Tallahassee Democrat unveils 'TLH 200: The Gerald Ensley Memorial Bicentennial Project'
Growing up in Tallahassee, you hear things about the capital city that could be labeled as urban legend.
“Like Rome, Tallahassee has seven hills.”
“On a clear day, you can see the ocean from the top of the Capitol building.”
“The Mag Lab routes storms around the city.”
It’s fun to drop these stories about our hometown in mid-conversation, but the truth about Tallahassee is much more interesting, even complicated and sometimes controversial.
Tallahassee celebrates its bicentennial in 2024, and in collaboration with Gerald Ensley's family, the Democrat is proud to announce the launch of "TLH 200: The Gerald Ensley Memorial Bicentennial Project."
As the city and county launch a year-long birthday bash and celebration, the Tallahassee Democrat will be publishing articles on our capital history that celebrate the best, and sometimes illuminate how we overcame the worst.
In the spirit of Ensley – the prolific Democrat staff writer and columnist whose writing endeared him to a vast local following during his nearly 40-year career – we will infuse his love for Tallahassee and fearless storytelling into this year-long project.
The Democrat will highlight landmarks, watershed moments, famous city leaders or those you never heard about who paved the way for the Tallahassee of today.
Topics include the history of our public pools during segregation, profiles on some of our most beloved business owners and a guide to the city’s oldest neighborhoods. We'll also be examining the city's origin story, the history of Florida A&M University, the airport, the annual Springtime parade and so much more.
Democrat photographer Alicia Devine will also be sharing photos from our own archives and before and after images that show just how much we've changed over the generations.
An Ensley column comeback and a partnership with 'The Greg Tish Show' to spotlight 200 Tallahassee history makers
And each week readers will hear from Ensley himself as we bring back his history columns to the opinion page on Sundays. In his storied career, he wrote about everything from how Apalachee Parkway was named in a city contest to the city's oldest restaurants to water-skiing on Lake Ella.
The Democrat is also excited to partner with "The Greg Tish Show" on Real Talk 93.3 to create a literal Tallahassee 200 list, spotlighting the people who molded the history of the this big city/little town we are blessed to call home.
Regular listeners of the radio show from 6-9 a.m. on weekdays know Tish's passion for this city and its rich history. He'll be collaborating with Tallahassee Democrat Capitol reporter James Call – a Tallahassee resident of almost four decades – Democrat staff, and people throughout the community to draw up the list.
Rather than being a definitive list of history makers and movers and shakers, the TLH 200 is designed to be a starting point highlighting the accomplishments of people from all walks of life. The only criteria is that only those who are deceased will be considered.
We'll roll out the first 20 names and mini-bios ahead of the actual city's bicentennial date of March 4 and the final 20 on Dec. 29, 2024, the anniversary of when the Florida Legislative Council established Leon County from Gadsden County.
We'll also want to hear from you along the way. You can email suggestions along with a brief biography and write-up of about 200 words to [email protected]. We'll spotlight the best submissions in future editions of the Democrat.
These stories, columns and the evolving list will be accessible to all readers for free at tallahassee.com/TLH200.
In his farewell column prior to his retirement in 2015, Ensley wrote: “This newspaper has been covering this community for 110 years, from when we were little more than a village to today’s modern city."
“To me, a newspaper is one of the most vital institutions in a community,” added Ensley, who died in 2018. “To me, there is nothing more ‘Tallahassee’ than the Tallahassee Democrat.”
The weight of those words is something we carry with us everyday and into this special year in our history. We can’t wait to wish Tallahassee a happy 200th birthday with our TLH 200 project.
Ana Go?i-Lessan, a state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, is the lead writer and reporter for "TLH 200: The Gerald Ensley Memorial Bicentennial Project." She grew up in Tallahassee and is a member of Leon High School's class of 2006. She is looking forward to raising a child with her husband in her Tallahassee home. Email suggestions for the project to [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Announcing 'TLH 200: The Gerald Ensley Memorial Bicentennial Project'
