Nell Ward Lecture: Making Sense of the Wild Frontier

Joe Knetsch brings his latest talk to the Tampa Bay History Center on Wednesday, October 28, as part of the Nell Ward Lecture series. He's presenting Making Sense of the Wild Frontier: Early Survey Work in Florida, 1821-1880, a look at how the state was mapped and measured during those early decades. The Nell Ward Lecture is an annual event at the center that takes its audience through cartography, exploration, and history, and this year's session fits right into that.

Knetsch knows the subject from the inside. He spent 28 years as the historian for the Division of State Lands at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and he holds a PhD in history from Florida State University. He's written and edited 16 books, mostly on Florida history, and has more than 200 published articles and over 40 book reviews for national magazines. He's also served on the editorial boards of Tampa Bay History and El Escribano, and has sat on the boards of the St. Augustine Historical Society, the Broward Historical Commission, the Tallahassee Historical Society, and the Florida Historical Society. He lives in Tallahassee with his wife of 50 years, Linda, and their four cats.

The talk takes place in TECO Hall on the second floor of the Tampa Bay History Center, at 801 Water Street in downtown Tampa. Doors open at 6 PM, the program starts at 6:30 PM, and it wraps up around 7:30 PM. A book signing follows the talk, and there's a Zoom option if you can't make it in person. The lecture is free and open to the public.