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1
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https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/709d8b0c6afe0ef256f6894174459a84.pdf
3c54a399ae62591b666323513de4346c
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Celery Soup: Florida's Folk Life Play Collection
Alternative Title
Celery Soup Collection
Subject
Sanford (Fla.)
Community theater--United States
Theater--United States
Description
The <em>Celery Soup: Florida’s Folk Life Play</em> Collection encompasses photographs, artifacts, and oral histories related to the production of Creative Sanford, Inc.'s and Celery Soup's play <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>, performed at the Princess Theater in 2013. Many of the items in this collection were collected by Dr. Scot French's Tools in Digital History Seminar Graduate Class during the Fall 2013 semester at the University of Central Florida.
Contributor
Dingle, Cathy Lee
Delgado, Natalie
Fedorka, Drew M.
Ford, Nancy Harris
French, Scot A.
Kelley, Katie
Lee, Luticia Gormley
Maliczowski, Linda Lee
Maples, Marilyn
Miller, Mark
Reisz, Autumn
Thompson, Trish
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/44" target="_blank">Seminole County Collection</a>, RICHES of Central Florida.
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/16" target="_blank">Sanford Collection</a>, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Language
eng
Type
Collection
Coverage
Celery Soup: Florida’s Folk Life Play, Sanford, Florida
Creative Sanford, Inc., Sanford, Florida
Princess Theater, Sanford, Florida
Contributing Project
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/" target="_blank">Celery Soup: Florida’s Folk Life Play</a>
<span>Dr. </span><a href="http://history.scotfrench.com/" target="_blank">Scot A. French</a><span>'s Tools in Digital History Seminar Graduate Class, Fall 2013 at the </span><a href="http://www.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">University of Central Florida</a>
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
External Reference
"<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">WHO IS CREATIVE SANFORD, INC?</a>" Celery Soup. http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about.
"<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/about/" target="_blank">About: History and Purpose</a>." Celery Soup. http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/about/.
"<a href="http://www.communityperformanceinternational.org/sanford-florida" target="_blank">Sanford, Florida: How do you make Celery Soup? Add stories, then stir</a>." Community Performance International. http://www.communityperformanceinternational.org/sanford-florida.
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
Fedorka, Drew
Interviewee
Ford, Nancy Harris
Location
<a href="http://www.publichistorycenter.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">UCF Public History Center</a>, Sanford, Florida
Original Format
1 audio/video recording
Duration
22 minutes and 38 seconds
Bit Rate/Frequency
195kbps
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Oral History of Nancy Harris Ford
Alternative Title
Oral History, Ford
Subject
Sanford (Fla.)
New Smyrna Beach (Fla.)
Oral history--United States
Community theater--United States
Theater--United States
Actresses--United States
African Americans--Florida--Sanford
Georgetown (Sanford, Fla.)
Segregation--Florida
Rochester (N.Y.)
Description
An oral history told by Nancy Harris Ford, an actress in the Creative Sanford, Inc. and <em>Celery Soup: Florida's Folk Life Play</em> production of <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>. Ford was raised in Sanford, Florida, and lived there until she graduated from Seminole High School in 1973. She returned to Sanford around 2009 and became involved with <em>Celery Soup</em>, a community theater project operated by Creative Sanford.<br /><br />This interview was conducted by Drew Fedorka on November 16, 2013, and focuses on the historical figure and character of Dr. George H. Starke, an African-American physician in Georgetown in Sanford. Other topics include Ford's biographical information, her decision to return back to Sanford after 36 years elsewhere, how she became involved with Creative Sanford and <em>Celery Soup</em>, her involvement in <em>Touch and Go</em> and <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>, and segregation.
Table Of Contents
00:00 Introduction<br />00:12 Ford's biographical information<br />00:56 Interest in Sanford's history<br />01:30 Interest in Creative Sanford, Inc.<br />02:08 Characters Ford plays in <em>Remade - Not Bought<br /></em>03:13 Role of community theater in remembering history<br /> 06:55 Choice of scenes in <em>Remade - Not Bought<br /></em>10:12 History with creative license<br />11:24 Dr. George H. Starke<br />13:33 Childhood memories of Dr. Starke<br />14:15 Linking memory of Sanford to specific people<br />15:47 Dr. Starke's office and his role in the community<br />17:34 Messages behind Celery Soup plays<br />20:39 Role of Celery Soup in the healing process<br />21:18 Closing remarks
Abstract
Oral history interview of Nancy Ford Harris. Interview conducted by Drew Fedorka at the <a href="http://www.publichistorycenter.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">UCF Public History Center</a> in Sanford, Florida.
Type
Moving Image
Source
Ford, Nancy Harris. Interviewed by Drew Fedorka. <a href="http://www.publichistorycenter.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">UCF Public History Center</a>. November 16, 2013. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>, Orlando, Florida.
Requires
<a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/" target="_blank">Adobe Flash Player</a>
<a href="http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp" target="_blank">Java</a>
<a href="http://www.adobe.com/reader.html" target="_blank">Adobe Acrobat Reader</a>
Is Part Of
<a href="http://www.publichistorycenter.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">UCF Public History Center</a>, Sanford, Florida.
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/82" target="_blank"><em>Celery Soup: Florida’s Folk Life Play</em> Collection</a>, Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Has Format
Digital transcript of original 22-minute and 38-second oral history: Ford, Nancy Harris. Interviewed by Drew Fedorka. <a href="http://www.publichistorycenter.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">UCF Public History Center</a>. November 16, 2013. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://www.publichistorycenter.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">UCF Public History Center</a>, Sanford, Florida.
Coverage
Creative Sanford, Inc., Sanford, Florida
Celery Soup, Sanford, Florida
Crooms High School, Sanford, Florida
Seminole High School, Sanford, Florida
New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Dr. George H. Starke's Office, Sanford, Florida
Dr. Edward D. Strickland's Office, Sanford, Florida
Rochester, New York
Creator
Fedorka, Drew
Ford, Nancy Harris
Publisher
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Contributor
Delgado, Natalie
Date Created
2013-11-16
Date Modified
2014-02-04
Format
video/mp4
application/pdf
Extent
123 MB
163 KB
Medium
22-minute and 38-second audio/video recording
11-page digital transcript
Language
eng
Mediator
History Teacher
Geography Teacher
Humanities Teacher
Theater Teacher
Provenance
Originally created by Drew Fedorka and Nancy Harris Ford and published by <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>.
Rights Holder
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Accrual Method
Item Creation
Contributing Project
<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a>
<em><a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/" target="_blank">Celery Soup: Florida's Folk Life Play</a></em>
Dr. <a href="http://history.scotfrench.com/" target="_blank">Scot French</a>'s "Tools in Digital History Seminar," Fall 2013
Curator
Cepero, Laura
External Reference
"<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about" target="_blank">WHO IS CREATIVE SANFORD, INC?</a>" Celery Soup. http://www.celerysoupsanford.com//about.
"<a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/about/" target="_blank">About: History and Purpose</a>." Celery Soup. http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/about/.
"<a href="http://www.communityperformanceinternational.org/sanford-florida" target="_blank">Sanford, Florida: How do you make Celery Soup? Add stories, then stir</a>." Community Performance International. http://www.communityperformanceinternational.org/sanford-florida.
"<a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-10-20/entertainment/os-celery-soup-sanford-20101020_1_oral-histories-swamp-gravy-celery-soup" target="_blank">Tales of Sanford's resilience are the stars of 'Touch and Go'</a>'." <em>The Orlando Sentinel</em>, October 20, 2010. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-10-20/entertainment/os-celery-soup-sanford-20101020_1_oral-histories-swamp-gravy-celery-soup.
Sanford Historical Society (Fla.). <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53015288" target="_blank"><em>Sanford</em></a>. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2003.
Flewellyn, Valada S. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4497409" target="_blank"><em>African Americans of Sanford</em></a>. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub, 2009.
Click to View (Movie, Podcast, or Website)
<a href="http://youtu.be/3MRse7u0x7M" target="_blank">Oral History of Nancy Harris Ford</a>
Date Copyrighted
2013-11-16
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank"> RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
Transcript
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>This is Drew Fedorka. Uh, we are at the [UCF] Public History Center in Sanford, Florida. It is Saturday, November 16<sup>th</sup>, 2013. Do you just want to introduce yourself for the camera?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>I’m Nancy Ford, and, um—actually, I’m Nancy Harris Ford. My maiden name is Harris. I grew up here in Sanford and left. Was gone about 36 years and came back.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Okay, and when did you leave Sanford?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>I left Sanford in 1973, about a year after I graduated from Seminole High School.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Okay, and what brought you back to Sanford?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Uh, a combination of things. One is home. And, in 2008, when the economy did what it did, I found myself unemployed, and I needed to make some choices. So I chose to come home, where I had a support system.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Okay, um, now did you have any interest in Sanford’s history before getting involved with Celery Soup and Creative Sanford[, Inc.]?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Not really, because I am Sanford’s history. [<em>laughs</em>] You know, a lot of the things they do in Creative Sanford[, Inc.] in the shows that they write, I remember. So I’m not just learning them. I am learning new facts about these things, But a lot of these stories, they’re my stories—some of them. And I remember these things.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Right so…</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>It’s interesting that what you call “history,” I call “my life.”</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Right. Of course. Yeah. Okay. So what got you interested in Creative Sanford?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, when I came back, my sister—my sisters knew that I was interested in acting and performing, because I had done it when I was in Memphis[, Tennessee]. And she saw an advertisement for the show—for <em>Touch and Go</em>—and asked me if I would like to go. And so we went to see it, and I thought it was so interesting, so I said, “Well I think I’ll audition the next time around.” So the next time around, I auditioned and I really enjoyed it, so I’ve auditioned every time since.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Okay, great. Um, so you play a number of different characters in <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>. Do you want to go through some of the different characters?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>[<em>laughs</em>] It was interesting. I played, um, Tasha in the continuity scene—is who’s the mother of one of the young ladies. And that role—the continuity scenes were designed to link the stories together so that they made sense. And, um, I also played Tasha’s mother in one of the scenes, remembering when the, uh, I guess the Woolworth’s counter, one of those restaurants which I actually remember when we used to go to the back window to get the food at the restaurants. We couldn’t go in and sit down. I remember that. So I played that character. And then I played Dr. Starke’s in another scene. And, uh, the Tasha character just kind of weaves through most of the show.</p>
<p><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>So it’s interesting that you said a lot of these things have been touched on your own personal life that you experienced. What role do you think community theater plays and community understanding on history in remembering history?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, I think that it’s really important, because, if we don’t remember our past, especially the things that aren’t very pleasant, then we’re doomed to repeat it. Now, I have a son who’s 20, and we would get tired of me telling him sometimes that, when he wanted these shoes and these clothes that cost so much money, and I would tell him, “Well, you know, when I was growing up, my mama bought our clothes and hoped they’re fit. And most of the time, bought them too large, because we couldn’t try them on and she couldn’t take them back. Because we were colored.”</p>
<p class="Default">So, you know, especially for European Americans, we know a lot of your history, because we were exposed to it on commercials and television and stuff like that. But our history was kind of downplayed. And even among ourselves, we don’t realize sometimes the richness. When I say “ourselves” —the African-American community. Sometimes we don’t understand or really, fully realize the richness of our history. And the importance that certain things play. It was just kinda the way we lived.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Right, and—so some of these scenes are dealing with some of the, um, more troubling or challenging aspects of Sanford’s history. Um, in what ways, um—let me think how to phrase it. And, does it—does it change the memory of these experiences at all in some of these scenes?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>It—it doesn’t change the memory. It changes the meaning. Uh, for example, the butterfly scene. I remember school integration. So when I’m going through that, I remember. And people say that I play that scene and I seem so—it seems so real, because I really was angry about school integration. [<em>clears throat</em>] Although, for me, it was the opposite. It was me going to the “white” school, so to speak, not the other way around, as it was in the butterfly scene. But I didn’t want to be there. I had no choice. I got thrown into an environment that I feel changed my life in a way that was not for the best.</p>
<p class="Default">When I was at Crooms [High School], I was a—an honors student. I was in the National Honors Society. I was on track to be Val of Sal. And when I went to Seminole [High School], I did not get the same attention that I got at Crooms. Because the curriculum was so different, and the books were so different, because we got hand me down books at Crooms. Things were so different that I was not academically prepared. And even though I did well, I was in and out of the Honors Society at Seminole. And I didn’t go to college. And I found out later about the, uh, work-studies. And I wasn’t counseled, so I didn’t know. I didn’t know what was available to me, and I didn’t graduate college until I was 50. And I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I got shoved into an environment where I wasn’t welcomed. I didn’t’ feel welcomed.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>It seemed that watching <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>, there’s a very specific choice of scenes. The types of topics that we’re touched on. I think of this really cool scene, I think of the butterfly scene, which is obviously one of the main highlights of the show. Um, the one of the restaurant that you just explained. What was the decision-making process, which scenes to highlight?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, I wasn’t really involved in that, so—I wasn’t involved in choosing which scenes went into the play. You have to talk to the playwrights about that.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Right. Okay. Uh, do you feel like there’s any—obviously, I mean, there’s—some of these scenes are kind of arbitrary in the way that—in the topics that they—in the—obviously the big comment that they’re trying to reconcile is Sanford’s history of racial tensions. And they’ve picked little snapshots to touch on. Do you think there’s any that would have been more effective to include?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, I don’t know about effective, because I think they scenes they included were very effective. Um, there’s so many from which to choose. And I think that the ones that they chose show different aspects of the racial tension, like the pool scene.</p>
<p class="Default">I don’t know how to swim. I never learned. Uh, there were two pools in Sanford. The white pool, we weren’t allowed to go to. The black pool was always so crowded when it was open that you couldn’t swim in there if you tried.</p>
<p class="Default">And the beach? Well, there were no lifeguards at the beach we were allowed to go. We’d go to New Smyrna Beach. And our parents were afraid to put us in the water because they both, you know, fearful for our safety. And every summer, kids drowned. Every summer. So our parents were very fearful of that.</p>
<p class="Default">So those kinds of things, you know, were really meaningful. There’s, um, the only thing—and I have spoken to them about this—it seems that in every one of these plays, I play the angry black woman [<em>laughs</em>]. Um, but we had some good times in the African-American community as well. And sometimes I’d like to see that highlighted. You know, like we had pic—church picnics, and things like that. And because they highlight some things that have nothing to do with racial tension with the white characters.</p>
<p class="Default">But almost all the scenes that involve African Americans have some type of racial overtone. Even the Starke scene. Even though it wasn’t, you know, an uncomfortable thing, but even that had racial overtones and, you know, it’s—there were other things that we did [<em>laughs</em>], you know, that had nothing to do with race—that had nothing to do with white people either. But, you know, a lot of the scenes they have with whites have nothing to do with black people.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Right. What—do you see what Creative Sanford does—what Celery Soup does especially—with plays like <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>—do you see what they’re doing as history or is it something different?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>It’s both. It’s history with creative license, because it’s entertainment. And I think it’s a good way to get a conversation going. Because when people go and they see these shows, then invariably, even participating, I learned things, and I go out and do research. Like, Dr. Starke was my doctor. Dr. Starke brought me into the world, you know, when I was born. He was the doctor who brought me here. He was my doctor growing up. But there were things that I didn’t know about him, because, you know, why would I want to go study about Dr. Starke? But now in retrospect, I went out on the Internet and did research, because I do want to know. You know, so there are—and almost everybody that I speak with, after they’ve seen the show, they say “I didn’t know this” or “I didn’t know that.” So yeah, it’s a good way to get a conversation started.</p>
<p><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>And it’s interesting that you mention Dr. Starke, because he is featured predominantly throughout the play. Um, in what ways do you think he was a good choice to highlight as a central example of some of the message we get across?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, one thing is that he was biracial, you know? And uh, and that’s one way—one of the reasons that he was able to do some of the things that he did, because he was fair. His skin was fair, his hair was wavy. But he was a very quiet man—a soft-spoken man. But, like they say in the play, he was a good man. And I remember going to him, up to my teenage years, you know—until I left here, he was my doctor—<em>[laughs</em>] I don’t ever remember paying him. I imagine my mother paid him. I don’t know whether she paid him or not. But it never occurred to me that he wasn’t getting paid. That’s not something that kids think about.</p>
<p class="Default">You know, and I know that I went to him once for something and he said, “Well tell Bernice such and such and such.” that was my mom’s name. So he knew his patients. It’s not like now. You go to the doctor and they review your chart to remember who you are. You know, they make notes in their charts so that they can have conversation with you. But if I walked into his office, he knew me. He knew my name. He knew my mother’s name. He knew my grandparents. It was very different.</p>
<p class="Default">And I didn’t realize—well, I didn’t think about the fact that he saw white people too. You know, I don’t ever remember seeing white people in his office. I imagine they were there, but you know, that wasn’t something that I thought about, because if he saw white people it was, because they couldn’t afford to pay the white doctor. And that was not uncommon in the black community, because we didn’t carry around a lot of the baggage it seems that a lot of the white people did.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>What are some of the memories you have of Dr. Starke of your childhood?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, I remember one time that, uh—I didn’t like shots. I was actually very afraid of shots and I needed to get a shot. And there was a booster shot in the buttocks, and Dr. Starke had me stand at the window and look out the window, and he was talking to me. I don’t remember what he was talking to me about. I also don’t remember getting the shot. Just—it was just so much like the scene in the play. And when I saw that, I was like, “You know, he really was like that.” That was not an exaggeration.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>What role do you think the play has in linking the memory of Sanford and Sanford in the 20<sup>th</sup> century to people like Dr. Starke?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, I think especially for a lot of the kids, it helps—helps you to know your history. History is important. Even though I didn’t realize it when I was young, because I did not like history in school. Didn’t like it at all. And now, I’m more interested in it, because I can see how—what they call progress. You know, the continuity of events and how it progressed from here to here and the next step. You know, um, Sanford was known as “The Celery City.” Well, I could remember what that smells like. Interestingly enough, because my gather ran a celery crew. So I used to play on the bus—on his bus. and it is a very distinct smell. And I remember what it smells like. And I also remember what it smelled like when those celery fills were rotting, cause, you know, Celery Avenue is named Celery Avenue for a reason. There weren’t houses down there when I was growing up. Those were celery fields. And so people don’t know why that street is named Celery Avenue. And there’s Celery Key and there’s Celery something else, but those are housing developments now. But they used to be celery fields.<strong><br /></strong></p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>And to bring you back to Dr. Starke. Dr. Starke’s office was near Celery Avenue.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, it’s on the corner of 11<sup>th</sup> Street and Sanford Avenue. So Celery Avenue is what 13<sup>th</sup> Street kinda turns into after it makes that little cattycorner. So yeah, it’s pretty close. And we used to walk. You used to walk everywhere. Nowadays, we hardly think about walking these days.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Would you say Dr. Starke was well-known in the community?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>[<em>laughs</em>] I’d say that’s an understatement.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Okay. And…</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>He was the black doctor. So all the black folks went to him. You know, because we didn’t—the white doctors wouldn’t see us. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a good doctor. He was probably one the best doctors in town, but we didn’t realize that, because he was our doctor. He was the only doctor we knew.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>And was he known—well-known at the time, at least in Sanford, for his role in sort of crossing—crossing that color barrier by obviously, uh, white patients coming to see him? Was that well-known in the community?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well [<em>coughs</em>], they may—[<em>coughs</em>] excuse me. It may have been by adults, but I was a child, so that wasn’t something that I thought about, you know.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Right.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>So, you know, he—I know that he was a prominent figure. Everybody knew him. And Dr. Ringland<a title="">[1]</a> too. He wasn’t in the play, but Dr. Ringland was the dentist—the dentist—the black dentist. And they shared an office. They shared an office space. Because when you went to the doctor and you went to the dentist, you went to the same building.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Okay to—just a couple of last questions to bring it back to <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>. You said that one of the main role of, um, productions like that is just to get a conversation started. What types of messages do you hope that got across from a production like <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, I would—I would hope that some healing happens. Because there’s a lot of bitterness still, um, in the community among both black and whites. There’s anger. There, uh—we’ve come a long way, but we still have a ways to go. A lot of blacks are bitter and angry, because we feel—when I say “we,” I mean some blacks and whites. I don’t mean all of any group. But many of us, uh, as a people feel that we’ve struggled.</p>
<p class="Default">And I know personally in my own life—because my name is Nancy, I got into doors that I wouldn’t have gotten into if my name had been something else. But when I walked through the door, say for an interview, I could see the countenance of the interviewer’s face change, because I was not what they expected. My—my maiden name is Harris. My name is Nancy Harris. I’m well-spoken. I’m articulate. When you speak with me on the phone, you don’t necessarily know that I’m an African American, but when I walk through the door, it’s obvious. And that hurts. And every time that happens, it hurts. So there’s[sic] scars there. There’s[sic] deep scars and they need heeling.</p>
<p class="Default">[<em>coughs</em>] By the same token [<em>coughs</em>]—excuse me—I went through affirmative action, where a lot of white people felt left out. And I had—I had work as a result of affirmative action—a pretty good job. I was a machinist. And, in that shop—and I was in Rochester, New York, where they thought things were better—and the white guys, they would yell things at me across the shop. And tell me that I was taking the food out of some guy’s family’s mouth, because I shouldn’t be there, because I’m black and female.</p>
<p class="Default">So we have these kinds of conversations. It gives the opportunity to know that we’re all human. All the parts, the same ways. The human way. And that we all have feelings, and they should be honored. And that we all have rich culture and tradition. And I think it’s important for us to learn about each other’s culture more and more, so that we can appreciate our differences and move forward. Because, in order to hold a person down, you have to stay down there with them. And it’s important for us all to rise.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Um, do you think Celery Soup and <em>Remade - Not Bought</em>, um— it[sic] puts a very positive spin on a lot of these memories and do—do you think there’s any—do you think it’s does it effectively with this healing process?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Um, yes. I think it does. I think anytime we address these things head-on, that it’s effective. It may not always feel good, but it’s like a shot. Doesn’t feel good when you get it, but what it does is work. The benefit feels good.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Okay. Uh, thank you very much for your help. If you—do you have anything you want to say about Celery Soup or the just importance of it, he importance of community theater, the importance of approaching community’s history in this manner?</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Well, I’d just like to say that I’m very happy that this project exists—that Creative Sanford exists. And that Creative Sanford sees the benefit of doing this work. And I hope that people will support it. You know, theatre is not well-supported in general, and in particular, community theatre. We have a lot of good, um—good actors and actresses in community theatre.</p>
<p class="Default">One of the things that I love about Celery Soup is that everyone who auditions gets cast. And even though I had experience coming into it, it’s a wonderful opportunity for people who have never been on a stage before to get out there and see if they like it and have an opportunity to—to go someplace, because this is the way that—there are a lot of people that we see on television and on the big screen, who got their start in community theater. It’s important and I do think it should be valued, and people should support it.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka<br /></strong>Well, thank you very much…</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Ford<br /></strong>Thank you.</p>
<p class="Default"><strong>Fedorka <br /></strong>For all your thoughts.</p>
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<p><a title="">[1]</a> Correction: Dr. Edward D. Strickland.</p>
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11th Street
13th Street
actress
affirmative action
African American
celery
Celery Avenue
Celery City
celery industry
Celery Island
Celery Key
Celery Soup: Florida’s Folk Life Play
community theater
Creative Sanford, Inc.
Crooms Academy
Crooms High School
Delgado, Natalie
doctor
Eleventh Street
Fedorka, Drew
Ford, Nancy Harris
French, Scot
Georgetown
Harris, Nancy
New Smyrna Beach
physician
race relations
Remade - Not Bought
Rochester, New York
Sanford
Sanford Avenue
segregation
Seminole High School
SHS
Starke, George H.
Strickland, Edward D.
Tasha
theater
Thirteenth Street
Touch and Go