Pensacola Historical Society
The Pensacola Historical Society is an non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Pensacola history. The Society's current executive director is Robyn A. Mainor.
| Pensacola Historical Society | |
| Established | 1933 |
| Executive director | Robyn A. Mainor |
| Board officers | Sandra Johnson Jordan, Pres. Elizabeth Vickers, Vice Pres. Dave Edwards, Secretary Wendy Simon, Treasurer Vince Margiotti, Jr., Parliamentarian |
| Staff | Jacki Wilson, Curator of Research and Collections Wendi C. Davis, Curator of Exhibits |
| Website | www.pensacolahistory.org |
History
The Society was founded on February 14, 1933, with twenty-one members meeting at City Hall. At the next meeting, held on March 2 of the same year, in the Shangtung Room of the San Carlos Hotel, the Society's charter and by-laws were ratified. On March 25 the Society was incorporated as a non-profit educational organization.
In 1938, The Society opened a museum in the Dorothy Walton House, located at 137 West Romana Street, which had been purchased and then donated for use as a museum by T. T. Wentworth. Unfortunately, the number of visitors to the museum and volunteers to staff it declined during World War II, and the museum closed on May 5, 1944. The displays and artifacts were moved to Wentworth's home in Ensley, next to which he eventually built a museum of his own, which opened in 1957. The Society itself also fell into inactivity during the war.
The Pensacola Historical Society was reorganized in 1952. Initially, meetings were held in the Chamber of Commerce offices, but members including Leila Abercrombie quickly began working to obtain a space in which the Society could meet and reopen a musuem. After the library relocated from Old Christ Church, the City of Pensacola allowed the Society to use the church, and they opened a new museum there on August 15, 1960.
In 1991, having outgrown the confines of Old Christ Church, the Society moved its Resource Library to the Beacon Building on Church Street, and the museum to the Arbona Building on Zaragoza Street.
Pensacola Historical Museum
The Pensacola Historical Museum is currently located in the Arbona Building at 115 East Zaragoza Street. The first floor contains rotating exhibits, as well as the museum shop, while the second floor features the museum's permanent exhibit gallery.
The Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and can be reached via telephone at (850) 433-1559. The Museum is closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Resource Center
The Society's Resource Center houses their collections and research library, and is accessible to Society members free of charge, and to the general public for a nominal fee. The Resource Center is currently located in the Beacon Building (which the Society has renamed the Norman Simons Building) at 110 Church Street.
The Resource Center is open Tuesday-Thursday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and on Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and can be reached via telephone at (850) 434-5455. The Resource Center is closed Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays.