Bygone Jax: Our Unsung History

About Bygone Jax: Our Unsung History

The city of Jacksonville turned 200 in 2022, but how much do Jaxsons really know about their city’s history? Bygone Jax: Our Unsung History, a podcast from WJCT Public Media, highlights some of the lesser known or little explored stories from the River City’s past.In Episodes 1 and 2, we take listeners back to March of 1863, when two regiments of Black Union soldiers were sent to Jacksonville to occupy the city for the third time during the Civil War. Their mission: pester Confederate troops in the area, free enslaved people along the St. Johns River and enlist as many Black men as possible.They were there for just three weeks, but during that short span of time, media coverage of what transpired in Jacksonville helped turn the tide of public opinion on Black troops serving in the army. Seeing this as a chance to tip the scales in the Union’s favor, President Abraham Lincoln’s administration decided to move forward with the full-scale enlistment of Black troops. Some historians believe the Union wouldn’t have won the war if it weren’t for the resulting influx of manpower.In Episodes 3-5: The indigenous history of Northeast Florida stretches back over 12,000 years, but too often conversations about it are limited to a handful of talking points which may not even be true. With the help of research by local experts and supporting historical documents, we tackle three of the most common myths and misconceptions about Jacksonville’s indigenous history and take a look at the far more fascinating truth.Finally, in Episodes 6-7, In 1908, a small film company called Kalem came to Jacksonville. Over the next few years they would revolutionize the film industry, and, for a short time, the city would be known as “The Winter Film Capital of the World.” Research for this podcast comes from Florida State College at Jacksonville, which launched a new History of Jacksonville course in fall of 2022.

Publisher

Brendan Rivers, Tammy Cherry

Category

history

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Jan 2023

Latest episode

12 Jul 2024

Latest episodes

8 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Jul 2024

   The Southern Movie Mecca, Part 1

   On December 8, 1908, a small film production company called Kalem arrives in Jacksonville, officially kicking off the movie business in the River City. Over the next few years, Kalem will revolutionize the film industry… but who were they, and what brought them to Jacksonville?

2. 

   12 Jul 2024

   The Southern Movie Mecca, Part 2

   Having conquered Jacksonville, Kalem turns its attention to an entirely different battlefield when it begins specializing in Civil War films told from the Southern perspective. But changes in the movie industry and Florida’s rapidly shifting political landscape spell the end — not only for the company itself, but also for Jacksonville’s burgeoning film industry.

3. 

   13 Nov 2023

   The ‘Last of the Timucua’

   As the story goes, the “last of the Timucua,” a man named Juan Alonso Cabale, died in Cuba in 1767. The details of Cabale’s death are true, but over time they have been fused into a broader false narrative that affects the indigenous people of Florida to this day.

4. 

   13 Nov 2023

   The images that shaped our understanding of the Timucua — and why they’re likely wrong

   In 1591, Flemish goldsmith Theodore de Bry and his sons published a book that still shapes how we picture the Timucua to this day. Supposedly its imagery was based on paintings by French painter Jacques LeMoyne, who was stationed at Fort Caroline… but was it really? And how accurate is the picture they present of local indigenous life?

5. 

   13 Nov 2023

   Did an indigenous metropolis once stand in what’s now Downtown Jacksonville?

   Stories about an ancient Timucuan town called Ossachite buried beneath the streets of Downtown Jacksonville abound online, but did it actually exist? And does this romantic narrative of a lost city actually obscure the far more interesting indigenous history of Northeast Florida?

6. 

   22 Feb 2023

   How three weeks in Jacksonville changed the course of the Civil War, part 2

   Episode 2: Union forces continue to occupy Jacksonville and the Second South Carolina Volunteers mount an expedition up the St. Johns. An unexpected order to withdraw the troops from Jacksonville confounds Higginson, but it quickly becomes clear that what his men have done there has turned the tide of public opinion on Black enlistment. To read the show notes head over to wjct.org/bygonejax.

7. 

   22 Feb 2023

   How three weeks in Jacksonville changed the course of the Civil War, part 1

   Episode 1: It’s March of 1863 and two of the first Black regiments in the Union Army are sent to occupy Jacksonville, Florida. Their mission: harass Confederate troops in the area, free enslaved people along the St. Johns River and enlist as many Black men as possible. To read the show notes head over to wjct.org/bygonejax.

8. 

   20 Jan 2023

   Bygone Jax Trailer

   Bygone Jax: Our Unsung History from WJCT Public Media tells some of the lesser known stories — or more accurate versions of the stories people think they know — about Jacksonville’s past. The show is powered by research from the people behind Florida State College at Jacksonville’s History of Jacksonville course, which launched in fall 2022.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

20 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

7 ratings