Archival Collections

1960s era Florida State University cheerleader's Jacket.  The jacket was hand made by the Seminole Tribe of Florida for Jack Haskins, who was at one time the head coach of the cheerleader squad.  A color photograph in the 1968 Tally-Ho yearbook indicates that cheerleaders were wearing the garment at that time. 

This collection, largely comprising newspaper clippings and correspondence, documents the controversy from 1991 through 2005 over FSU's use of Native American names and symbols representing Renegade and Chief Osceola, the Seminoles' Native American mascot, and its use in athletic merchandise. There is correspondence between representatives of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Florida Creek Indian Council with FSU reaffirming support for the Seminole name and Marching Chiefs over the use of the Seminole name, war chant, and "tomahawk chop" and letters between university officials about the President Dale Lick's Presidential Study Group on the Use of Seminole Symbolism and Tradition during the early 1990s. In addition, there are prints of early FSU Seminole football players, cheerleaders, and an FSU Homecoming Princess. Frequently cited individuals include James Billie, Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida; Michael Haney, an American Indian activist and elected official of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Dale W. Lick, FSU President, and James Anthony Paredes, an FSU faculty member and expert in contemporary North American Indians and applied anthropology. The collection is historically significant to researchers studying the controversial use of Native American mascots on sports teams.

The collection, donated by Jack Crothers to Heritage Protocol, consists primarily of ephemera relating to Florida State sports teams, especially football. The collection includes pennants, a variety of ticket stubs spanning much of the history of Florida State football, and pompons for every ACC team as of 2004. Other items include a jacket acquired from a Seminole Indian reservation and a program for the 1964 commencement ceremony at Florida State University.

Photocopies of letters and briefs regarding the Seminole Indians in Florida and specifically the Everglades Miccosukee Tribe. Correspondents include Grady L. Crawford, Virgil H. Harington, Richard W. Ervin, LeRoy Collins and Max Denton. Also included in the collection is a "Proposed Charter of the Seminole Indians of Florida," and a brief entitled, "The Miccosukee Nation Identity and Rights," written by the Counsel for the Everglades Miccosukee Tribes of Seminole Indians.

A letter from Thomas Sidney Jesup to Captain R. F. Loper of Philadelphia dated December 3, 1847. The letter pertains to the building of a vessel as recommended by Captain Loper. Includes clippings on Jesup and Osceola. The letter reads as follows: "QMGenl Office, Washington City, Dec. 3d 1847 Sir, In reply to your several letters dated Nov. 6th 18th + 19th I have to inform you that there are heavy arrea[r]ages against the Department and until Congress acts in the matter, no arrangements can be made to build such a vessel as you recommend. I remain sir, Your obedient T. S. Jesup, QMGenl Capt. R.F. Loper Philadelphia"