Oral History of Trish Thompson
Sanford (Fla.)
Seminole County (Fla.)
Oral histories
Community theater--United States
Theater--United States
Theater managers
Colquitt (Ga.)
Orlando (Fla.)
Race relations--United States
Playwriting
Oral history told by Trish Thompson, Vice President of Creative Sanford, Inc. The interview was conducted by Autumn Reisz and Mark Miller on October 11, 2013 and focuses on Thompson's experiences with Creative Sanford and Celery Soup. Other topics include adapting the Swamp Gravy model to Celery Soup, how Creative Sanford and Celery Soup have evolved over time, the oral history interviewing process, partnering with the African-American community, the effects of the George Zimmerman trial on Sanford, adapting oral histories into community plays, goals of Creative Sanford and Celery Soup, community involvement and feedback, fundraising and the Celery Ball, production costs, preserving the legacy of Creative Sanford and Celery Soup, and maintaining community involvement. <br /><br /><p>Creative Sanford, Inc. is a non-profit organization created to manage Celery Soup community theater productions. The original idea for the Celery Soup project came from Jeanine Taylor, the owner of a folk-art gallery on First Street in Sanford, Florida. Their first production was <em>Touch and Go</em>, which took several years of planning. The play focused on how the people of Sanford overcame obstacles throughout their history. Some of these stories include the fall of Sanford's celery industry, the Freeze of 1894-1895, and the closing of Naval Air Station (NAS) Sanford in the 1960s. Richard Geer and Jules Corriere, partners from Community Performance International, were in charge of assessing oral histories, converting them into scenes for the play, and writing original songs. Director Geer also used an all-volunteer cast from the local community, many of which were not experienced actors.</p>
<p>During the process of producing the show, Creative Sanford decided to rehabilitate an historic building, the Princess Theater, which was located on 115 West First Street and owned by Stephen Tibstra. The Creative Sanford offices are housed in the Historic Sanford Welcome Center, located at 203 East First Street. As of December 2013, the Executive Board for Creative Sanford included President Brian Casey, Vice President Trish Thompson, Treasurer Linda Hollerbach, Secretary Dr. Annye Refoe, and Founder Jeanine Taylor. The Board of Directors consisted of Cheryl Deming, Juanita Roland, Wendy Wheaton, and Dr. Connie Lester, a professor of history at the University of Central Florida. Honorary Board Members included: Glenda Hood, former Florida Secretary of State and Mayor of Orlando; Valada Flewellyn, a local poet, author, and historian; and Jackie Jones, a local entertainer and arts advocate.</p>
Reisz, Autumn
Miller, Mark
Thompson, Trish
Thompson, Trish. Interviewed by Autumn Reisz and Mark Miller. <a href="http://www.celerysoupsanford.com/" target="_blank">Creative Sanford, Inc.</a> Offices, Sanford Welcome Center. October 11, 2013. Audio/video record available. <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>, Orlando, Florida.
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>
video/mp4
application/pdf
eng
Moving Image
Creative Sanford, Inc., Sanford, Florida
Celery Soup, Sanford, Florida
Swamp Gravy, Colquitt, Georgia
Oral History of Christine Kinlaw-Best
Sanford (Fla.)
Oral history--United States
Elementary schools--United States
Grammar schools
Schools
Oral history of Christine Kinlaw-Best, interviewed by Mark Miller on March 2, 2013, for the UCF Public History Center's History Harvest. In the oral history, Kinlaw-Best discusses how she found information about the History Harvest, her family's attendance at the school building at 301 West Seventh Avenue since it opened in 1902 as Sanford High School, her family's report cards from the various schools that were housed in the building, what changes have been made to the building, how students were transported to the school when her grandmother attended, how children helped their parents farm when the school year ended, and the different schools in Sanford.<br /><br />Sanford High School was originally established at 301 West Seventh Street in 1902. The building was designed by W. G. Talley in the Romanesque revival style. Due to an increasing student population, a new school building was constructed on Sanford Avenue in 1911. The original building on Seventh Street served as Westside Grammar Elementary School, which was later renamed Sanford Grammar School. In 1984, the building was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places and converted into the Student Museum. The building reopened as the University of Central Florida's Public History Center in 2012. In 1927, a high school campus was designed by Elton J. Moughton in the Mediterranean revival style and constructed at 1700 French Avenue. The school reopened on January 10 and was renamed Seminole High School. In 1960, the high school moved to a new campus at 2701 Ridgewood Avenue and the former building on French Avenue was converted to Sanford Junior High School, which was later renamed Sanford Middle School. The old building was demolished in the summer of 1991 and replaced by a $5.77 million school complex. As of 2013, Seminole High School offers various Advanced Placement courses, the Academy for Health Careers, and the International Baccalaureate Programme for students.
Miller, Mark
Kinlaw-Best, Christine
Kinlaw-Best, Christine. Interviewed by Mark Miller. UCF Public History Center, HAR1063414P. March 2, 2013. Video record available. <a href="http://www.publichistorycenter.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">UCF Public History Center</a>, Sanford, Florida.
video/mp4
application/pdf
eng
Moving Image
Sanford High School, Sanford, Florida
Westside Grammar Elementary School, Sanford, Florida
Sanford Grammar School, Sanford, Florida
Seminole High School, Sanford, Florida