As the Orlando Sentinel celebrates its 150th anniversary today, a new museum exhibit explores the paper’s long history and its place in the lives of Central Floridians.
The pocket exhibit created by the Orange County Regional History Center, “Extra! Extra! Orlando Sentinel 150th Anniversary,” is now open to the public. Photographs and artifacts from the History Center’s archives are on display.
“We really wanted to prioritize things that showed history and were interesting, things that people don’t always see, but also highlighted the role that newspapers played in the community,” said exhibition curator Katie Kelly. “This isn’t just news. It’s a community institution.”
She also explored stories from a human perspective, such as John Young, a homegrown astronaut who participated in NASA’s Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs.
“This is a picture of my parents holding the Sentinel when John Young landed on one of his missions. And I have the cover of that newspaper,” Kelly said.
The exhibit includes an exact replica of “The Galley Proof” created by Martin Andersen. Martin Andersen came to Orlando in 1931 to manage the Sentinel and its sister paper, the Reporter Star, and became its owner in 1945.
“Andersen actually created a newsletter and sent it out to friends and local people who were serving overseas during World War II to let them know what was going on at home,” Kelly said.
Some documents from the museum’s archives were reproduced on panels, including a ledger from the late 1890s, because they were too fragile to display.
“Everyone subscribed,” Kelly said.
It also includes the paper’s longtime downtown headquarters near the intersection of Orange Avenue and Colonial Drive.
“We have photos from the collection of the building from the 1950s and ’60s, and then we mentioned the fact that it was in use until the coronavirus hit and everyone went remote,” Kelly said.
Orlando Sentinel employees worked in these offices from 1951 until October 2020. More than 10,000 residents toured the space when it opened under Andersen’s leadership.
“One of the things they were proud of was an escalator that was one of the first, if not the first, in Orlando,” said Roger Simmons, current editor-in-chief of the Orlando Sentinel.
“I think the community was proud of the fact that the newspaper built this wonderful building, and it was built for the community to ensure that we could serve the newspaper for years to come,” Simmons said. “That building served us well into the 2000s.”
Simmons said Andersen also emphasized the role of roads in the area.
“Very important on his list of regional priorities was improving roads. … You might think, ‘Well, that’s not an important enough issue to push,’ but that’s what led to the growth of tourism here,” Simmons said. “You couldn’t get to Orlando without these great roads, and that was one of the reasons Walt Disney chose Orlando.”
Important dates in the Orlando Sentinel’s 150-year history
“Extra! Extra!” is located in the space to the right of the lobby of the History Center, where the gift shop used to be. It is scheduled to run until January 3rd. Previous pocket exhibits have included exhibits about vintage hotels, the women’s soccer talent known as the 85ers, and Tupperware pioneer Brownie Wise.
The special exhibition is an “opportunity to highlight some artifacts in our collection that have not had the opportunity to be displayed before,” Kelly said.
“It’s really great that the History Center is doing this to celebrate the history of the Sentinel. We have dedicated the last 150 years to writing the first draft of Orlando’s history,” Simmons said. “This is something we are very proud of and a tradition that we will continue, hopefully, for the next 150 years.”
dbevil@orlandosentinel.com
