It all started with a few banker boxes temporarily stored in the hallway of the Lee Building. Their contents ignited a 25-year journey to fill a gap by focusing on Plant City’s photographic legacy.
The collection of photos and negatives in the boxes contained the life’s work of Bill Friend, a local commercial photographer. The acquisition of these images inspired several forward-thinking locals to create the Plant City Photo Archives. This newly formed nonprofit would ensure that Friend’s and others’ work would be preserved and accessible to the public while honoring their legacy and the people and places they photographed.
In 2008, the Photo Archives acquired the Gladys Jeffcoat collection. Ms. Jeffcoat was a ground-breaking photographer who started her interest as a teenager. With training and a little experience, she would open her photography studio in the early 1940s. At this time, professional photography was a male-dominated field.
For decades, she served as the official photographer of the Florida Strawberry Festival. She was also a sports photographer and filmed generations of family portraits, weddings, and special events. Gladys retired in the 1990s.
Over 400 vintage cameras accompanied the Jeffcoat collection, displayed at the Lee Building in its first-floor public lobby.
The Dr. Scotty & Hsiu Huang Research Library
The establishment of Dr. Scotty & Hsiu Huang Research Library in 2010 extended our original vision, providing an open research space that focuses on uncovering and sharing the stories in our photography collections.
A New Chapter Begins
