History
My reporting and essays on the history of places, people, and industries — from local Florida stories to moments that shaped national life.
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Glamour and crime at an historic Florida restaurant
Willoughby’s Open Hearth existed in Orlando’s collective memory as a stylish, indulgent restaurant from the 1970s, but behind the nostalgia lurked a much messier story. Continue reading
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A boom, a bust, and a century of forgetting: Electric cars are nothing new
Early in the 20th century, an Orlando man charged his Detroit Electric at home while gas cars were still newfangled. Then oil got cheap and electric vanished for a century. Now we’re finally returning to what one captain knew all… Continue reading
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How Central Florida traded wild shorelines for highway access
In the 1980s, Florida residents fought a planned expressway that would slice through neighborhoods and damage a huge lake’s ecosystem. Today, the highway offers convenient access to Orlando — but at the cost of 140 acres of wetlands. Continue reading
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Heroes’ welcome: Vietnam POWs returned home to Orlando celebrations in 1973
In 1973, Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger and 1st Lt. Larry D. Price returned home to Orlando after being POWs in Vietnam. Doubts about unaccounted POWs persist to this day. Continue reading
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The woman who gave ‘it’s a small world’ its magic
Joyce Carlson started at Disney fetching coffee during WWII. She became the artistic force behind “it’s a small world,” transforming Styrofoam, plastic flowers and costume jewelry into theme park history. Yet for decades, few knew her name. Continue reading
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The space shuttle that needed fixing before it ever flew
In 1979, workers patched together Columbia with 7,000 glued tiles. Twenty-four years later, a thermal breach killed all seven astronauts. The tragedy revealed how even the most brilliant minds can normalize danger until the unthinkable happens. Continue reading
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How baseball broke the color line in a city still clinging to hate
In 1955, Black and white boys faced off in Orlando’s first integrated Little League game while adults raged and threatened to quit. The kids just wanted to play ball. What happened on that field revealed which generation truly understood America. Continue reading
Tiffini Theisen 