Florida State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives has made available a large photographic archive donated by photojournalist Mark Wallheiser. The collection includes millions of photographic prints, negatives, film slides, and digital images that document decades of Florida history.
The archive features images of campus life at Florida State University (FSU), Florida A&M University, and Tallahassee State College, as well as photographs covering professional and collegiate sports, natural disasters, and significant events in Tallahassee.
Rory Grennan, director of Archives for FSU Libraries, commented on the importance of the collection: “Mark’s career and output are astounding. We’ve rarely seen such extensive documentation of Florida and FSU history in one place. Mark’s gift to the university is also a gift to the public and to posterity. I expect that we’ll see a demand for these images for many years to come.”
Over the past year, FSU Libraries Special Collections and Archives staff have worked to provide detailed online descriptions of the collection and have digitized selected negatives. Both Wallheiser and the Libraries hope this resource will be valuable for researchers, scholars, students, and educators.
Wallheiser’s photographs were taken over his 44-year career in North Florida. He worked as a staff photographer at the Tallahassee Democrat from 1981 to 2008 before freelancing until 2025. He also served as staff photographer for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering between 2018 and 2023. In 1989, he was named Florida News Photographer of the Year by the Society for Professional Journalism. Wallheiser received multiple individual Pulitzer Prize nominations during his career and was part of a team awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
“Professional photographic storytelling in the 1970s through the turn of the century are so important for their historical nature and believability, as now-days 5.5 billion photos are taken every single day, 94% of which are taken on smartphones,” Wallheiser said.
The Special Collections and Archives Division at FSU Libraries focuses on supporting research by acquiring, preserving, and providing access to rare books and original primary source materials. The collections include items ranging from ancient manuscripts to modern business records with strengths in poetry, political papers, Southern business history, Florida history, Napoleon studies, French Revolution documents, literary manuscripts, artist books, ostraka, cuneiform tablets, papyri, illuminated manuscripts, incunabula.
For more information about this collection or about FSU Libraries Special Collections and Archives services visit lib.fsu.edu/special-collections or contact them at lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu or 850-644-3271.
