Military historian Fred Borch will talk about Key West’s role during World War II. When the war began, the Navy in Key West occupied just 50 acres on the edge of the island. By 1945, Navy operations sprawled across more than 3,200 acres. The Navy spent $70 million in building Key West into what some called “America’s Gibraltar” (after the British outpost in the Mediterranean), and more than 14,000 ships passed through Key West’s Harbor between 1942 and 1945. The…

Our speaker on January 9th will be none other than Florida East Coast Railway Company Historian, Barry University Adjunct Professor of History and Historian in Residence and Nova Southeastern University Lifelong Learning Institute Adjunct Professor of History Seth H. Bramson. Professor Bramson, who is America’s single most-published Florida history book author, has written five histories of and about America’s most exciting railroad and you don’t and won’t want to miss his talk, THE FLORIDA EAST COAST RAILWAY: FOR 125 YEARS…

Join us on January 23rd, for a fascinating talk by Robert J. Woltz about the lack of preparation on the part of all combatants to the role of women as army nurses and the civilian response. Then the organization of the Grand army of the republic (the union veterans and the Civil War) and eight organizations that formed as auxiliaries to support the widows, orphans, disabled and destitute army nurses. They literally raised millions of dollars to meet their need. …

Distinguished Speaker Series | Fred Borch: Key West and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 Thursday, February 13, 2020, from 12:00pm – 1:00pm On October 14, 1962, US Air Force spy planes flying over Cuba discovered that the Soviet Union was assembling medium range ballistic missiles on the island—missiles that could reach most of the United States in minutes and, if armed with nuclear warheads, posed a grave threat to Americans. In the days and weeks that followed, the Cuban…

Distinguished Speaker Series | Fred Borch: Key West and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 Thursday, February 13, 2020, from 6:00pm – 7:00pm On October 14, 1962, US Air Force spy planes flying over Cuba discovered that the Soviet Union was assembling medium range ballistic missiles on the island—missiles that could reach most of the United States in minutes and, if armed with nuclear warheads, posed a grave threat to Americans. In the days and weeks that followed, the Cuban…

Distinguished Speaker Series | U-boats So Close to Home and The Finest Hours: The Coast Guard’s Greatest Rescue Thursday, March 5, 2020, from 6:00pm – 7:00pm New York Times bestselling author Michael Tougias will appear at the Custom House on Thursday, March 5, 2020, from 6:00pm-7:00pm. He will be giving a two part multi-media presentation. The first part covers his new book U-Boats so Close to Home: A True Story of an American Family’s Fight for Survival During WWII. The…