November 26, 2006 Section:
PEOPLE/LIFE Edition:
Final/All Page: E04
Roz Foster named
'Outstanding Woman in Florida History' LYNN PICKETT Freelance
BY LYNN PICKETT
FOR FLORIDA TODAY
Titusville resident Rosalie (Roz) Foster,
a guiding spirit in the move to preserve Brevard
County's past, has joined an exclusive list of history's
heroes.
The Florida Historical Society Board of Directors has
selected Foster as the 2006 recipient of the
Caroline P. Rossetter "Outstanding Woman in Florida
History" award, FHS executive director Dr. Nick Wynne
has announced.
Foster has been recognized as outstanding in
Brevard history since 1995, when she helped start the
successful effort to restore the LaGrange Cemetery and
Church on the Old Dixie Highway north of Titusville.
Started in 1869, the LaGrange Church is the oldest
church between New Smyrna Beach and Key West and the
oldest Protestant church between St. Augustine and Key
West.
"This program has received statewide recognition as a
model program for church restoration," Wynne said.
Foster also developed and implemented the
Titusville Historic Plaque Program to recognize
significant buildings in the city.
Her current and most ambitious project has drawn state
and national interest. Last year, she spearheaded the
founding of the North Brevard Heritage Foundation, an
organization dedicated to the rescue and restoration of
endangered historic structures in the Central Florida
area. Working with Brevard County and Brevard Community
College, she began a campaign of public awareness and
cooperation with developers that has so far saved nine
historic structures.
The buildings are being located to Brevard Heritage Park
and the Health Village at Main Street PMC (supported by
Parrish Medical Center and the Jess Parrish Foundation).
They will be restored and used, some for offices and
others for educational and community purposes.
"It's a very exciting project," Foster said. "It
includes representations of many different architectural
styles."
She loves that future generations will be able to see
and understand "what a shotgun house looked like" or
admire the workings of a pioneer-era sawmill. She has
enjoyed great success when working with developers who
are building on sites with historic structures. The
foundation project gives developers an alternative to
destroying historic places. The foundation will relocate
them.
"Usually they are glad to work with us (to relocate the
buildings)," Foster said. "I also ask for the
contents of the buildings and usually they tell me that
it will just be destroyed if we don't take it."
She has gotten "all kinds of wonderful things,"
including old furniture and some Cypress wood from the
old sawmill that has never been used.
Fellow historians reacted enthusiastically to the news
that Foster had been chosen for the Florida
Historical Society award.
"I can't think of anyone who deserves this honor more
than RozFoster," said Dr. Ben Brotemarkle,
professor of Humanities Department Chair at BCC in
Titusville. "From her work restoring the LaGrange Church
and its cemetery, to creating exhibits for the Moore
Cultural Complex in Mims, to putting on costumes and
introducing local children to the past, Roz does
great work preserving our history."
"RozFoster is a community treasure," Dr.
Nick Wynne said. "Few Floridians can equal her record of
significant community involvement or match her
commitment to her community and her adopted state."
Born in New Jersey, Foster moved to Florida in
1964. She worked as a graphics illustrator for various
Kennedy Space Center contractors. She is a member of the
Brevard County Historical Commission and serves on a
number of boards and is a member of the Florida
Historical Society, the Florida Humanities Council and
the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
She is a two-time winner of the Harry R. Lee Titusville
Unity Award and received the Titusville Community
Service Award.
Foster is the fourth recipient of the prestigious
Rossetter Award.
"The Florida Historical Society created the Caroline P.
Rossetter Award in 2002 as a way to recognize women who
played an important role in furthering the study of
Florida history," Wynne said.
Winners are chosen based on their publications,
participation in organizational activities or through
creating and fostering programs in preservation,
ecology, archaeology or related fields. Past winners are
author Joan Morris, the former director of the Florida
State Photographic Archives, Sandra Thurlow, an author
and community activist in Stuart, and Olive Dame
Peterson, author and civic leader in Fort Pierce.
"These are women who are pioneers and leaders," Wynne
said.
The award is named in honor of the late Caroline P.
Rossetter of Eau Gallie, a well-known business woman and
community leader. The Rossetter family home is a museum
in Eau Gallie.
For more information on the North Brevard Heritage
Foundation, visit www.nbbd.com/npr/preservation/index.html.
The foundation needs corporate and private donations and
plenty of volunteers, Foster said.
Send spotlight suggestions to Communities Desk, FLORIDA
TODAY, P.O. Box 419000, Melbourne, FL 32941-9000; fax
242-6620; or e-mail community@ flatoday.net. Include a
daytime phone number.
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