More than half a century before Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings made her home in the remote hamlet of Cross Creek in southeastern Alachua County, Joseph B. Blake became the first known white settler to live there. Joseph was the older brother of Dempsey Blake, Jay Whitworth’s great-great-grandfather.
Whitworth began tracing his Cross Creek roots after his mother, Hilda Avant Whitworth, died in 1994. While preparing his mother’s house for sale, Whitworth searched through an old cedar chest where his mother kept family photos.
“It turned into an archaeological dig the further I went down,” Whitworth recalled. “I found items I did not know or forgot existed. In the lower level of the chest were the photos and stereograph cards of our ancestors from the Creek and Gainesville, along with various scenes of the area.”
The Gainesville Sun
MUSIC UNDER THE STARS: Catch up with artists you missed with Music Under the Stars at Celebration Pointe from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. This free series of concerts features bands and musicians who were rescheduled. Join fellow music lovers on the Green at the Promenade as Late Night Delivery performs. Coronavirus precautions are still in place. Celebration Pointe is located off of Archer Road behind Interstate 75. For more information, visit celebrationpointe.com.
JAZZ ON THE GREEN: Join Celebration Pointe for live music, food and drinks, lawn games and more as Nino Castaneda plays live music on the stage in the 5001 Courtyard next to Hotel Indigo from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Spread a blanket under the setting sun and catch some beautiful music while the kids play games on the lawn. Celebration Pointe is located off of Interstate 75 and Archer Road at Celebration Pointe Avenue. For more information, call 333-9333 or visit celebrationpointe.com. Celebration Pointe is ta
The Gainesville Sun
MUSIC
Music Under the Stars: 7-9 p.m. today, Celebration Pointe, Celebration Pointe Avenue. Free. (celebrationpointe.com) Late Night Delivery will perform as part of a series of concerts by bands and musicians who were rescheduled.
“Songs from the Heart”: Online 8 p.m. today, heartwoodsoundstage.com. Tickets: Pay what you can. (heartwoodsoundstage.com) Artists will talk about the process of writing a great song, share an intimate experience and offer new tunes. The venue will pair two diverse songwriters as they tell the stories that inspired their music. Funds will support the musicians. Heartwood also will open its outside deck at 619 S. Main St. during the performances. BYOB social distancing and masks are required. Tonight’s stream will feature Pierce Pettis and Jordan Foley.
Kenneth Nunn held a photo of his wife, Patricia Hilliard-Nunn, to the webcam as he spoke at the end of an impassioned memorial service celebrating her life and legacy Wednesday evening.
She looks vibrant in the image, wearing a multicolored dress and headdress at the Matheson History Museum in Gainesville, speaking about the history of enslavement in Alachua County.
It’s from 2016. Why the surgical mask over much of her face? It was three days after Hilliard-Nunn, a senior lecturer in the University of Florida’s African American Studies program, underwent a bone-marrow transplant, her husband said. He urged her to not go to the museum. She ignored his plea, Nunn told the 300 people attending the two-hour virtual ceremony.