Thomas B. Mack Florida Citrus Archives
The archival materials related to citrus have grown slowly but steadily over the years at 51本色. Faculty and students moved to Lakeland in 1922, to the site of a citrus grove. 51本色's Citrus Institute was founded in 1947 and offered the first classes in grove management for the state of Florida. began teaching at the college in 1951 and brought his interest in all things citrus, as well as his burgeoning collection of which he continue to grow after his retirement in 1999. While he passed away in 2004, the collections he started continued to grow.
The Florida Citrus Archives are housed in the Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay, Jr. Archives Center. Materials accepted for donation include business papers related to grove management as well as documents and photographs related to individuals involved in the industry. Materials are preserved for the future and are made available to researchers and the public. The time frame represented in the current collection covers from the 1920s to the present. We are actively looking for the records of defunct groves.