions, educational organizations, and the general public. The Archives also holds the following Commissioner of Education Christian series: press files, 1965-1974; state education programs files, 1965-1974; personal activities files, 1966-1970; county education issues files, 1966-1974; federal education programs files, 1966-1973; state government responsibilities files, 1964-1973; speech files, 1965-1974; and organizational affiliations files, 1949-1973.
- Dept. of Education. Office of Public Information. Subject files, 1966-1986. Included are subject files, reference files, correspondence, press releases, newspaper clippings, public information materials, newsletters, publications and media materials. One subject covered is Christian's 1974 indictment and resignation.
University of Florida Smathers Libraries, Special and Area Studies Collections, P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History
http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/index.html
- Speeches, 1965-1972. The bulk of the collection is comprised of speeches on education and related issues made between 1965 and 1972, during Christian's tenure as Superintendent/Commissioner. Of particular interest are speeches related to desegregation in Florida's schools, the 1968 statewide teacher strike, and Christian's opposition to Governor Claude Kirk. In addition to the speeches there is a small group of miscellaneous papers, including articles, editorials, memoranda and biographical material on Christian.
- Education in Florida Subject Files, 1947-1978. Subject files created by Howard Jay Friedman during his service with the Department of Education, primarily news clippings pertaining to public education in Florida. In addition to Friedman's own correspondence, much of the correspondence and speeches are by Thomas D. Bailey and Floyd T. Christian.
University of Oklahoma, Political Commercial Archive
http://www.ou.edu/pccenter/archive.htm
- Floyd T. Christian commercials, 1970. University of Oklahoma. Political Commercial Archive.
English, Colin
Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1937-1949.
Florida State Archives Bureau of Archives and Records Management
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/fsa.html
- Dept. of Public Instruction. Superintendent of Public Instruction English administrative files, 1940-1947. The records include correspondence, reports, resolutions, and financial ledger pages. It documents the Superintendent's involvement in matters related to public instruction, including school financing and land proceedings. The series is incomplete, as very few records exist from English's term as Superintendent.
Sheats, William N.
Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1893-1905 and 1913-1922.
Florida State Archives Bureau of Archives and Records Management
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/fsa.html
- Dept. of Public Instruction. Superintendent of Public Instruction correspondence, 1882-1922. The series contains the administrative correspondence of the Superintendents of Public Instruction from 1882 to 1922, but contains only a few records from Sheats' first term of office. The bulk of the files are from Sheats' second term of office from 1913 to 1922. The correspondence reflects the Superintendent's involvement in all matters pertaining to public instruction. Of particular interest are correspondence and inspection reports of the State Rural School Inspector, a position created in 1913 to supervise rural schools. In addition, there is a good amount of materials relating to summer school from 1920 to 1921. The Superintendent was also a member of the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions which oversaw the State's hospitals, child training schools, and correctional institutions. The records contain information about the Florida State Prison Farm, the Florida Industrial School for Boys, the Florida Industrial School for Girls, the School for the Deaf and the Blind, and the Florida Hospital for the Insane.
- Dept. of Public Instruction. Superintendent of Public Instruction letterbooks, 1869-1870, 1877-1913. The series contains the letterbooks of outgoing correspondence of the Superintendents from 1869-1870 and 1877-1913. An index of persons receiving the correspondence is in the front of each volume. Sheats also served as the president of the Southern Education Association in 1902, and that correspondence is included in one volume. The Archives also holds the Dept. of Public Instruction High school accreditation files, 1916-1924, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction Sheats county correspondence, 1913-1921.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Southern Historical Collection
http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
- Papers, 1872-1922; 1949 (bulk 1911-1922). Correspondence (1911-1922) with Florida politicians, educators, campaign workers, and friends, concerned mainly with Sheats's successful campaigns for election as superintendent in 1912, 1916, and 1920. Other papers concern the superintendent's office, Sheats's family, educational bills before the legislature, job appointments, and the Florida parole board. Items before 1911 are scant. Volumes include notebooks and personal accounts, 1872- 1875; scrapbooks, 1903-1922; and a copy of O. L. Parker's master's thesis, "William N. Sheats, Florida Educator" (University of Florida, 1949).
Turlington, Ralph D.
Commissioner of Education, 1974-1987.
Florida State Archives Bureau of Archives and Records Management
http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/barm/fsa.html
- Dept. of Education. Commissioner of Education Turlington administrative files, 1974-1986. The series includes correspondence, memoranda, studies, reports, clippings, and other materials. The records document Commissioner Turlington's interactions with his staff, the Divisions and Bureaus of the Dept. of Education, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. There are also materials relating to the federal government, general operations, public relations, educational associations, and the county school systems. The series is incomplete. The 1977-1978 and 1984-1985 records are incomplete.
- Dept. of Education. Education lottery campaign files, 1983-1986. This series contains the Dept. of Education's education lottery campaign files from 1983 to 1986. It documents the campaign of Commissioner of Education Ralph D. Turlington and the non-profit corporation, E.X.C.E.L. Education Excellence: An Education Lottery, to gain support for a Florida education lottery. It contains correspondence, campaign literature, and miscellaneous files maintained by Commissioner Turlington, as head of E.X.C.E.L.
- Florida News Service. Reporters Lee Mainella and Bill Burke's master story video tapes, 1982-2000. This collection consists of 110 beta video tapes of the Florida News Service (FNS) that were created between 1983 and 2000. The stories feature the major political, governmental, and social issues of the state, and Turlington is included. The tapes are arranged chronologically, and are numbered and indexed.
- Dept. of Education. Office of Public Information. Subject files, 1966-1986. The bulk of the material is related to the administration of Commissioner Ralph D. Turlington from 1974 to 1985. Included are subject files, reference files, correspondence, press releases, newspaper clippings, public information materials, newsletters, publications and media materials.
University of Florida Smathers Libraries, Special and Area Studies Collections, P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History
http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/index.html
- Papers, 1968-1986. Notes, speeches, and miscellaneous correspondence.
Southern Oral History Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://www.sohp.org/
- Southern politics, 1973-1975. The Southern Oral History Program collects interviews with Southerners who have made significant contributions to a variety of fields and interviews that will render historically visible those whose experience is not reflected in traditional written sources.
Comments/Suggestions? This guide is continually under revision. Comments that will improve the site are extremely welcome. If you are aware of any primary sources I have missed, please send the descriptive information via email to johnemm@uflib.ufl.edu.
