Gil Gott’s love of history began as a child.
Gott grew up the youngest of seven children in Erie, Pennsylvania. His father, Charles, worked two jobs. The family’s vacations were usually spent at historic sites and national and local parks, spurring Gott’s interest.
Decades later, it’s an interest he’s cultivated into service. Today, he serves as the executive director for the Plant City Photo Archives and History Center.
“There were five boys and two girls (in my family),” Gott said. “We had a basketball team and two cheerleaders.”
Gott attended Erie Academy High School as a student athlete, where he excelled academically. A family incident later caused him to lose focus.
“I stopped playing sports, and transferred to public school,” he said.
He began working on a dairy farm, and wanted to get his school focus back on track.
“I was going to night school,” he said. “I saved money for one year to get into the local college.”
But paying his own bills and college tuition was costly. Gott decided to enlist in the United States Air Force, focusing on the language programs.
After passing an exam, the Air Force appointed Gott to attend the Institute of Far East Languages at Yale University, where he earned a certificate in Chinese Language in 1962.
“I went to Yale for eight months,” he said. “We spent five days per week and 10 hours per day learning Chinese. At the end of the second week, they stopped speaking English. That’s what they call total immersion.”
Because he maintained an ‘A’ average, Gott was given half days off on Fridays. He would hitchhike from New Haven back to Erie to visit his family and friends for the weekend.
“I had a car, but it was a 1941 Plymouth,” he said. “I was not going to drive that thing back and forth.”
After obtaining his certificate, Gott served as a Chinese translator for the Air Force in Japan, Okinawa, Thailand and Vietnam. He was honorably discharged in 1965 with plans to return to academia.
Back in the United States, Gott was accepted to Georgetown University and offered a veteran’s scholarship. After graduating, he attended the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he began to fall in love with small towns.
After working as a high school teacher and for state government, Gott relocated to Florida. He served as the vice president of government affairs and economic development for the Greater Clearwater Chamber of Commerce before accepting a job in 1995 as the president of the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce.
He’s called the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World home ever since.
Plant City Pride
When Gott first moved to Plant City, revitalizing Historic Downtown became one of his top priorities. At the time, the Union Station Depot was closed and was only used for club meetings. Gott set his sights on making the station a focal point of the area. The center was reopened as a tourist destination in 1997 with then-County Commissioner Ed Turanchik as a main speaker.
“That had to be done,” Gott said. “I think that’s been very successful. That had to be done to refocus on downtown. I love to make things happen.”
Gott’s other contributions to Plant City include working with fellow residents to reorganize the chamber’s leadership program, repair and extend the runway at Plant City Airport and organized the world’s largest strawberry shortcake project in February 1999.
Though the record has since been topped, the shortcake at the time was eight feet wide and 104 feet long. The entry made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
In 2000, Gott began his current position at the newly founded Plant City Photo Archives and History Center in Historic Downtown. His wife, Betty Patton, serves as the curator of collections for the center.
“You learn something every day,” Gott said. “It’s a fascinating job, and you meet wonderful people.”
Gott is the director of the photojournalism contest at the center, and has written over 100 articles about Plant City’s history. Most recently, he co-authored The Florida Strawberry Festival: A Brief History with Florida Strawberry Festival Media Representative Lauren McNair.
Beyond the center, Gott is a member of the East Hillsborough Art Guild, the Florida Historical Society, the Kiwanis Club of Plant City and serves as the vice president of the Friends of the Bruton Memorial Library, in addition to service with other organizations.
“I think if you look at what’s going on here, many of the activities in Plant City are sponsored by civic organizations,” Gott said. “People just get involved and make things happen. We’re growing, but keeping that small town feel.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.