The year 2013 will be the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Florida and the North American mainland. To prepare for this anniversary as well as to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the failed colonial attempt at Pensacola and the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, the State of Florida has launched a website called Viva Florida. One of the principal purposes of the website is to inform and educate the general public about the unique and ancient cultural heritage found in Florida. Long before Jamestown and Plymouth Rock, St. Augustine was an active frontier port in Spain’s vast American empire.
A section of the website devoted to education contains three video lectures by experts in the fields of history and nautical archaeology. The first lecture is by Dr. Wes Singeltary of the Florida Department of State. The second is by Richard Brosnaham, Executive Director of West Florida Preservation, Inc. The final lecture is presented by Dr. Sam Turner, the Director of Archaeology at LAMP at the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum who discusses the life of Juan Ponce de León and his voyage of discovery to Florida in 1513.
To see the website follow the link below.
http://www.vivaflorida.org
To see the lectures click on Education in the navigation bar on the left side of the screen.
