ANNA MARIA – The new Anna Maria Island Sun newspaper archive is now on permanent display at the Anna Maria Island Historical Museum.
The newspapers were preserved by longtime Sun reporter and copy editor Pat Copeland, who passed away in 2023. Her husband, Doug Copeland, built the red oak bookcase that now holds the archived newspapers she saved and stacked in her home office.
On Sept. 19, Copeland and AMI Historical Society board member Barb Murphy met at the museum at 402 Pine Ave. to discuss the museum’s new installation.
“Pat started saving these Island Sun newspapers and kept all of them up through 2021. She donated them to the museum and the museum wanted to get them bound” with The Sun’s cooperation, Copeland said. “I volunteered to make and donate a new bookshelf for them.”
Joan Bowling assisted Copeland in building the bookcase.
“The beautiful, handcrafted display for The Sun’s bound archive is a heartfelt gesture we appreciate so much,” Sun Editor Cindy Lane said.
The new installation coincides with The Sun beginning its 25th year serving the Island community this week.
Featuring more than 40 newly-bound volumes, The Sun’s archive begins with May 2001 and ends with December 2021. Soon, the collection will span The Sun’s full history from September 2000 through September 2024.
“We are in the process of filling out Pat’s collection and will continue to compile future editions for the display,” said Lane, who has worked at The Sun for 21 years, much of that time with Pat, who was The Sun’s first employee.
“At the same time, for our 25th anniversary year, we are completing a digital archive for people who can’t get to the museum but want access to the historical record and great memories in The Sun,” Lane said.
display for the public’s use. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“These newspapers are a historical resource. What went on every week in the city is recorded here. And it’s not just Anna Maria. It’s Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach too,” said Copeland, adding that Pat co-founded the Historical Society with Carolyne Norwood.
Copeland, a former city commissioner, said he once spent a week at the museum researching several months’ worth of old newspaper stories about Bean Point being sold to a hotel chain that wanted to build a hotel there. The city fought those efforts in court and prevailed and that influenced some of the city’s single-family dwelling zoning restrictions that remain in place today.
“People come in and they love to sit down and pull out a volume they might be interested in,” Murphy said. “Possibly, they had parents or grandparents that were on the Island and told them about a certain story and we try to help them locate that. It’s a wonderful archive of the Island newspapers and the Island’s history and it’s a special feature people can enjoy here at the museum.”
As the slower summer season winds down, the AMI Historical Museum is open free of charge Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The museum will be open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in January, February and March.
“We’ve spent the month of September changing and refreshing some of our exhibits and we are still looking for volunteer docents – people that love the Island and can volunteer their time to help educate the public and the tourists about the history of the Island,” Murphy said.
Learn more about the museum and the historical society at www.amihs.org.
