Lectures

The lecture series at the Richard C. Sullivan Public Library of Wilton Manors Library is a popular event in our community featuring interesting speakers and delicious refreshments. Currently, the Friends host lectures on a quarterly basis.

Our Next Lecture

Past Lectures

Wondering what you missed? Read about some of our past lectures.

Traditional Culture of the Seminoles

The Seminoles of Florida are ancestrally related to the Creek people living in Georgia and Alabama. At the conclusion of the Seminole Wars in 1855, they were left in an uncertain peace in Florida. Here, they reestablished their lifestyle and adjusted their customs to their new circumstances. David Blackard, the Curator for the Seminole tribe’s museum, Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki gave a fully-illustrated presentation on how the Seminole lived, what they ate, how they dressed, precisely where they lived, how they interacted with each other and outsiders as well as what they believed and how this has changed during the 20th and 21st centuries in this fully illustrated presentation.

Birding in Wilton Manors

John Strohsahl is a Wilton Manors resident and avid birder, frequently seen with his camera at the Richardson Historic and Nature Preserve. John discussed where to bird in Wilton Manors specifically and what birds can be found in Wilton Manors during Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, with an emphasis on migratory birds that pass through or stop in Wilton Manors. In 1964, the City Council declared Wilton Manors a “Bird Sanctuary” Richardson Historic Park and Nature Preserve is a registered “Birding Hotspot”.

Historical Look at the Book “The Secret River"

Anne Bellisimo is a Florida native and writer. Her presentation is a historical look at The Secret River – a children’s book written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings at the end of her career and published posthumously in 1955. The library’s copy of The Secret River is a first edition which was sold primarily to libraries and schools. Anne Bellissimo holds a B.A.degree in Mass Communication from the University of South Florida. She wrote and produced local and historical features for WNSC, an upstate outlet for the South Carolina Educational Television Network (SCETV) and WEPR, an SCETV outlet in Clemson, SC. After moving back to South Florida to her childhood home of Wilton Manors, she worked a variety of positions within the City of Ft. Lauderdale and Wilton Manors including a part time position at the Wilton Manors Library.