The Plant City treasure officially opens camera and photo exhibit in the Lee Building.
Photos courtesy of the Plant City History & Photo Archives and Johnnie Byrd
The Plant City History & Photo Archives began as eight boxes of photos taken, or collected, by well-known local photographer Bill Friend. When Friend died, Ed Verner asked, “What will become of his collection of photographs? We cannot allow them to fall into the dustbin of history.” So, Verner bought the photos in 2000. He stored them in a hall outside his office and donated an office in the Lee Building to provide space for history buffs to work on a preservation project. He asked Plant City resident and history professor Gil Gott to lead the effort.
Fast forward to the History & Photo Archives 2025 Silver Anniversary. Now the Archives is award-winning and located in its own building in downtown Plant City. The entity holds a collection of over 100,000 local historical photographs, negatives, and documents that are available for the public to view at no cost. Inside the gallery, visitors can see slideshows of digital photo reproductions on large display screens or browse through the archives.
“Twenty-five years, don’t they go by in a blink?” Verner commented. “Knowing how often we’ve been on shoestring budget alert, and remembering how many times we leapt onto trying to do something on nothing but faith, it kind of blows my mind. Looking back on the books written, articles published, exhibits generated, Veterans’ Parks spearheaded, stories saved, images scanned, research given out, awards given, and so much more, I’m proud of what we’ve done so far with our limited resources, and Gil Gott deserves a History Medal of Honor. The number of people who cared and gave time and energy is long. Many of them have passed on during these first 25 years, which is sad for me to recall. The number of people who benefited and gave nothing is even longer, as always seems to be the case when it comes to heritage and history work. But I believe, like many before us (and some I have faith will appear moving forward), that the doing of this type of work is part of what helps the character of a town like Plant City endure and retain at least a small fraction of its uniquity that otherwise withers and fades. For every picture or story we save, 10 are likely lost, but the one is worth the doing. Our catch phrase remains, ‘To See & Remember.’”
For this twenty-fifth anniversary, the Archives held an evening celebration and dinner at the 1922 Lee Building that marked the grand opening of a historic camera and photo collage exhibit inside. “My grandfather, William Lee, built the building,” Elizabeth Lee Barron said. “My great-grandfather built the Mays Building across the street. It was a very nice event to get together. I love what they’ve done with this building, and all of the pictures on the wall.”
In the lobby, 103 photos from Friend and another local photographer, Gladys Jeffcoat, are mounted in two collages. “I came in not knowing what to expect of the historic camera exhibit,” Marie Gillmore said. “I think it is a fantastic preservation of Plant City’s legacy, and of this fantastic photographer who collected these cameras through her lifetime, and was able to leave this legacy for the next generation to come through and see the history of how we took pictures, and all the devices we used. All of these devices would probably work today because they were so well made and so well preserved. I think it is very important we save and preserve this legacy, and it is a perfect pairing of the Plant City History & Photo Archives and this office, and the display on the walls. I hope the community comes out and takes advantage of looking at this little slice of Plant City history.”
The wall of Friend photos is 25 feet long and 10 feet high. The Jeffcoat collage is 31 feet long and 10 feet high. In addition, custom-crafted wood cabinets house 400 antique cameras she collected. It took Amelia Biting, an Art History student at the University of Central Florida, and her father, more than a month to create and mount the collages.
The grand opening of the exhibits was a big event for Hillsborough County history. Susan Carter, Curator and Registrar for the Henry Plant Museum in Tampa, traveled to the Lee Building. “I’ve known Gil and Ed through the years,” she said. “We have borrowed things back and forth. So, we were thrilled to be invited and came out to share in the festivities.”
Tomaro Taylor, University of South Florida Libraries Director, Special Collections, is one historian who came to Plant City that evening. “I have known Gil for about 20 years,” she said. “I came out to celebrate with him. This has been a wonderful event, and I was so happy to have this invitation and see old friends. It is my first visit out here and I love it.”
Another one of the 83 people who came out for the event was Stephanie Mackin, Archives Librarian at the University of South Florida, Special Collections. “This is the first time I have come to Plant City to see the photographs, and it is amazing,” she said. “These hand-built cases, and to see all of these different kinds of cameras is breathtaking.”
The Plant City History & Photo Archives is open Tuesday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The exhibit in the Lee Building is available to the public free, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Archives is a registered non-profit 501(c) (3) supported mostly by private donations. Those who want to donate to its work can do so at https://www.plantcityphotoarchives.org
“After this party, Gil and I laughingly said how we should do this again—but 25 years from now!” Verner concluded.
