Description

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Bertha Palmer, one of the richest and most famous socialites in the early 20th century, came to a backwater area of southwest Florida and tried her hand at agriculture and cattle raising. She turned Sarasota the small settlement of Sarasota into a thriving town.

About the Author

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Frank A. Cassell is Professor Emeritus and President Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. He earned the B.A. degree at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and his M.A. and Ph. D. degrees at Northwestern University. He taught and served as an administrator at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Roosevelt University in Chicago before taking the presidency at Pitt-Greensburg. Cassell has published books and articles on the colonial and early national periods of American history, the Columbian Exposition of 1893, social history in Indiana in the 19th century, and his experiences as a university president. The University of Pittsburgh Board Of Trustees named a new academic building at Pitt-Greensburg in his honor in 2012. He has also won awards for excellence in teaching, outstanding historical research, and community service. He retired and moved to Sarasota with his spouse, Beth, in 2007 and now serves as a member of the Sarasota County Historical Commission and as chair of the History and Preservation Coalition of Sarasota County.