Email: Amanda.Henry@ocfl.net
Phone: 407-836-7046
History Center Offers Free Admission for ‘Come Out With Pride’ Week, October 8-14
Orlando, Fla. – Admission to the Orange County Regional History Center will be free to all from Monday, October 8, through Sunday, October 14, 2018, to coincide with Orlando’s annual Come Out with Pride festival.
The weekend offers visitors a final chance to see the special exhibit titled Another Year Passes: Orlando After the Pulse Nightclub Massacre, which closes October 14.
Marking the two-year commemoration of the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub on June 12, 2016, Another Year Passes presents more than 150 images and 600 artifacts collected at Pulse memorial sites throughout Orlando, along with community artwork, international messages and tributes, and many individual mementos.
History Center staff responded quickly after the shooting, which killed 49 and injured 53. Through the One Orlando Collection Initiative, they strove to create a historical record for current and future generations as they collected thousands of items at impromptu memorial sites including Lake Eola Park, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and the Orlando Regional Medical Center campus.
Their work continues two years after the tragedy, as the One Orlando Collection adds further information about memorial items, oral histories related to Pulse, and other invaluable items.
“Our staff works hard to help remember times of both joy and sorrow in Central Florida’s past, from the texture of everyday life to singular, tragic events such as Pulse,” says Michael Perkins, the History Center’s director. “We strive to honor and preserve the legacy of the victims.”
Housed in a restored historic courthouse in downtown Orlando, the History Center features four floors of permanent exhibits that take visitors on a journey through 12,000 years of Central Florida’s rich history. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, it is also accredited by the American Association of Museums.
During the free week, all of the History Center’s permanent exhibitions will be open to visitors, and on Saturday and Sunday, October 13 and 14, visitors can also enjoy free access to the museum’s new limited-run exhibit from the Smithsonian, Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code, which opens October 13.
The History Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and on Saturdays and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. To learn more, visit thehistorycenter.org.
About Orange County Government: Orange County Government strives to serve its residents and guests with integrity, honesty, fairness and professionalism. Located in Central Florida, Orange County includes 13 municipalities and is home to world-famous theme parks, one of the nation’s largest convention centers and a thriving life science research park. Seven elected members make up the Board of County Commissioners, including the Mayor, who is elected countywide. For more information, please visit www.OCFL.net or go to Orange County Government’s social media channels.