The Importance of Our Mission
History Fort Lauderdale, formerly Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, believes that a sense of history is fundamental to understanding human experience, and therefore, collects, preserves, and shares material from our community’s past, so present and future generations can comprehend more fully their predecessors, their community and themselves.
With education as the primary focus, we offer public lectures and workshops; publish teacher resource materials; arrange school and general group tours and activities; support scholarly research through significant research assistance; maintain a 1907 house museum and three other 1905 historic structures, and a museum of changing and permanent exhibitions, and operate a research center that has functioned uninterrupted since 1962.
Mission Statement
History Fort Lauderdale brings the stories of our diverse community to life through educational experiences, cultural exhibits, research, and preservation for future generations.
The Need for the Study of History
In August 2005, Washington Post columnist David Broder wrote about a hearing convened by Senators Lamar Alexander and Ted Kennedy to air their concerns about what they called “U.S. History: Our Worst Subject?” Alexander reported that, “according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly referred to as ‘the nation’s report card,’ fewer students have just a basic understanding of American History than have a basic understanding of any other subject which we teach including math, science and reading.” Alexander added that our children don’t know American history because they are not being taught it, noting that the Florida legislature had recently passed a bill permitting students to graduate from high school without taking a single U. S. history course.
History Fort Lauderdale focuses on teaching history. We use local history as a microscope for learning American and world history. For, example, we can show the impact of national events such as the Great Depression and other economic developments such as the expansion of railroads upon a community. We can demonstrate what the World Wars meant to a community and what courage individuals found in themselves and what sacrifices that families were called upon to make. We bring history home, close and personal. The Society’s Fort Lauderdale History Center and its museums provide a wider window to the world for the 3,000 students who participate in our programs and for all of the adults and families who come here each year. While they are learning local history, they also are absorbing the values and cultural attributes intrinsic to the American experience.
History Fort Lauderdale Staff
Patricia Zeiler, Executive Director
Ellery Andrews, Deputy Director & Education
Kamal Khan, Operations Manager
Cindy Lull, Outreach & Sponsorship Coordinator
Beth McGowan, Finance Director
Ellen Uguccioni, Historic Preservation
Val Nix, Membership
Margaret Miller, Librarian
Betty-Joan Alvarez, Research Assistant
DeAngelo McCray, Maintenance Supervisor
Daniel Smith, Facilities
Curation/Collections
Rodney Dillon, Historian & Supervising Curator
Ellery Andrews, Collections Management
Sheila Brew, Collections & Exhibit Preparator
Nora Pinell-Hernandez, Exhibit Designer
Historians/Authors-in-Residence
Roberto Fernandez, Historian & Woodlawn Cemetery Project
Patrick Scott, JD, Historian/Writer
John Bailey, Historian/Writer
History Fort Lauderdale
Board of Trustees
Erin Farrington Finlen, President
Katherine Lochrie, Vice President
Art Bengochea, Vice President
Melinda Bowker, Treasurer
Zachary Bazara, Secretary
Patrick Scott, Immediate Past President
Greg Brewton, Trustee
Mike Capovani, Trustee
Patience Cohn, Trustee
Ann Denison, Trustee
Robert Golden, Trustee
Carol Henderson, Trustee
Abby Laughlin, Trustee
Audrey Ring, Trustee
Matt Sacco, Trustee
Ben Sorensen, Trustee
Christine Vergari, Trustee
Gordon “Ollie” Wareham, Trustee
Patricia Glasco West, Trustee
Gloria Wetherington, Trustee
Patricia Zeiler, Executive Director