IMMOKALEE — The Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch is excited to host the Museum of Florida History’s Forgotten Florida, an exhibit that displays a collection of Farm Security Administration (FSA) photos that were taken in Florida during the Great Depression. Forgotten Florida highlights the power of photographs to project the widespread effects of the Great Depression, but also showcases the disparity between rural and urban Florida during the height of the Great Depression. Forgotten Florida will be on display Jan. 19 through April 19, 2021, at the Immokalee Pioneer Museum located at 1215 Roberts Ave. West in Immokalee.

During the Great Depression, the Information Division of the FSA, led by Roy Stryker, sent photographers across the country with one simple task: introduce Americans to Americans. The Great Depression impacted areas of the country in many ways, and the Information Division was responsible for documenting this impact and the life that Americans were leading. Encouraged by Stryker to capture life as it happened, the photographers of the FSA left us with a treasure trove of photos that depict rural and urban life during late 1930s.

To celebrate the opening of Forgotten Florida, the Immokalee Pioneer Museum is seeking Collier County students from sixth to 12th grades to document the present in the style of the FSA. In the spirit of those Information Division photographers, students can document life around them in the middle of a global pandemic that has also caused economic havoc on the country. Students may submit their photo to be considered for display in the Forgotten Florida exhibit, but also be judged for winning an Apple iPad or iPad Mini! Additionally, a People’s Choice category will allow one photographer to win a set of Apple Airpods!

Originally home to cattleman Robert Roberts and his family, the Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch is a 13-acre historic site and museum that provides visitors with a rare opportunity to experience daily working life on a Southwest Florida pioneer homestead and citrus grove from the early 1900s. Exhibits, programs and 15 carefully preserved original buildings and features tell the story of the cow hunters, ranchers and pioneer-spirited families who struggled to tame this vast wilderness prairie on the edge of the Big Cypress Swamp.

For more information about Forgotten Florida or the Teen Photo Contest at the Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch, please contact the museum at 239-252-2604 or visit colliermuseums.com/education/forgotten-florida-teen-photo-contest.