Tampa To Release 2 Newly Digitized Historic Photo Collections

TAMPA, FL – While many Tampa Bay-area residents are familiar with the historic Burget Brothers photo collection, it’s not the only image library documenting Tampa and Hillsborough County.

As part of its Archives Awareness Week, the City of Tampa’s Archives and Records Division will release the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Collection and the Tampa Photo Supply Collection to the public. These collections have never been shown outside of the City of Tampa’s archives and were no previously available digitally.

In collaboration with the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library, the two collections will be available online at http://digitalcollections.hcplc.org/digital.

Both collections are in the process of being digitized. Right now, there are about 1,000 images available online from each collection with more photographs added daily.

The Tampa Historical Society donated the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Collection to the City of Tampa in 1994. The collection contains more than 30,000 images of events in Tampa from approximately 1950 to 1990. Many locally elected officials and other dignitaries are feature in the collection.

The Tampa Photo Supply Collection features more than 50,000 images from 1940 to 1990 taken by local photographers Rose Rutigliano Weekley and Joseph Scolaro. Tampa Photo Supply’s photographers filmed many life events, such as graduations and weddings, as well as scenes from daily life in Tampa. Photos in the collection focus primarily on West Tampa, Ybor City and South Tampa, although pictures from Pinellas County are also featured.

A preview of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Collection and the Tampa Photo Supply Collection will take place at a program on Monday, July 10 at 3 p.m. in the City Council Chambers in Old City Hall, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd. The free program also will celebrate Tampa’s 130th birthday.

The photo collections release is part of the City of Tampa’s annual Archives Awareness Week, which was established by the City of Tampa Archives Advisory Committee in 1992. During the week, local history enthusiasts and local archivists combine to present their collections through exhibits and programs that focus on the value of archives in the identification, preservation and conservation of historic records.

For more information, visit www.tampagov.net/aaw.

Image 1: Men unload apples from an airplane at Drew Field on Aug. 31, 1949. Image courtesy of the City of Tampa Archives and Records Division.

Image 2: A float in a parade going by the Weil-Mass department store on Jan. 23, 1949. Image courtesy of the City of Tampa Archives and Records Division.

Image 3: A group of children perform at an Our Choice … Drug Free event. Image courtesy of Tampa Historical Society, City of Tampa Archives and Records Division.

Image 4: A group of people participate in a team-building exercise. Image courtesy of Tampa Historical Society, City of Tampa Archives and Records Division.