By Holly Baltz
Winnie Diggans Edwards, who came back to her hometown to take care of a sick parent and ended up leading the history organization her father helped found, is leaving after 13 years as executive director of the Delray Beach Historical Society. Her last day is Oct. 30.
Past historical society President John Miller Jr. takes the reins as interim director at the end of October. His family has been in Delray Beach since 1903.
Edwards, who left Florida to attend college in Texas then worked in creative marketing for 22 years in places across the country, moved back when her mother, Betty Jane Diggans, became ill. Diggans died at age 97 in December.
Edwards isn’t certain what’s next.
“It’s time for a new chapter,” Edwards said in a Sept. 22 phone interview. “I feel so good and so positive about what I’ve contributed to my community and to my father’s legacy.”
The Diggans family has been central to the Delray Beach fabric for generations. Her father, Roy, was the society’s first vice president when it began in 1964.
“It is the memories and experiences of these past 13 years that I will value the most,” Edwards said in a letter to society members. “I will remember the countless stories shared with me, the friendships and relationships that developed along the way.”
When a nonprofit director is asked to name a top accomplishment, one might expect to hear about fund-raising or acquisitions.
Edwards has a different answer: “Creating culture inclusivity, really focusing on everyone knowing they are welcome here,” she said.
“Sometimes ‘society’ denotes something. … We’ve worked very hard to make that happen.” Edwards said. “That’s why we’ve grown so much over the past 10 years.”
She has worked to push creativity and education to a wider audience and beyond history and preservation to conservation.
New partners included the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, the Surfrider Foundation and the Sandoway Discovery Center.
Her achievement list isn’t short:
• 29 large history exhibits, including “Fish Tales: An Exploration of the Area’s Fishing History,” one of the most popular that took up all three cottages on the organization’s campus at Northeast First Street and Swinton Avenue;
• Expansion of educational programs, history happy hours, walking tours and a weeklong summer camp for kids on the art of letter writing;
• Some of the group’s most popular events, such as the Fall Festival and Twilight in the Garden;
• An acre heritage garden on the society’s campus, turning green space into an educational garden with 100% native plants and 400 species in seven habitats.
Some other big moments of pride came when times were toughest, Edwards said, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We took an interesting approach. We talked our board into giving back,” she said.
At a time when nonprofits struggled, the historical society bought thousands of dollars’ worth of gift cards from restaurants, many of which suffered gravely during the pandemic. It also sent hundreds of burlap bag camp kits home for kids.
And it broke a world record during that time.
The organization built the longest linear outdoor history exhibit in the world with 1,000 images from its archives. It created captions, laminated them and strung them on wooden posts around the entire campus — outdoors so it was safe for folks to get out of their homes and see others. About 4,000 came, Edwards said.
“It was really fun, and people really appreciated it,” she added. “I still to this day tear up when I think about it.”
The Diggans family has lived in Delray Beach for generations. Edwards’ great-grandfather, Charles Harvey Diggans, traveled to Delray in 1920 from Wilmington, Delaware. He ran a real estate business and sundry shop on Atlantic Avenue.
Edwards’ grandfather, Leroy, became the first president of the Delray Chamber of Commerce in 1925. Leroy and Edwards’ father, Roy, both were U.S. postmasters in the city.
This year, Edwards got a surprise from her dad while she was sitting onstage on July 4 waiting for a time capsule to be unearthed. Unbeknownst to her, Roy had contributed a letter for the capsule, which was buried during the bicentennial celebration in 1976. He died in 2001.
After leaving a mark on Delray Beach, just like her family, Edwards plans pursuits that are simpler than running a bustling nonprofit: More time outdoors, hiking and riding bikes; travel; reading, and cooking for friends.
“I feel like I had a 13-year opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. “I gave it my all.”
Members are invited to a farewell for Edwards at the nonprofit’s annual meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 8.
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