KATHLEEN, Fla. — On a Thursday night, during a Polk County spaghetti dinner, Lois Sherrouse Murphy is working the crowd. She is part preservationist, part promoter and current president of the Kathleen Area Historical Society.
“There aren’t a lot of people standing in line to take that on,” joked Sherrouse Murphy.
Sherrouse Murphy is a fifth-generation resident of Kathleen who grew up in the Socrum community.
“It’s a special place. I love the history and I love the people. It is a very, very rich long history,” she said.
In 2015, she published a book called, “Communities of the Kathleen Area.” For her, it’s personal. Like many of the early pioneer settlers in this area, the family of Sherrouse Murphy worked as farmers and cattlemen. “They got here in the late 1850s, mid-1860s and most of them have never left,” she said.
At Heritage Park, photos of community history are on display. The annual Heritage Day celebrates the area’s history of strawberry and cattle farming, sugarcane grinding and syrup making. The Kathleen Area Historical Society also cleans headstones at nearby Socrum Cemetery an opportunity to share the histories of people buried there.
“Particularly in old, old areas like the Kathleen area when you have families who’ve been here for generations, I mean the local joke is, be careful who you talk about because you might find out that they’re a friend or God forbid a relative of somebody and it will get back to em,” Sherrouse Murphy said with a laugh.
Development has brought newcomers to Kathleen. Sherrouse Murphy is trying to share the history while she and other longtime residents are alive.
“It is both a challenge and an opportunity. People who’ve been here for generations, most of them just have a natural curiosity and a natural appreciation for our local history, but sometimes the new people have to be primed a little bit, say, “Did you know?”
With passion and purpose, Sherrouse Murphy preaches that history is disappearing daily and she encourages everyone to document it.
“I can’t stress enough how important photographs are and talking to your family members who are in a position to tell you some of the stories of their ancestors that you may not have ever known have long since passed. Ask questions while the people who have answers are still alive.”
