The Jacksonville Historical Society

Jacksonville Historical Society Staff

Emily Retherford Lisska
Executive Director

As the Executive Director of the Jacksonville Historical Society since the fall of 1996, Emily has run one of city’s most successful and visible non-profit organizations. She oversees the organization’s projects, including the society’s restored headquarters (a million dollar restoration project); the society’s archival repository containing tens of thousands of documents and photographs; and all book publications of the society. Emily is also the curator of the Merrill Museum House—a walk through Jacksonville “life at home one hundred years ago.”

A Jacksonville native, Emily is a graduate of the University of Florida and attended Florida State University for graduate studies in Speech Communications. She formerly worked as a Jacksonville Consumer Specialist and th Director of Florida's Consumer Council.

Emily is a sought-after local speaker offering the stories of Jacksonville to the city’s citizens. She received the Girl Scouts Women of Distinction in the world of arts. She is on the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Women's Network, as well as a board member of the Mandarin Community Club. She created and established the first teen pregnancy prevention program used in the Duval County Public School System (through the Junior League of Jacksonville). She spearheaded the restoration (chairman) of the 1872 Mandarin School, and served as a three-term president of the Mandarin Community Club. She led acquisition of the historic Mandarin General Store and Post Office; was a founding board member of the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society; served a three-year gubernatorial appointment on the Florida Elections Commission; is a past board chairman of the N.E. Florida Lung Association.

Her past awards include the Historic Preservation Commission Award for History Publications; Historic Preservation Commission Award for Special Projects; Historic Preservation Award for Overall Organization Achievement and Service; Outstanding Alumnus Award from Florida Community College at Jacksonville; Florida Public Relations Practitioner of the Year; selected as a member of both Mortar Board and Savant at the University of Florida.

She is the co-producer and host of the monthly The Jacksonville History Show on local television. She was editor and a principal contributor to the 430-page Jacksonville Family with noted author Wayne Wood. She also edited the award-winning book, The Great Fire of 1901; she is editor of the Jacksonville Historical Society’s Historical Quarterly; and she is currently spearheading a facsimile publication of the 1925 book, The History of Jacksonville and Vicinity.

She’s married to Lawrence Lisska, M.D. and they have two sons—William, a Vanderbilt University sophomore and Joe, a University of Florida law graduate.

Jerry Higginbotham
Associate Director/Collections Manager

Sharon R. Laird
Jacksonville Historical Society Archivist

Sharon Rosenburg Laird is the archivist of the Jacksonville Historical Society and has held this position since June, 2005. With a long standing background in research, she is a principal and founder of the Florida Political Research Center, the Social Science Research Center at Jacksonville University and Florida Opinion Research. The SSRC continues to conduct extensive research in multiple areas for non-profit organizations, corporate clients, governmental agencies, and many individuals clients.

A Jacksonville native, Sharon graduated from Andrew Jackson High School. She then continued at Jacksonville University earning a B. A. in History and Education. followed by a M.A. in Education and Religion at Southeastern at Wake Forest , N.C. She has served as an adjunct assistant professor of History at Jacksonville University and Florida Community College at Jacksonville. As Coordinator of the Duval County Legislative Delegation, she provided the delegation members and citizens with necessary information on issues and legislation. Additionally, Sharon was the Director of the College of Lifelong Learning and the College of Weekend Studies at Jacksonville University and advised hundreds of students in the course of more than a decade of academic advising. She was appointed by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles and approved by the Florida Senate to serve as a member of the State Board of Independent Colleges and Universities. Both the community and culture of the city combined as Sharon served the Honorable Congresswoman Corrine Brown as Director of Community Outreach for the District 3 local office.

As a fourth generation Floridian , Sharon Laird brings the knowledge and a genuine appreciation of the major role the Society and the Archives play in the character of our city. The Archives brings the past clearly forward to those who seek it and Sharon is pleased to serve as a guide.