Phillip “Phil” Russell Kelley didn’t always wear bow ties but beginning in the late 1950s; it appears to have become part of his regular attire. What prompted him to make the switch from a regular tie is a mystery, but Phil was definitely one of Kissimmee’s unique citizens. And with a good old Irish name like Kelley, Phil also had the “Gift of the Blarney.” […]
On Purple Heart Day, August 7th, Osceola History pays tribute to a local businessman who served his country and the community he called home for sixty-two years. After serving in World War II, Elmer “Pete” Louis Hunt, born in 1923 in New York, came to Kissimmee, Florida. The youngest of five sons born to Homer and Lena Hunt, the family moved to Oviedo before 1940. […]
Women Veterans Day was first observed on June 12, 2018, to mark the 70th anniversary of President Truman signing into law the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act. The law enabled women to serve as permanent members in the regular Army Corps, Marine Corps, Navy, and the later formed Air Force. One of those women who called Kissimmee, Florida, her home was Elsie Ethridge Baker. Born […]
Black History Month 2021 St. James AME Zion Church St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church has existed since Osceola County’s earliest days. The exact year of the church’s founding varies according to available records. In the mid to late 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) paid people to compile reports of church histories. The WPA report states St. James AME Zion was constituted […]