The Gordon M. Crothers Legacy Project
Recovering the stories. Preserving the evidence. Sharing the legacy.
For more than a century, the story of Gordon M. Crothers American Legion Post 15 has been carried forward through photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, memories, and the building our founders left behind.
But much of that story had never been brought together.
Some of it had been forgotten.
Some of it was sitting in old newspapers and archives waiting to be rediscovered.
And some of it may still be waiting in family photo albums, boxes of papers, and the memories of people throughout our community.
The Gordon M. Crothers Legacy Project was created to find, document, preserve, and share that history.
This is more than an effort to write a history of Post 15.
It is an ongoing historical research project dedicated to understanding the people who created this Post, the veterans and families who sustained it, the community it has served, and the events that shaped its history.
What We Are Discovering
Our research has already helped us reconstruct parts of Post 15's story that had become unclear or nearly forgotten.
We have identified the veterans who organized the Post in 1919. We have learned more about Corporal Gordon M. Crothers, the World War I soldier whose name they chose to carry forward.
The building research now documents a property conveyance to Post trustees on October 15, 1921, recorded February 6, 1923; renewed construction activity in 1927; the cornerstone ceremony on November 11, 1927; and dedication of the Legion Home on January 9, 1928. Some finishing work remained after dedication. Each date marks a different step in the creation of the Post's permanent home.
We have also begun learning about the individual veterans behind those events—their military service, their families, their work in the community, and the roles they played in building Post 15.
And we are only beginning.
Legacy Research Library
Explore the findings of the Gordon M. Crothers Legacy Project through our Historical Information Packages. Each package brings together a historical account, supporting source references, and questions that remain open for further research.
HIP-004 — The Final Years of Gordon M. Crothers, 1917–1921
Explore Gordon’s marriage to Hazel Fisher, military service with Company M, 126th Infantry, death in France, burial overseas, and return to the United States. Family photographs, correspondence, military records and newspaper accounts preserve both his service and his family’s experience.
Read HIP-004 — The Final Years of Gordon M. Crothers
HIP-006 — The Post 15 Legion Home, 1921–1928
Follow the effort to establish a permanent Post home—from the 1921 property acquisition and first clubhouse proposal to the community-supported construction campaign of 1927, the Armistice Day cornerstone ceremony, and dedication on January 9, 1928.
Read HIP-006 — The Post 15 Legion Home
Additional packages will be added as research is reviewed and prepared for publication.
History Built From Evidence
An important part of the Legacy Project is documenting how we know what we know.
Rather than relying only on stories repeated over the years, we are returning whenever possible to original sources: historic newspapers, military records, photographs, Post documents, government records, cemetery records, correspondence, and other surviving evidence.
Sometimes those sources confirm what we have always believed.
Sometimes they correct the story.
And sometimes a single newspaper clipping opens an entirely new chapter of Post 15 history.
Our goal is not simply to tell a good story.
Our goal is to preserve the best-supported story the evidence allows us to tell.
Help Us Find the Missing Pieces
The Legacy Project is far from finished.
Some of the most important pieces of Post 15 history may not be in an archive at all. They may be sitting in someone's home.
Old photographs. Membership cards. Letters. Programs. Newspaper clippings. Military papers. Auxiliary records. Event photographs. Stories passed down through families.
If you or your family have materials connected with Gordon M. Crothers Post 15, its Auxiliary, its members, or its history in Dade City, we would love to hear from you.
You do not necessarily have to give those materials away. In many cases, simply allowing us to photograph or scan an item may help preserve information that otherwise could eventually be lost.
Have something that might help tell the story? Please use our Contact Us page to reach us and let us know what you've found.
Preserving More Than a Building
The Legacy Project and the Gordon M. Crothers Memorial Preservation Project are closely connected.
One preserves the story.
The other preserves one of the most important physical pieces of that story—the historic home Post 15's veterans built.
The more we learn about those veterans and their building, the more we understand what has been entrusted to us.
Their legacy is not simply something for us to remember.
It is something for us to preserve, understand, and pass forward.
Their Legacy. Our Responsibility.
Discover the history • Help preserve the evidence • Share the story