In search of more information about Florida's first people for a series of paintings she was creating, Elizabeth was introduced to Hermann Trappman. Three years later, in 1993, they married. They share a love of learning about the lifeways of Florida's native people. Together they offer workshops at living history symposiums to folks involved in eco-cultural tourism.
Elizabeth began to delve into the roles women played in Florida history. It developed into a passion that lead her to introduce women's programs at "male-dominated" historical reenactments. She researches and makes historically-correct period clothing for all her characters, as well as for other reenactors, some of which may be seen on this site. She has organized reenactments of the Narváez Expedition-1528, and the Menéndez Landing at Tocobaga-1567, and encouraged school children to participate.
In 1998, Elizabeth founded the Florida Frontier Gazette, a quarterly journal devoted to Florida history, funded by grants from the Florida Departmetn of State, Historical Resources Dvision. Back issues of the magazine, which is no longer published due to cuts to grant funds, are offered for sale in the STORE.
Always an avid photographer, Elizabeth has taken on producing videos as her creative outlet. She is also writing a book based on the newspaper stories written by Kathleen Watkins Coleman, about her experiences as a war corespondent in Tampa, Key West, and Cuba during the Spanish American.
In 2007, Elizabeth was appointed the director of the Panama Canal Museum in Seminole, FL, but that is a whole other story . . .
