Campus Life

UWF Historic Trust to host 25th annual open house

The University of West Florida Historic Trust invites the community to Historic Pensacola's 25th Annual Open House on Saturday, June 6, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The University of West Florida Historic Trust invites the community to Historic Pensacola’s 25th Annual Open House on Saturday, June 6, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In conjunction with Viva Florida’s Victory Florida campaign, the free event will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Guests will have the opportunity to participate in swing dancing, dress up in a provided costume as Rosie the Riveter for their own “We Can Do It” photograph, write a message of thanks to our service men and women, past and present, on our “Wall of Thanks” and search for clues in the “Passport to the Past” scavenger hunt. The winner of the scavenger hunt will receive a free, private birthday party. Guests will also learn about life in Pensacola during the war, Victory Gardens, the many roles women played in the war and how scrap metal materials were gathered and used to support the war effort.

The Open House includes free admission to the Historic Pensacola Village, the T. T. Wentworth, Jr. Museum, the Pensacola Children’s Museum and Voices of Pensacola presented by Gulf Power as well as guided tours of many of the Historic Pensacola Village properties. Climmie the Clown will be visiting the Pensacola Children’s Museum and special programming is planned throughout the day at Voices of Pensacola, including the presentation “The S. S. San Pablo, A Brief History” by Stewart Hood at noon and a screening of “Pearl Harbor: One Last Goodbye” at 1 p.m. In addition, guests can explore museum quality and participate in directed learning activities that focus on Florida’s water resources and ecosystem in WaterVenture Florida’s Learning Lab, a 53-foot semi-trailer that has been customized as a state-of-the-art traveling science center.

Additional organizations participating in the Open House include Northwest Florida USO, American Red Cross, UWF Alumni Relations, the UWF Archaeology Institute, the Pensacola Archaeological Society and Next Exit History.

The Historic Pensacola complex is located between Plaza Ferdinand and Seville Square from Church Street, south to Bayfront Parkway. For further information, please visit www.historicpensacola.org or contact Jeff Nall, UWF Historic Trust chief community officer, at 850.595.5985 ext. 110 or jnall@uwf.edu.