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Postcards show how Seminoles lived in the past
An exhibit of Seminole postcards opening this week at the Old Davie School
Historical Museum offers a glimpse at life early in the 20th century.

Posted on Sun, Oct. 14, 2007

BY JULIE LANDRY LAVIOLETTE
Special to The Miami Herald

A snapshot of Seminole life in the 1920s and '30s is part of Seminoles Look
Back: Our People in Postcards, a traveling exhibit from the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki
Museum on display at the Old Davie School Historical Museum beginning
Friday.

The exhibit of vintage Seminole postcards depicts different aspects of camp
life during that time, said Diana Stone, education coordinator for the
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, the official museum of the Seminole Tribe on Florida.

"When they lived in the tourist camps, people would snap pictures of them
and make them into postcards," she said.

In the early '20s and '30s, tourism was blossoming in Florida and the
postcards of Seminoles became a way to showcase Florida's history and
lifestyle, Stone said.

The exhibit includes dozens of enlarged reproductions of the vintage
postcards, as well as about more than a dozen original postcards.

"Cory Osceola, a figurehead of the tribe, is pictured in a lot of the
postcards," Stone said. ``He was very personable and posed for a lot of the
pictures."

Included with the postcards is background information on several
photographers -- non-natives who forged relationships with the tribe and
photographed members frequently.

The exhibit includes information on alligator wrestling, Stone said.

"Alligator wrestling was done a lot for show, for the tourists, but it came
out of the techniques they used to hunt alligators," she said.

Stone said many Seminoles look for elder family members when viewing the
exhibit.

"For many, it's like coming in and looking at a family album," she said.
``It creates a big impact because they can see their family did have an
impact on the world."

The Old Davie School Historical Museum hosts six exhibits annually.
Although recent exhibits have focused on local artwork, the museum's board
wanted to explore more of the area's history, Executive Director Todd
Bothel said.

"The board says we are not an art museum but a history museum, so we wanted
to do more exhibits with a historical theme," he said. ``This exhibit
documents Seminole life in the '20s and '30s."

A free opening reception will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. Refreshments will
be served. The exhibit will be on display through Nov. 24.

The Old Davie School Historical Museum is at 6650 Griffin Rd. It is open
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and by appointment. For
details, call 954-797-1044.