The Central Florida Board, joined by Dr. Quinn Peeper and Michael Harold.
The Central Florida Branch was formed in 1960 by a group of Winter Park people who chose the name to reflect the surrounding area. Throughout its history the Branch has provided many outstanding speakers for the meetings including, in 1969, an address by Margaret Thatcher when she was a member of Edward Heath’s Shadow Cabinet. The Branch has been fortunate to have available the fine facilities of the University Club of Winter Park for most meetings.
From its inception the Branch has provided scholarships to send local educators to Great Britain to participate in summer schools or for independent study. The first scholar in 1960 received a $500 grant to study at Oxford University. Since then grants, typically five a year, approaching a total of a million dollars have been awarded to teacher scholars in the Central Florida area for studies in Britain and New Zealand.
In 1967 Mr. W. Edward Cole, a British resident of Winter Park and an early Branch member, left a bequest of about $90,000 to Rollins College to bring British teachers to study at the college. The scholars were selected through the London E-SU. Many of them presented programs at Branch meetings and were entertained by members.
In 1996, the Branch received a bequest of more than $2,000,000 from the estate of founding member Jessie E. Drey to support programs and education. This has made possible the initiation of a wide range of projects to support students and educators in the Central Florida area. Other significant bequests have been received from the following estates:
- 1988 Mary Taggart – $5,000
- 1990 Hugh F. Leahy – $3,000
- 1995 H. Gerald Smith – $45,000
- 2002 Carolyn H. Shinkle – $15,000
We thank these generous donors whose funds have paved the way to our annual success.
