Voices of Pensacola is a place for everyone's story


  • May 6, 2015
  • /   Ben Sheffler
  • /   community-dashboard
Voices of Pensacola, a partnership among the University of West Florida Historic Trust and Gulf Power, is a place for telling Pensacola’s stories. And with the help of the community, the stories continue to grow. "People change, communities change, and people are always in a conversation," says Dr. Brendan Kelley, vice president of advancement at UWF. "In many ways this space is emblematic of that conversation. It gives you a chance to literally hear the voices of Pensacola and experience them in a wide variety of different ways." [caption id="attachment_22896" align="alignright" width="450"]Joyce Russo Bollenbacher, president of Sons of Italy in America Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835, watches a video in the egg chair.  Ben Sheffler Pensacola Today Joyce Russo Bollenbacher, president of Sons of Italy in America Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835, watches a video in the egg chair. Ben Sheffler Pensacola Today[/caption] Not only can personal stories be viewed while sitting in a comfy, egg-shaped chair, but also stories can be recorded in a simple, high-quality studio. Currently, the background of the studio is a large picture of Old Christ Church, but like many aspects of the building, it's interchangeable. "We were adamant in bringing this to life, that it not be a static museum," says Sandy Sims, community development manager at Gulf Power. "We've designed this as a place for people to come in and tell their history and continue to share that history with others in our community." On the first floor, a "Tracking Your Path" map hangs on the wall so that visitors can track their migration to Pensacola and get a conversation started. A continuous slideshow of historic photographs plays on the wall next to the map. Next to the slideshow, the "Things We Carry" display depicts unique artifacts, such as things people have brought from home. On another wall is the "Many Strings One Thread" display, which is designed to get people thinking about what their story is, says Rob Overton, executive director of the UWF Historic Trust. Voices_Pensacola_manystrands"What makes a community a community? It's different, larger topics...but then you break it down to festivals, sports and ultimately it's the people," Overton says. An auditorium is in an adjacent room where films are shown, but Overton says he hopes to have events where people can share their stories live. "We never even thought that we would be allowing art house films to be shown here, but that's a niche here in the community that's wanted by the public...and it's worked great," Overton says. On the second floor, the Hilton-Green Research Room includes the archives of T.T. Wentworth, the Pensacola Historical Society and the UWF Historic Trust. "We probably have the largest collection of historic photographs of Northwest Florida in the region," Overton says. Voice_Pensacola_thingscarryPhotos include Pensacola music groups, naturalization ceremonies and Pensacola Naval Air Station airplanes and helicopters. Old maps, various organizations’ histories, family histories and newspapers, including the Colored Citizen and all of the Pensacola News Journal's historic photos, are filed in the drawers. "All those photographs and all those family histories are stories; it's those voices over and over again," Overton says. All of the archives are being converted to a digital platform, but that's going to take time and hard drive space. Students are scanning glass-plate photograph negatives from the 1920's. "It's a monumental task," Overton says. "We are still actively collecting." Even the Voices of Pensacola building has a story to tell. Built in 1912, it was formerly the D. Kugelman & Co. grocery warehouse. Next, it was home to other grocery and liquor warehouses, as well as the Pensacola Cigar & Tobacco Co. When the city purchased it in the late 1950's, it became a City Hall annex. Shortly after that, it became the Beacon Teen Club, where teens could come and dance. The bricks and timber used in the original construction were local, which are still visible in several places throughout the building. Voices of Pensacola Ribbon CuttingDuring renovation, the space was purposely designed to be adaptable and used for multiple things, Overton says. Businesses and civic or nonprofit organizations have begun holding off-site meetings there. During normal hours there is no charge, but after-hours there is a fee. "I would love to see this get on the tour of child development centers and youth programs during the summer to come here and experience this," Sims says. "I think it'll be interesting as we start opening this up to more groups. Every time I come in here it's used in a different fashion." A program advisory board was recently put in place to help plan for the space’s future. "That gives Rob (Overton) and a variety of other individuals at the university a community sounding board and a community committee who are really dedicated to figuring out how to keep the living voice associated with this place," Kelley says. A master plan for the entire 28 properties of the UWF Historic Trust is also being finalized now. "We see all of the great things that Voices of Pensacola can do in terms of making history an invitation for people to come in and get excited about," Kelley says. And when it comes down to it, Kelley believes the UWF Historic Trust should be a resource just like every other element of UWF is. "It should make the community better," he says. For more information, visit www.historicpensacola.org.
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