At its height the turpentine belt stretched across the lower half of the Gulf South states and in Florida the frontier of turpentine ended on the outskirts of Central Florida.  Orange, Volusia, Seminole, Brevard and Polk Counties had a number of turpentine operations big and small.  The remnants of a small still were discovered on the campus of the University of Central Florida in 2005.

Much has been written about the lost art of turpentining as well as the grueling labor practices of the industry.  This exhibit will examine not only the history and process of turpentine, but also the cultural impact of turpentine workers as recorded and preserved by Zora Neale Hurston and Stetson Kennedy in their work with the Depression Era Works Progress Administration.

Black working class history and culture that would later be celebrated in the form of blues, jazz and R & B music as well as the rumpus atmosphere of speakeasies originated in the leisure activities of these workers.

And Kin to Kant?  This is a shortened form of the description of  the typical working day of the turpentine laborer, kin see to kant see-from morning till night.