Chattel Mortgage Property Deed for Black Mule (June 20, 1911)
Chattel mortgage property deed for a black mule named Kate. Kate was mortgaged by George W. Oden to W. W. Carpenter for $25 on June 20, 1911. George W. Oden (1862-1939) was a successful businessman and citrus grower in Apopka, Florida. Born in Sylacauga, Alabama, Oden moved to Apopka by 1902. He owned four businesses and five parcels of land, where he grew citrus. In 1933, Oden donated land for the construction of the Pleasant View Baptist Church, located at 1202 South Central Avenue. Oden was also the recipient of the City of Apopka's Fifty Years in Business Award.
Original property deed, June 20, 1911: State of Florida, County of Orange, Apopka, Florida: series I, box 1, folder 34, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Property Warranty Deed for Ella Wall (December 8, 1924)
Property warranty deed certifying the transfer of land from A. M. and Julia A. Starbird to Ella Wall on January 26, 1924. The property transferred was the north half of the north half of Lot 27 Block J in the Town of Apopka, Florida. The deed was certified by the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Orange Countya on December 8, 1924. Wall had later purchased the rest of Lot 27 Block J in 1928. The deed was notarized by W. G. Talton and witnessed by R. M. Moore. Ella Wall (1874-1938) was an entrepreneur and businesswoman of Apopka who served as the inspiration for a character in Zora Neale Hurston's novel Mules and Men. Wall was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1874 and moved to Apopka as a widow. Throughout her lifetime, Wall purchased four parcels, of land. She operated an orange grove and also constructed small wooden buildings that she rented out to migrant workers. Wall was also a friend of Michael Gladden, Jr., the executor of the George W. Oden estates, until her death in 1938.
Original property warranty deed, December 8, 1924: State of Florida, County of Orange, Apopka, Florida: series I, box 1, folder 34, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Quit-Claim Deed for Ella Wall (June 1, 1928)
Quit-claim deed certifying the transfer of land from J. D. Beggs, Leila S. Beggs, Annie E. Beggs, Laura B. Casey, and T. L. Casey to Ella Wall on May 22, 1928. The property transferred was Lot 27 Block J in the Town of Apopka, Florida, for $38.28. The document was notarized by Ruth W. McClure on May 24, 1928. The deed was certified by Bill Robinson, clerk of the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Orange County on June 1, 1928. Wall had previously purchased the north half of the north half of Lot 27 Block J from A. M. and Julia A. Starbird in 1924. Ella Wall (1874-1938) was an entrepreneur and businesswoman of Apopka who served as the inspiration for a character in Zora Neale Hurston's novel Mules and Men. Wall was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1874 and moved to Apopka as a widow. Throughout her lifetime, Wall purchased four parcels, of land. She operated an orange grove and also constructed small wooden buildings that she rented out to migrant workers. Wall was also a friend of Michael Gladden, Jr., the executor of the George W. Oden estates, until her death in 1938.
Original quit-claim deed, June 1, 1928: State of Florida, County of Orange, Apopka, Florida: series I, box 1, folder 132, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Inventory from one of the citrus groves owned by George W. Oden (1862-1939), a successful businessman and citrus grower in Apopka, Florida. Born in Sylacauga, Alabama, Oden moved to Apopka, Florida, by 1902. He owned four businesses and five parcels of land, where he grew citrus. In 1933, Oden donated land for the construction of the Pleasant View Baptist Church, located at 1202 South Central Avenue. Oden was also the recipient of the City of Apopka's Fifty Years in Business Award.
Original 1- page inventory, 1930: series I, box 1, folder 142, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Warranty Deed for George W. Oden (January 6, 1903)
Warranty deed certifying the transfer of land in Apopka, Florida, from John F. Cogswell and Esther M. Cogswell to George W. Oden on November 1, 1902. The property transferred was 40 acres in the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 8 in Township 21, south of Range 28 East, and was notarized by Frank H. Davis and David E. Moulton. The deed was certified by J. N. Bradshaw and M. A. Howard, circuit court clerk and deputy clerk of the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Orange County, respectively, on January 28, 1903. George W. Oden (1862-1939) was a successful businessman and citrus grower in Apopka, Florida. Born in Sylacauga, Alabama, Oden moved to Apopka by 1902. He owned four businesses and five parcels of land, where he grew citrus. In 1933, Oden donated land for the construction of the Pleasant View Baptist Church, located at 1202 South Central Avenue. Oden was also the recipient of the City of Apopka's Fifty Years in Business Award.
Original warranty deed, January 6, 1903: State of Florida, County of Orange, Apopka, Florida: series I, box 1, folder 29, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Quit-Claim Deed for George W. Oden (November 3, 1902)
Quit-claim deed certifying the transfer of land from Lucian Dixon and Annie Dixon to George W. Oden on November 1, 1902. The property transferred was the north half of Lot 56 in Block H in Apopka, Florida. The deed was notarized on November 3, 1902. George W. Oden (1862-1939) was a successful businessman and citrus grower in Apopka, Florida. Born in Sylacauga, Alabama, Oden moved to Apopka by 1902. He owned four businesses and five parcels of land, where he grew citrus. In 1933, Oden donated land for the construction of the Pleasant View Baptist Church, located at 1202 South Central Avenue. Oden was also the recipient of the City of Apopka's Fifty Years in Business Award.
Original quit-claim deed, November 3, 1902: State of Florida, County of Orange, Apopka, Florida: series I, box 1, folder 24, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Letter from Daisy P. White to the Apopka Chief of Police (March 16, 1928)
Letter from Daisy P. White to the Apopka Chief of Police written and mailed on March 16, 1928. Topics discussed in the letter include White's previous attempts to write to the Chief of Police, her plans to return to her home in Florence, South Carolina once her daughter finishes school for the school year, and uncertainty in regards to what papers her sister-in-law, Ella Wall, will need following the death of White's Husband. Ella Wall (1874-1938) was an entrepreneur and businesswoman of Apopka who served as the inspiration for a character in Zora Neale Hurston's novel Mules and Men. Wall was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1874 and moved to Apopka as a widow. Throughout her lifetime, Wall purchased four parcels, of land. She operated an orange grove and also constructed small wooden buildings that she rented out to migrant workers. Wall was also a friend of Michael Gladden, Jr., the executor of the George W. Oden estates, until her death in 1938.
Original letter from Daisy P. White to the Apopka Chief of Police, March 16, 1928: series I, box 1, folder 129, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Letter from William H. Falconer to Michael Gladden, Jr. (April 29, 1931)
Fraternal organizations, African American
Letter from William H. Falconer, Supreme Vice President of the Woodmen of Union, to Michael Gladden, Jr., a deputy of the Union. In the letter, Falconer urges all local deputies and officers to attend the Deputy and Officers' School, a instructional course for employees of the Woodmen of Union held in the Woodmen of Union Building, located at 501 Malvern Avenue in Hot Springs, Arkansas, between May 11-16, 1931. The Woodmen of Union, founded in 1883, was a fraternal benefit association that offered insurance benefits for its members and also participated in various social activities. Michael Gladden, Jr. (1899-1982) was the executor of the estate of George W. Oden (1862-1939), a successful businessman and citrus grower in Apopka, Florida. Gladden was born in South Carolina in 1899. He married Elizabeth Gladden and together they had a son, William, who was born around 1904. According to census records, the Gladden family had moved to Jacksonville as early as 1910 and then moved to Apopka. After Oden's death in 1939, Gladden continued to manage the legal documents of Oden's estate.
Original letter from William H. Falconer to Michael Gladden, Jr., April 29, 1931: series I, box 1, folder 171, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Woodmen of Union, Woodmen of Union Building, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Envelope and hand-drawn maps of Michael Gladden, Jr.'s property, Lots 21 and 27 of Block J in Apopka, mailed to Ella Wall. Michael Gladden, Jr. (1899-1982) was the executor of the estate of George W. Oden (1862-1939), a successful businessman and citrus grower in Apopka, Florida. Gladden was born in South Carolina in 1899. He married Elizabeth Gladden and together they had a son, William, who was born around 1904. According to census records, the Gladden family had moved to Jacksonville as early as 1910 and then moved to Apopka. After Oden's death in 1939, Gladden continued to manage the legal documents of Oden's estate. Ella Wall (1874-1938) was an entrepreneur and businesswoman of Apopka who served as the inspiration for a character in Zora Neale Hurston's novel Mules and Men. Wall was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1874 and moved to Apopka as a widow. Throughout her lifetime, Wall purchased four parcels, of land. She operated an orange grove and also constructed small wooden buildings that she rented out to migrant workers. Wall was also a friend of Michael Gladden, Jr., the executor of the George W. Oden estates, until her death in 1938.
Original map by Michael Gladden, Jr.: series I, box 1, folder 12, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Warranty Deed for State Bank of Apopka (May 20, 1921)
A warranty deed certifying the transfer of land from Michael Gladden, Jr. and Elizabeth Gladden to the State Bank of Apopka for $100 on May 20, 1921. The property transferred was the west quarter of Lot 17 of Block J in Apopka, Florida. The deed was certified by the circuit court clerk and deputy clerk of the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit of Orange County on May 25, 1921. Michael Gladden, Jr. (1899-1982) was the executor of the estate of George W. Oden (1862-1939), a successful businessman and citrus grower in Apopka, Florida. Gladden was born in South Carolina in 1899. He married Elizabeth Gladden and together they had a son, William, who was born around 1904. According to census records, the Gladden family had moved to Jacksonville as early as 1910 and then moved to Apopka. After Oden's death in 1939, Gladden continued to manage the legal documents of Oden's estate.
Original warranty deed, May 20, 1921: State of Florida, County of Orange, Apopka, Florida: series I, box 1, folder 74, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Business sign thanking customers for their patronage. The sign belonged to a business owned by Ella Wall located on Main Street in Apopka, Florida. Ella Wall (1874-1938) was an entrepreneur and businesswoman of Apopka who served as the inspiration for a character in Zora Neale Hurston's novel Mules and Men. Wall was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1874 and moved to Apopka as a widow. Throughout her lifetime, Wall purchased four parcels, of land. She operated an orange grove and also constructed small wooden buildings that she rented out to migrant workers. Wall was also a friend of Michael Gladden, Jr., the executor of the George W. Oden estates, until her death in 1938.
Original business sign: series I, box 1, folder 1, African American Legacy: The Carol Mundy Collection, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Annual Worker Plan Schedule for Pilgrim Black
A sheath for Annual Worker Plan Schedule issued by the Farm Placement Service of the U.S. Employment Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor. This sheath was owned by Pilgrim Black (1905-2002), who was born in 1905, although some records list 1907 as his birth year. Pilgrim and his wife, Lula Mae Haynes Black (1917-2007), were migrant crew leaders, and thus migrated to Wayne County in Upstate New York in the summers and back to their home in Sanford for the rest of the year. Pilgrim was the son of Harry Black (d. 1911) and Maggie Benjamin Black (ca.1870-ca.1934), who migrated to Sanford from South Carolina in the 1800s. Harry and Maggie had several children: Leckward Black, Mustar Black, Malachi Black, Leatha Black Walker (1889-1976), Pilgrim Black, Margaret Black Jones (1889-1976), and Harriett Black Lawson. In 1911, Harry owned a grocery store at 206 South Sanford Avenue. One day, he came home from work with pneumonia and passed away shortly thereafter. Pilgrim was nine years old when his father passed away. Maggie was the daughter of former slaves, Isaac and Roseanna Benjamin, and the sister of Nathan Benjamin, Pledge Benjamin, Sam Benjamin, Loui Benjamin, Chainey Benjamin, Lara Benjamin, Melvina Benjamin, and Katie Benjamin. Pilgrim had to quit school at age 11 in order to provide for his mother, originally working in a mill house until he was 18 years old. After declining a management position, he traveled to Wayne County to pick cherries, apples, pears, and other crops. He broke a bone after falling from an apple tree his first year and decided to try farm labor on a potato farm in Red Creek, New York, instead. Don Holdridge, the farmer who owned the land, noted Pilgrim's high rate of productivity and offered him a management position supervising up to thirty workers at once, which he accepted. While in Sanford, Pilgrim also worked as a foreman in Sanford for Chase & Company for over 30 years. He married Lula in 1937 and they had several children together, including Vivian Louise Black (1940-); Lula Yvonne Black (1942-); Charles Samuel Black (1945-); Pilgrim Black, Jr. (ca. 1947-), and Patricia Ann Black (1956-).
Farm Placement Service, United States Employment Service, United States Department of Labor
Original red sheath: Farm Placement Service, United States Employment Service, United States Department of Labor: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Dr. George H. Starke (ca. 1899-ca. 1979), a friend of the Black Family, displaying the fish he caught and brought back to his home on Locust Avenue in Sanford (now part of Winter Springs) 1960. For many years, Dr. Starke was the only African-American doctor in Sanford, Florida, and delivered many of the African-American children born in Sanford before the 1960s. He delivered all of the Black children except for Patricia Ann Black (1956-): David Harry Black (1929-2012), Vivian Louise Black (1940-), Lula Yvonne Black (1942-), Charles Samuel Black (1945-), and Pilgrim Black Jr. (ca. 1947- ). Dr. Starke opened his practice in 1927. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Starke became one of only four African-American physicians to be accepted by Harvard University for residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He practiced for several years in Boston and then returned to Sanford in 1933 and continued to practice medicine until his death at age 80. Dr. Starke was also the first African-American doctor to acquire membership in the Florida Medical Association and the Seminole County Medical Association, as well as the second to join the American Medical Association. In 1971, the City of Sanford named George Starke Park, located at 1501 West Third Street, in his honor.
Original black and white photograph, April 1960: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Migrant Experience Paper by William Arthur Bigham III
An academic paper written by William Arthur Bigham III (1982-) for a course at the State University of New York at Brockport on food and culture on December 19, 2011. Topics discussed in the paper include Bigham's interview with his mother, Patricia Ann Black (1956- ), about her experiences as the child of migrant workers; how migrant workers lived; the difference between education and race relations in the North and in the South; the logistics of working in the fields; and how the Federal government changed migrant work. William Bigham III was born in Rochester and raised in Wayne County, New York. He began teaching microbiology and anatomy at the SUNY Brockport in 2013. He is the son of Patricia Black, the grandson of Pilgrim Black (1905-2002) and Lula Mae Haynes Black (1917-2007), and the great grandson of Harry Black (d. 1911) and Maggie Benjamin Black (ca. 1870-ca. 1934), who migrated to Sanford, Florida, from South Carolina in the 1800s. Bigham's grandparents, Pilgrim and Lula, were migrant crew leaders, and thus migrated to Upstate New York in the summers and back to their home in Sanford for the rest of the year.
Former Location of Harry Black's Grocery Store, 2012
The former lot of a grocery store, located at 206 South Sanford Avenue owned by Harry Black (d. 1911), the grandfather of Patricia Ann Black, in 2012. Harry and Maggie Benjamin Black (ca. 1870-ca. 1934) were the parents of Leckward Black, Mustar Black, Malachi Black, Leatha Black Walker (1889-1976), Pilgrim Black (1905-2002), Margaret Black Jones (1889-1976), and Harriett Black Lawson. They were also the grandparents of David Harry Black (1929-2012), Vivian Louise Black (1940-); Lula Yvonne Black (1942-); Charles Samuel Black (1945- ); Pilgrim Black, Jr. (ca. 1947-); and Patricia Ann Black (1956-). The Black family migrated from South Carolina during the 19th century. In 1911, Harry owned a grocery store at 206 South Sanford Avenue. One day, he came home from work with pneumonia and passed away shortly thereafter.
Original color photograph by Patricia Ann Black, 2012: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Harry Black's Grocery Store, Sanford, Florida
African-American Mother and Child at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall
An African-American mother with her newborn child at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at the Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health started failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown.
Original color photograph: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
Marguerite Moore, Pat Ciprian, Marie Jones Francis, and Linda Croft at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall
Marguerite Moore, Pat Ciprian, Marie Jones Francis, and Linda Croft in the front yard of the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. This photograph was taken on April 4, 1975. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford." Francis left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of, including three home-cooked meals; mothers were also taught basics in infant care. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. If a mother could not afford the costs, Marie Francis would not turn her away. "There's a lot of charity here but I wouldn't feel good taking money and knowing the mother can't eat when she leaves here," Francis mentions in a newspaper article. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwives. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre, Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital. The "Midwife of Sanford" Marie Francis and her family contributed to Sanford's development and well-being for the better half of the twentieth century.
Original color photograph, April 4, 1975: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Coverage Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," receiving an award. Francis ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford." Francis left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
A newspaper article about Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford." Francis left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original newspaper article: Moore, Stacy. "Midwife on Job Here 32 Years." The Little Sentinel, April 4, 1979: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College, Tallahasse, Florida
Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital, Sanford, Florida
Caucasian Mothers with Children at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall
A number of caucasian mothers with their newborn children at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original color photographs: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
The cover of All Florida, a TV guide published by The Florida Times-Union, for November 17, 1963. The cover features Albin Polasek, who was also featured on page 10 of the TV guide. All Florida also featured other artists from Orange County, including Hal McIntosh, Maury Hurt, and Bill Orr. Polasek is a local art legend in Orange County who is also recognized nationally and internationally for his work. Polasek was born in Frenštát pod Radhošt?m, Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic), on February 14, 1879. He later migrated to Vienna, Austria, where he apprenticed as a woodcarver. In 1901, at age 22, Polasek immigrated to the Midwestern United States. At age 25, he began attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he studied under Charles Grafly. Two of his most well-known sculptures were created while he was a student: Man Carving His Own Destiny and Eternal Moment. Polasek was granted American citizenship in 1909 and he earned the Prix de Rome in 1910, which granted him a three-year fellowship at the American Academy of Art in Rome, Italy. He also received the Paris Salon for The Sower in 1913 and the George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1915 for Aspiration. After completing his studies in Rome, Polasek migrated to New York City, New York. In 1916, when he was 37, the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, invited Polasek to head its sculpture department. While in Chicago, he sculpted Forest Idyl, Victorious Christ, and The Spirit of Music. In 1927, he was elected as an Associate Member of the National Academy of Design, which is an honorary degree conferred to America's top painters, sculptors, and architects. Polasek also achieved full academician status in 1933. In 1950, when Polasek was 70, he retired to Winter Park, Florida, where he built a home on Lake Osceola. That same year, he suffered from a stroke, which paralyzed the right side of his body. Seven months later, he married one of his former students, Ruth Sherwood, who died just two years later. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Polasek was able to create 18 major works in his later years. In 1961, he married Emily Muska Kubat and the set up the Albin Polasek Foundation, opening up the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, located at 633 Osceola Avenue in Winter Park, which featured his personal galleries, chapel, and gardens. On May 19, 1965, Polasek passed away and was buried beside his first wife at Palm Cemetery. In 2000, Polasek was named a "Great Floridian," a distinction reserved for those who have made a significant contribution to the state culturally and historically. In 2004, he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
Original TV guide cover: The Florida Times-Union, November 17, 1963: Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park, Florida.
The Florida Times-Union
Albín Polasek Home and Art Studio, Winter Park, Florida
Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park, Florida
Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens
Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens
The Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, located at 633 Osceola Avenue in Winter Park, Florida. Albin Polasek, known internationally for his sculptures, retired to Lake Osceola in Winter Park in 1950. The same year that he had moved to Florida, Polasek suffered from a stroke, which paralyzed the right side of his body. Seven months later, he married one of his former students, Ruth Sherwood, who died just two years later. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Polasek was able to create 18 major works in his later years. In 1961, he married Emily Muska Kubat and the set up the Albin Polasek Foundation, opening up the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, located in parts of Polasek's home and studio, which featured his personal galleries, chapel, and gardens. On May 19, 1965, Polasek passed away and was buried beside his first wife at Palm Cemetery.
Original color photographic print: Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park, Florida.
Pamela Ruzinsky at age one in August 1973. Ruzinsky was delivered by Marie Jones Francis at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original color photograph, August 1973: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Pamela Ruzinsky at age three in December 1975. Ruzinsky was delivered by Marie Jones Francis at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original color photograph, December 1975: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
A record book owned by Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," for the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original record book by Marie Jones Francis: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Betty Bowman and her child, Rhonda Bowman, in March 1974. Rhonda was delivered by Marie Jones Francis at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall on December 25, 1973. Located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown.
Original color photograph, March 1975: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Sanford's Birth Place: Marie Jones Francis Delivered More than 40,000 Babies in Her Sixth Street Home
Original newspaper article: Jerla, Michelle. "Sanford's Birth Place: Marie Jones Francis Delivered More than 40,000 Babies in Her Sixth Street Home." The Seminole Herald, February 16, 2003: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
The home and art studio of Albin Polasek, located at 633 Osceola Avenue in Winter Park, Florida, around the time of its construction. Polasek, known internationally for his sculptures, retired to Lake Osceola in Winter Park in 1950. The same year that he had moved to Florida, Polasek suffered from a stroke, which paralyzed the right side of his body. Seven months later, he married one of his former students, Ruth Sherwood, who died just two years later. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Polasek was able to create 18 major works in his later years. In 1961, he married Emily Muska Kubat and the set up the Albin Polasek Foundation, opening up the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, located in parts of Polasek's home and studio, which featured his personal galleries, chapel, and gardens. On May 19, 1965, Polasek passed away and was buried beside his first wife at Palm Cemetery.
Original black and white photographic print: Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park, Florida.
Albin Polasek Home and Art Studio, Winter Park, Florida
A portrait of Albin Polasek, a local art legend in Orange County, Florida, who is also recognized nationally and internationally for his work. Polasek was born in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm, Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic), on February 14, 1879. He later migrated to Vienna, Austria, where he apprenticed as a woodcarver. In 1901, at age 22, Polasek immigrated to the Midwestern United States. At age 25, he began attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he studied under Charles Grafly. Two of his most well-known sculptures were created while he was a student: Man Carving His Own Destiny and Eternal Moment. Polasek was granted American citizenship in 1909 and he earned the Prix de Rome in 1910, which granted him a three-year fellowship at the American Academy of Art in Rome, Italy. He also received the Paris Salon for The Sower in 1913 and the George D. Widener Memorial Gold Medal from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1915 for Aspiration. After completing his studies in Rome, Polasek migrated to New York City, New York. In 1916, when he was 37, the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, invited Polasek to head its sculpture department. While in Chicago, he sculpted Forest Idyl, Victorious Christ, and The Spirit of Music. In 1927, he was elected as an Associate Member of the National Academy of Design, which is an honorary degree conferred to America's top painters, sculptors, and architects. Polasek also achieved full academician status in 1933. In 1950, when Polasek was 70, he retired to Winter Park, Florida, where he built a home on Lake Osceola. That same year, he suffered from a stroke, which paralyzed the right side of his body. Seven months later, he married one of his former students, Ruth Sherwood, who died just two years later. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Polasek was able to create 18 major works in his later years. In 1961, he married Emily Muska Kubat and the set up the Albin Polasek Foundation, opening up the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, located at 633 Osceola Avenue in Winter Park, which featured his personal galleries, chapel, and gardens. On May 19, 1965, Polasek passed away and was buried beside his first wife at Palm Cemetery. In 2000, Polasek was named a "Great Floridian," a distinction reserved for those who have made a significant contribution to the state culturally and historically. In 2004, he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.
Marie Jones Francis with Nurses at the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall
Marie Jones Francis with several nurses in front of the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic black neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was originally the home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original color photograph, September 1974: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Albin Polasek with Mayor Allen Trovillion
Albin Polasek with Mayor Allen Trovillion in Polasek's home and art studio, located at 633 Osceola Avenue in Winter Park, Florida. Trovillion served as the Mayor of Winter Park from 1962 to 1966. A Republican, he later went on to represent District 26 in the Florida House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002. Polasek, known internationally for his sculptures, retired to Lake Osceola in Winter Park in 1950. The same year that he had moved to Florida, Polasek suffered from a stroke, which paralyzed the right side of his body. Seven months later, he married one of his former students, Ruth Sherwood, who died just two years later. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Polasek was able to create 18 major works in his later years. In 1961, he married Emily Muska Kubat and the set up the Albin Polasek Foundation, opening up the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, located in parts of Polasek's home and studio, which featured his personal galleries, chapel, and gardens. On May 19, 1965, Polasek passed away and was buried beside his first wife at Palm Cemetery.
Albín Polášek Home and Art Studio, Winter Park, Florida
Midwives Supply Needed Service Community
A newspaper article about African-American midwives in Seminole County, Florida, in the 1960s. The article states that of the 760 babies born at the Seminole Memorial Hospital in 1963, nearly 400 were delivered by African-America midwives. The article explains that the demand for midwifery was due to rising costs in hospital delivery and prenatal care. The article also discusses the licensing for midwives, the delivery process, and then highlights two midwives in Seminole: Mary Moye and Marie Jones Francis. Moye, who lived at 1515 West Sixteenth Street, had been practicing midwifery for 40 years and had been licensed and registered for 20 years at the time that the article was published. According to the article, her services typically cost between $65 and $90. The article also highlights Marie Francis, the "midwife of Sanford." Francis left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original newspaper article: Austin, Dottie. "Midwives Supply Needed Service Community." The Sanford Herald, July 24, 1964: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
The Sanford Herald
Seminole Memorial Hospital, Sanford, Florida
A newspaper photograph Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford." Francis left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original newspaper photograph by Jean Patteson: The Sanford Herald: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Heritage Jubilee Honors Distinguished Service Award
A newspaper article about the 1988 Heritage Jubilee Distinguished Service Awards. The Heritage Jubilee is sponsored by the Afro-American Society to honor the birth and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program was established in the early 1980s by students and faculty members at Seminole Community College. The committee also created the Distinguished Service Awards, which would highlight the achievements of local African-Americans. One of the honorees for 1988 was Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford." Francis left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original newspaper article: Hawkins, Marva Y. "Heritage Jubilee Honors Distinguished Service Award." The Sanford Herald: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Tax Facts: Local Property Tax Expenditures, 1974-1975
A pamphlet showing the local property tax expenditures for Seminole County, Florida, during the 1974-1975 fiscal year. Based on Seminole County budgets from that year, the county spent 63.8% of its local property tax on the District School Board, 18.6% on the General Fund, 14.4% on the Fine & Forfeiture Fund, 1.3% on the Road & Bridge Fun, 1.1% on the Interest & Sinking Fund, 0.3% on the hospital, and 0.5% on the Port Authority.
Original pamphlet: "Tax Facts: Local Property Tax Expenditures 1974 - 75." Seminole County Florida Government, Seminole County, FL: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Seminole County Florida Government
Dr. Annye Refoe and Dr. Stephen Caldwell Wright
Dr. Annye Refoe and Dr. Stephen Caldwell Wright in Sanford, Florida, in 2011. Dr. Refoe, the daughter of Herman L. Refoe, Jr. and Shellye L. Refoe, was born on January 29, 1951. Since her parents both taught at Midway Elementary School, Refoe also attended the school, as opposed to attending Hopper Academy in Georgetown, an African-American neighborhood in Sanford. Refoe graduated from Seminole High School in 1969. After her treatment in the newly integrated Seminole High School, she decided to enroll in a historically black college/university. She graduated from Fisk College in Nashville, Tennessee, with a bachelor's degree in English in 1973. Upon her return from college, Refoe began teaching in August 1974 at Lake Howell High School in Winter Park. In 1982, she started teaching at Seminole Community College, where she later became the Dean of the Arts and Humanities. Dr. Wright was born and raised in Goldsboro, an historic black community in Sanford. He lived in Sanford for most of his early life, except for one year that he attended school in Lakeland during ninth grade. He attended Goldsboro Elementary School and Crooms High School, where he graduated in 1964. For his college education, Dr. Wright attended Volusia County Community College in Daytona for one semester, Gibbs College (now merged with St. Petersburg College) in St. Petersburg for the first part of his bachelor's degree in English, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton for the second part of his bachelor's education degree in English, Atlanta University for his master's degree in English, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in for his doctoral degree in Linguistics and Rhetoric.
Original color digital images by Julio R. Firpo, April 15, 2011.
Certificate of Midwifery for Marie Jones Francis
A document certifying Marie Jones Francis as a Lay-Midwife for the year of 1977. The certificate was issued by the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services Health Program Office and was signed by the Staff Director. The Governor and Secretary at the time of issuance were Reubin O'Donovan Askew and William J. Page, Jr., respectively. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original certificate, 1977: Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, Tallahassee, Florida: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
The Hopper Academy was the first African-American school in the Georgetown district of Sanford, Florida. Established in 1886, the school was originally named Colored School No. 11. A new building for the school was constructed at 1110 Pine Avenue in 1906. The school served the African-American community in the surrounding region. Although it was the first black school in Sanford, Hopper Academy only went up to grade 10. While today it has fallen into disrepair, Hopper Academy remains a symbol of Georgetown, representing the enduring legacy of Sanford’s African Americans raising themselves through education. Hopper Academy served as a black elementary school for grades 1 – 6 from 1926 to 1961. Professor Joseph Nathaniel Crooms was principal of Hopper from 1906 to 1926, thereafter becoming principal of Crooms High School in Goldsboro. Key individuals who studied at the school include Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston and Sanford’s midwife Marie Francis. In 1968, the Hopper Academy ceased to operate as a school.
Original color digital image by Julio R. Firpo, April 26, 2011.
Hopper Academy, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
License to Practice Midwifery for Carrie Jones
A License to Practice Midwifery, issued by the Florida State Board of Health, certifying the completion of midwifery requirements by Carrie Jones. The certificate was issued in Sanford, Florida, on July 23, 1943, and signed by Dr. Lucille J. Marsh, the Director of the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. Jones originally served as a midwife at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital, located at 500 South Oak Avenue in Sanford. Along with her daughter, Marie Jones Francis, Jones co-founded the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, located at 621 East Sixth Street in Georgetown, an historic African-American neighborhood in Sanford.
Florida State Board of Health
Original license, July 23, 1943: Florida State Board of Health, Jacksonville, Florida: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
License to Practice Midwifery for Marie Jones Francis
A License to Practice Midwifery, issued by the Florida State Board of Health Department, certifying the completion of midwifery requirements by Marie Jones Francis. The certificate was issued in Sanford, Florida, on May 27, 1943, and signed by Dr. Lucille J. Marsh, the Director of the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original license, May 27, 1943: Florida State Board of Health, Jacksonville, Florida: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
The home of Reverend John R. Hurston, the father of Zora Neale Hurston, in 2011. Later, Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," converted the house to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. Francis became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
The Refoe residence, located at 619 South Sanford Avenue in Georgetown, an historic African-American neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The house was the home of the Refoes, a family of educators who served the black community of Sanford. The Refoe family moved into the house on December 15, 1950. From 1946 to 2010, the Refoes taught in Seminole County continuously for 64 years. Herman L. Refoe, Jr. and Shellye L. Refoe began teaching at Midway Elementary School in 1946. They quickly became involved with the school and the students, starting clubs and coaching teams, along with teaching African Americans in the Midway and Canaan areas. Their daughter, Annye Refoe, was born on January 29, 1951. Herman became an Assistant Principal of Goldsboro Elementary School in 1959. About two years later, he became the Principal. Herman remained the school principal for over 11 years, until his retirement in 1972. Shellye continued teaching at Midway until 1962, when she began teaching at Crooms High School, followed by South Seminole Middle School, Milwee Middle School, and finally Lyman High School. She moved around as a result of Seminole County’s School Board’s attempt to integrate black teachers. Shellye retired in January 1974. Annye graduated from Seminole High School in the class of 1969. After her treatment in the newly integrated Seminole High School, she decided to enroll in a historically black college/university. She graduated from Fisk College in Nashville, Tennessee, with a bachelors’ in English in 1973. Upon her return from college, Annye began teaching in August 1974 at Lake Howell High School. In 1982, she started teaching at Seminole Community College, where she later became the Dean of the Arts and Humanities.
Home of the Refoe Family, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
Wilson-Eichelberger Mortuary, located at 1100 Pine Avenue, in 2011. The mortuary is a long-standing business within the historic African-American district of Georgetown of Sanford, Florida. Georgetown was established by the city's founder, Henry Shelton Sanford, as a suburb for African-American residents in the 1870s. The neighborhood spans along Sanford Avenue, with its commercial district between First Street and Fifth Street and its historic district between Seventh Street and Tenth Street. Though originally much smaller, Georgetown spanned to its present boundaries from East Second Street to Celery Avenue and from Sanford Avenue to Mellonville Avenue. Georgetown thrived at its height from circa 1880 to 1940, particularly in agriculture and transportation.
Wilson-Eichelberger Mortuary, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
Map of Goldsboro, Orange County, Florida
A plat of a handdrawn lot given to Orange County, Florida when Goldsboro was established. The map shows plots along Goldsboro Avenue (present-day West Thirteenth Street and Historic Goldsboro Avenue), Lincoln Street (present-day West Thirteenth Place), Blaine Street (present-day West Fourteenth Street), and Harrison Street (present-day West Sixteenth Street). The majority of the plots were owned by Florida Land and Colonization Company or Thorpe & Chappell. Goldsboro is one of the historic African-American communities in Sanford, Florida. On December 1, 1891, William Clark, a storeowner and businessman, organized 19 other black registered voters to incorporate the town of Goldsboro, which was the second African-American city to be incorporated in Florida. Goldsboro's early economy was driven by rail yards, fields, groves, ice houses, and produce houses. A year after its incorporation, Goldsboro opened a school led by Katie Stubbins. Goldsboro's proximity to Sanford prevented it from expanding further west. Instead, the City of Sanford passed a resolution to absorb Goldsboro, despite opposition from the latter town's officials. Nonetheless, the Florida Legislature revoked Goldsboro's incorporation, in order to allow its absorption into Sanford on April 6, 1911. The identity of Goldsboro began to erode as the City of Sanford renamed several of its historical streets. In 2007, Goldsboro was included in plans for Sanford's revitalization efforts. In 2011, the Goldsboro Historical Museum was opened in the town at the site of its original post office.
Copy of original map, 1891: Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.
Letter from Hazel Skjersaa to Marie Jones Francis (June 13, 1975)
Letter from Hazel Skjersaa, the Maternity Nursing Coordinator at Valencia Community College, to Marie Jones Francis, a midwife in Sanford, Florida. In the letter, Skjersaa thanks Francis for a series of lectures she gave students in her home during April and May of 1975. Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Original letter from Hazel Skjersaa to Marie Jones Francis, June 13, 1975: Private Collection of Daphne F. Humphrey.
Valencia Community College, Orlando, Florida
The former location of Hawkins' Meat Market on West Thirteenth Street in Goldsboro of Sanford, Florida. The Hawkins family owned the grocery store next door to their home, and provided meat and other goods for both Goldsboro and Sanford residents from other neighborhoods. At the time that the photograph was taken in 2011, the building appeared to be vacant, but still retained the business sign for Peggie's Caribbean Take Out Kitchen.
Hawkins Meat Market, Goldsboro, Sanford, Florida
Peggie's Caribbean Take Out Kitchen, Goldsboro, Sanford, Florida
The Hawkins residence near West Thirteenth Street in Goldsboro, an historic African-Amercan neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The Hawkins owned the grocery store next door to their home called Hawkins' Meat Market, which provided meat and other goods for both Goldsboro and Sanford residents from other neighborhoods. At the time that the photograph was taken in 2011, the house was being occupied by Marva Y. Hawkins. Hawkins lived in Goldsboro her entire life and attended Goldsboro Red School and Crooms High School, where she graduated in 1954. She has worked in various positions, such as for Family Services, as an insurance agent, and as a columnist for The Sanford Herald.
Home of Marva Y. Hawkins, Goldsboro, Sanford, Florida
Migrant Worker "Big House" in Wayne County, New York
The "big house" of the migrant worker camp, located in Wayne County, New York, that Pilgrim Black (1905-2002) and his wife, Lula Mae Haynes Black (1917-2007), lived in. The house originally had a front porch and was painted a different color. Lula operated her restaurant out of the kitchen in the big house, despite the lack of running water. Pilgrim was born in 1905, although some records list 1907 as his birth year. Pilgrim and Lula Mae Haynes (1917-2007) Black were migrant crew leaders, and thus migrated to Wayne County in Upstate New York in the summers and back to their home in Sanford for the rest of the year. Pilgrim was the son of Harry Black (d. 1911) and Maggie Benjamin Black (ca.1870-ca.1934), who migrated to Sanford from South Carolina in the 1800s. Harry and Maggie had several children: Leckward Black, Mustar Black, Malachi Black, Leatha Black Walker (1889-1976), Pilgrim Black, Margaret Black Jones (1889-1976), and Harriett Black Lawson. In 1911, Harry owned a grocery store at 206 South Sanford Avenue. One day, he came home from work with pneumonia and passed away shortly thereafter. Pilgrim was nine years old when his father passed away. Maggie was the daughter of former slaves, Isaac and Roseanna Benjamin, and the sister of Nathan Benjamin, Pledge Benjamin, Sam Benjamin, Loui Benjamin, Chainey Benjamin, Lara Benjamin, Melvina Benjamin, and Katie Benjamin. Pilgrim had to quit school at age 11 in order to provide for his mother, originally working in a mill house until he was 18 years old. After declining a management position, he traveled to Wayne County to pick cherries, apples, pears, and other crops. He broke a bone after falling from an apple tree his first year and decided to try farm labor on a potato farm in Red Creek, New York, instead. Don Holdridge, the farmer who owned the land, noted Pilgrim's high rate of productivity and offered him a management position supervising up to thirty workers at once, which he accepted. While in Sanford, Pilgrim also worked as a foreman in Sanford for Chase & Company for over 30 years. He married Lula in 1937 and they had several children together, including Vivian Louise Black (1940-); Lula Yvonne Black (1942-); Charles Samuel Black (1945-); Pilgrim Black, Jr. (ca. 1947-), and Patricia Ann Black (1956-).
Original color photograph by Patricia Ann Black: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
The children of Patricia Ann Black (1956-): Charmion Le'Antwinetta Holt (1974-), William Arthur Bigham III (1982-), Brandon Oliver Black (1990-), and Tempestt Teonte Black (1992-). Charmion, who is also the daughter of Clint Holt (1955-), is employed at the Millers Orlando Ale House, located at 50 Towne Center Circle in Sanford, Florida, as of 2013. She also founded a catering business called Charm's Catering. The latter three children are from Patricia's marriage to William Bigham, Jr. (1952-). William III was born in Rochester, New York, and raised in Wayne County. He began teaching microbiology and anatomy at State University of New York in Brockport in 2013. Both Brandon and Tempestt graduated from North Rose Wolcott High School in Wolcott, New York. At age 19, Brandon attended Shear Ego, a barber school in Rochester. He also founded a barber shop called B. Black's Barber Shop, located on Route 414 in North Rose. As of 2013, Tempestt was attending Elmira College in Elmira, where she was studying nursing. She also joined the U.S. Army and is currently serving, as of 2013.
Original color photograph by Carolyn Bigham, November 2011: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Letter from Robert D. Moran to Pilgrim Black
A letter of correspondence from Robert D. Moran, administrator of the Workplace Standards Administration in the United States Department of Labor, to Pilgrim Black. In the letter, Moran informs Black that the minimum wage for nonfarm employees was to be raised from $1.45/ per hour to $1.60 per hour effective February 1, 1971 and that the minimum wage for farm workers would remain unchanged at $1.30 per hour. Black was born in 1905, although some records list 1907 as his birth year. Pilgrim and Lula Mae Haynes (1917-2007) Black were migrant crew leaders, and thus migrated to Wayne County in Upstate New York in the summers and back to their home in Sanford for the rest of the year. Pilgrim was the son of Harry Black (d. 1911) and Maggie Benjamin Black (ca.1870-ca.1934), who migrated to Sanford from South Carolina in the 1800s. Harry and Maggie had several children: Leckward Black, Mustar Black, Malachi Black, Leatha Black Walker (1889-1976), Pilgrim Black, Margaret Black Jones (1889-1976), and Harriett Black Lawson. In 1911, Harry owned a grocery store at 206 South Sanford Avenue. One day, he came home from work with pneumonia and passed away shortly thereafter. Pilgrim was nine years old when his father passed away. Maggie was the daughter of former slaves, Isaac and Roseanna Benjamin, and the sister of Nathan Benjamin, Pledge Benjamin, Sam Benjamin, Loui Benjamin, Chainey Benjamin, Lara Benjamin, Melvina Benjamin, and Katie Benjamin. Pilgrim had to quit school at age 11 in order to provide for his mother, originally working in a mill house until he was 18 years old. After declining a management position, he traveled to Wayne County to pick cherries, apples, pears, and other crops. He broke a bone after falling from an apple tree his first year and decided to try farm labor on a potato farm in Red Creek, New York, instead. Don Holdridge, the farmer who owned the land, noted Pilgrim's high rate of productivity and offered him a management position supervising up to thirty workers at once, which he accepted. While in Sanford, Pilgrim also worked as a foreman in Sanford for Chase & Company for over 30 years. He married Lula in 1937 and they had several children together, including Vivian Louise Black (1940-); Lula Yvonne Black (1942-); Charles Samuel Black (1945-); Pilgrim Black, Jr. (ca. 1947-), and Patricia Ann Black (1956-).
Original letter from Robert D. Moran to Pilgrim Black: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Tempestt Teonte Black (1992-) at her graduation from U.S. Army training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, on August 15, 2013. The first photograph shows Black with her brother, Brandon Oliver Black (1990-), and the second photograph shows her with her mother, Patricia Ann Black (1956-). Both siblings graduated from North Rose Wolcott High School in Wolcott, New York. Black is in her junior year of college at Elmira College in Elmira, New York, where she is studying nursing. She also joined the United States Army and is presently serving as of 2013.
Original color digital images By William Bigham, Jr., August 15, 2013: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Hal McIntosh at Exhibit at the Truro Public Library
Hal McIntosh at an exhibit of his artwork at the Truro Public Library, located at 7 Standish Way in North Truro, Massachusetts, during the summer of 2011. The painting to the left of McIntosh depicts his cottage on the beachfront. Born in 1927, McIntosh began his formal studies at the Detroit Art Institute in Detroit, Michigan, and the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. At age 18, the Art Research Studio (present-day Maitland Art Center) in Maitland, Florida, selected him as the institution's youngest-ever artist in residence. His talent later earned him the Directorship of the Academy of Fine Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he served as a museum director and teacher for five years. As a resident of Central Florida, McIntosh taught at the Loch Haven Art Center in Orlando and ran his own institution known as the McIntosh School in Winter Park for 30 years. McIntosh splits his time between his Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Winter Park studios. With an artistic career lasting over 60 years, Hal McIntosh's influence on our community is profound. His bold abstractions, tranquil waterscapes, and stirring portraiture, all masterfully painted with a touch of McIntosh's signature Orientalism, have been widely exhibited in the area and are part of numerous regional collections, both private and public. Deep connections with the people and places of Orange County have allowed McIntosh to join the ranks as one of the greats and to be remembered eternally as an Art Legend.
Original color photograph: Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park, Florida.
Truro Public Library, North Truro, Massachusetts
The Seminole County World War I Memorial is a "broken shaft" of marble erected to honor the 13 young men of Seminole County, Florida, who died serving during World War I. Another three passed away from war-related injuries at later dates. Eleven of these men had their names collected via a newspaper advertisement that ran in The Sanford Herald in December 1918. The following names are engraved on the pillar: George W. Calhoun and M. W. Lowell, Jr. from the Navy; Frank A. Campbell, Handy Jenkins, Joseph S. Laing, Archie B. Liles, Arthur D. Lossing, Carl Marm, Harry Phillips, Edwin J. Robinson, and James Oscar White from the Army. There are also engravings on all four sides of the base. On February 23, 1919, the monument was dedicated in present-day Centennial Park, formerly named Central Park. The memorial was presented by Frank L. Miller and received by Judge E. F. Housholder. It is known as the first monument to soldiers of World War I. A feature that is unique for the time period in which it was erected is the inclusion of the names of two African-American men. This inclusion assured the resulting crowd of over 1,500 people in attendance for the ceremony was made up of people from all races. The memorial has since been moved to various locations including: American Legion Post 53, known locally as the "Legion Hut" until its destruction, at 3506 Orlando Drive on February 24, 1985; the new American Legion Post 53 at 2874 South Sanford Avenue in June 1988; and Veterans Memorial Park on November 11, 2006. The monument was rededicated to the people of Seminole County on May 28, 2007.
Original digital color images by Kristal Schell, August 26, 2013.
Seminole County World War I Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, Sanford, Florida
Sanford High School's Class of 1925 with their teacher, Mrs. Glenn E. McKay, on the front steps of the second campus used for the school, located at the corner of East Ninth Street and South Palmetto Avenue in Sanford, Florida. 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.
Original 7.5 x 10 inch black and white photograph: Sanford High School Collection, box 3A, Sanford High School Students folder, item SM-073-071, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Sanford High School's Class of 1924 at the second campus used for the school, located at the corner of East Ninth Street and South Palmetto Avenue in Sanford, Florida. 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.
Original 8 x 10 inch black and white photograph: Sanford High School Collection, box 3A, Sanford High School Students folder, item SM-073-137, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Sanford High School Freshman Class of 1920
Sanford High School's Freshmen Class of 1920 on the front steps of the second campus used for the school, located at the corner of East Ninth Street and South Palmetto Avenue in Sanford, Florida. The arrow drawn on the photograph points to a student named Gale Alexander. 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.
Original 6.5 x 8.5 inch black and white photograph: Sanford High School Collection, box 3A, Sanford High School Students folder, item SM-168, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Electronic Equipment Racks at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 Blockhouse
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.)
Electronic equipment at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (Cape Canaveral AFS) Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) blockhouse. The equipment was mounted in racks similar to the way modern computer servers are and was used to monitor the rocket during Project Mercury launches. Instead of digital readouts and big screen displays, this equipment used various gauges to display readings and dials and buttons to adjust the equipment and the rocket.
Original black and white photographic print: Private Collection of Dr. Calvin D. Fowler.
Chronopoints
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 Blockhouse, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Sanford High School's Class of 1915 on the front steps of the second campus used for the school, located at the corner of East Ninth Street and South Palmetto Avenue in Sanford, Florida. 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.
Original 8 x 10 inch black and white photograph: Sanford High School Collection, box 3A, Sanford High School Students folder, item SM-100-015, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Five female students at Sanford High School's second campus, located at the corner of East Ninth Street and South Palmetto Avenue in Sanford, Florida, in 1911. The students photographed, from left to right, are: Ruth Mettinger, Gladys Gardner, Carrie Lovell, Martha Fox, and Marian Whiteman. 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.
Original 7.25 x 10 inch black and white photograph: Sanford High School Collection, box 3A, Sanford High School Students folder, item SM-073-030, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Acreage and Production of Grain Crops, Seminole County, 1929
A table representing acreage and production of grain and forage crops in Seminole County during 1929. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, and the number of farms reporting for each crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture identified corn, cloves, tame and wild grasses, annual legumes, Irish potatoes, and sweet potatoes and yams as grain and forage crops.
Original table by Laura Cepero, July 20, 2011.
Acreage and Production of Grain Crops, Seminole County, 1934
A table representing acreage and production of grain crops in Seminole County, Florida, during 1934. Statistics identify the various grain crops grown in Seminole County, the acreage each crop occupied, production numbers for each crop, and how many farms reported that grew a particular grain crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture identified small grains, hay, corn, cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, Irish potatoes, and sweet potatoes and yams as grain crops. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Acreage and Production of Hay Crops and Miscellaneous Crops Harvested, Seminole County, 1939
A table representing acreage and production of hay and miscellaneous crops harvested in Seminole County during 1939. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, and the number of farms reporting for each crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture identified hay and sorghum (for all purposes except for syrup) as hay crops. The census also identified Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams, cotton, tobacco, sugarcane (used for syrup), and root and grain crops (used for hogging or grazing) as miscellaneous crops. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Acreage and Quantity of Corn, Sorghums, and Small Grains, Seminole County, 1939
Aable representing acreage and quantity of corn, sorghum, and small grans in Seminole County during 1939. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, and the number of farms reporting for each crop. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
A table representing acreage and production of grain and forage crops in Seminole County, Florida, during 1929. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, and the number of farms reporting for each crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture identified corn, cloves, tame and wild grasses, annual legumes, Irish potatoes, and sweet potatoes and yams as grain and forage crops. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Acreage of Principle Crops, Seminole County, 1924
A table representing the acreage of principle crops in Seminole County, Florida, during 1924. Crops such as corn, velvet beans, and dry edible beans were listed as grain and forage crops. Tame grasses and annual legumes were categorized as hay crops. Crops such as cotton, sugar cane, potatoes, and strawberries were listed as miscellaneous. Vegetables grown for sale included cabbages, melons, lettuce, onions, corn, and tomatoes. All of the fruits and nuts were listed under orchard fruits and nuts. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination. This trend is made apparent in the total value of principle crops listed by the U.S. Census of Agriculture in 1924. In 1919, principle crops were valued at $186,229 in comparison to drop in value in 1924 to $22,509 for the same identified crops.
Original table by Laura Cepero, July 21, 2011.
A table representing the acreage of field crops in Seminole County, Florida, during 1924. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, and the dollar value of each crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture identified upland and Sea Island cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, rice, sugarcane and syrup, peas, and native grass and natal grass hay as field crops. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Production Numbers of Orchard Fruits and Nuts, Seminole County, 1924
A table representing the production numbers of orchard fruits and nuts in Seminole County, Florida during 1924. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, the number of trees for all ages, the number of trees of non-bearing age, the number of trees of bearing age, and vines of all ages. The U.S. Census of Agriculture identified peaches, plums and prunes, grapes, lemons, grapefruit, oranges, and pecans as orchard fruits and nuts. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
A table representing farm statistics in Orange County, Florida, during 1904. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, and the dollar value of each crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture identified upland and Sea Island cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, rice, sugarcane and syrup, peas, and native grass and natal grass hay as field crops. Mosquito County, a massive county south of St. Johns County that consisted of much of Central Florida, was established in 1824. In 1845, Mosquito County was renamed Orange County when Florida earned statehood. This new county included present-day Osceola, Seminole, Lake, and Volusia counties. Orange County was named so for the area's major fruit crop: oranges. The area was devastated by a freeze during the winter of 1895-1896, which allowed for subsequent land speculators to initiate a land boom in Florida, with Orlando becoming a "boom town." Seminole County separated from Orange on April 25, 1913 and was named for the Seminole tribes that originally inhabited the area. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Original table by Laura Cepero, July 18, 2011.
Crop Acreage by Year, Seminole County, 1919-1949
Bar chart representing crop acreage for Seminole County from 1919 to 1949. Corn was often planted in the summer after the celery fields were harvested. Because the fields still contained fertilizer from the previous celery production, there was often a high yield of corn in Seminole County. In 1926, it was reported that most of the corn produced in Seminole County was a cross between Hasting Prolific and Cuban flint, a hardy type resistant to corn weevils. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination. Mosquito County, a massive county south of St. Johns County that consisted of much of Central Florida, was established in 1824. In 1845, Mosquito County was renamed Orange County when Florida earned statehood. This new county included present-day Osceola, Seminole, Lake, and Volusia counties. Orange County was named so for the area's major fruit crop: oranges. The area was devastated by a freeze during the winter of 1895-1896, which allowed for subsequent land speculators to initiate a land boom in Florida, with Orlando becoming a "boom town." Seminole County separated from Orange on April 25, 1913 and was named for the Seminole tribes that originally inhabited the area. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Original bar chart by Laura Cepero, July 15, 2011.
RICHES of Central Florida
Specified Crops Harvested, Seminole County, 1944
A table representing crop acreage, production and value for Seminole County, Florida, in 1944. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, the number of farms reporting for each crop, and the value of each crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture produced statistics for corn, sorghum (used for all purposes except for syrup), oats cut for feeding (small grains), cowpeas (except for green manure), peanuts, peanuts vines used for hay, tame hay (excluding sorghum), Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams, sugarcane harvested for syrup, chufas harvested for nuts, and chufas used for hogging off. In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Specified Crops Harvested, Seminole County, 1949
A table representing crop acreage, production and value for Seminole County, Florida, in 1949. Statistics in the table identify various products produced in the county, how many acres each crop occupied, production number of each crop, the number of farms reporting for each crop, and the value of each crop. The U.S. Census of Agriculture produced statistics for corn, cowpeas, peanuts, velvet beans, hay crops (excluding cowpea and peanut hay), miscellaneous field seed crops (lupin seed, grass, etc.), Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, cotton, sugarcane and sorghum used for syrup, and root and grain crops hogged off or grazed (excluding corn, cowpeas, and peanuts). In the early-1900s, Seminole County was known for its agricultural development and close proximity to shipping lanes. By the 1920s, citizens in Seminole County, particularly in Sanford, soon shifted their interests in making the area a tourist destination.
Sanford High School's second campus, located at the corner of East Ninth Street and South Palmetto Avenue in Sanford, Florida, sometime between 1911 and 1927. The first campus for the high school was established at 301 West Seventh Street in Sanford, Florida, 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.
Original 8 x 11.75 inch black and white photographic print: Sanford High School Collection, box 3A, folder Sanford High School Students, item SM-068-002, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Original 8.5 x 10.5 inch black and white photographic print: Sanford High School Collection, box 3A, folder Sanford High School Students, item SM-99-079, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
To assure proper checks and approvals by all appropriate individuals, small custom inked stamps, called hallmarks, were used by Apollo Project workers to ensure that checks were performed, and each worker who conducted one approved of the quality or conformance of the inspected item. These hallmarks are visible on equipment and reports of that era.
Original certificate: Private Collection of Dr. Calvin D. Fowler.
John F. Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida
Rack of Electronic Equipment at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 Blockhouse
Electronic equipment at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (Cape Canaveral AFS) Launch Complex 14 (LC-14) blockhouse, mounted in racks similar to the way modern computer servers are, was used to monitor the rocket during Project Mercury launches. Instead of digital readouts and big screen displays, this equipment used various gauges to display readings and dials and buttons to adjust the equipment and the rocket.
Ella Milner in front of the Citizen's Bank of Oviedo, which originally opened on East Broadway Street on July 2, 1946. The land on which the bank sits was originally the Bill Browning celery farm. The Citizens Bank of Oviedo took in over half a million dollars in deposits on its first day, with B. F. Wheeler as president, C. R. Clonts as vice president, and Charles Shaffer as the cashier. In 1949, the bank moved to the Memorial Building, which is located at 38 South Central Avenue. On March 25, 1974, the Citizens' Bank of Oviedo reopened at 156 Geneva Drive. The bank is now the Citizens' Bank of Florida with locations throughout Seminole County.
Original 4 x 6 inch color photographs by Dan Beistel, 1980: Private Collection of Dan Beistel.
Citizen's Bank of Oviedo, Downtown Oviedo, Florida
The lots located at 323-329 South Sanford Avenue in Georgetown, an historic African-American neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The earliest known occupant of Suite 323 was African-American resident K. S. Johnson in 1911. Three-In-One Store was listed at this address in 1917 and J. A. Sands ran his plumbing business from this location in 1926. FMB 5-10 & 25c Store operated from this lot from approximately 1947 to 1952, though the business moved to Suite 321 by 1965. The earliest known occupant of Suite 325 was A. E. Dobbins Shoe Repair in 1924. J. J. Melton worked as an electrician at from this address in 1924. By 1926, Melton moved his new business, Melton Electric Company, to 321 South Sanford Avenue. That same year, Hopkins Shoe Shop was listed at this address. Suite 325 housed Hopkins Grocery & Market in 1947 and Bill Harvey's Home Service Company Radio Sales & Service in 1952. F. A. Stone, a grocer, was the first known occupant of 327 S. Sanford Ave. in 1924. Stone operated his business from this location from approximately 1924 to 1926. He had previously managed the Palm Leaf Broom Straw Company, located at the corner of South Oak Avenue and West Eighth Street, in 1917. The earliest known resident of Suite 329 was C. H. Leffler in 1917. Leffler was one of the four men from Sanford who planned an expedition to Alaska during the Gold Rush of 1898. The others included: Dolph Edwards, Charles H. Beck, and Eugene Muller. Leffler only got as far as Seattle, Washington in February, where he decided to open a grocery and supply store. He returned to Sanford in May 1898. By 1947, Lovett's Grocery was occupying this lot, followed by Tip Top Super Market in 1965 and Park & Shop in 1975. At the time that these photographs were taken in January 2012, 232-327 Sanford Avenue was vacant with no buildings. Sanford Supermarket was occupying at 329 South Sanford Avenue. and Gator Auto Insurance, located at 345 South Sanford Avenue, can also be seen in this photograph.
Original color digital images by Adam Rock, January 23, 2012.
The lots located at 320-326 South Sanford Avenue in Georgetown, an historic African-American neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. The earliest known occupants of Suite 320 were two African-American residents: J. L. Johnson in 1911 and Samuel Benjamin in 1917. By 1924, Morris Narvis was running his clothing business from this location. Morris was also likely the owner of Morris Cleaner & Dyer, another clothes cleaning business located at 416 South Sanford Avenue in 1926. Joseph Berson Ladies' Wear was listed at this address in 1926. The earliest known occupants of 322 S. Sanford Ave. were two African-American residents: Mack Battle in 1911 and Elvy McClaine in 1917. From approximately 1924 to 1926, Dimitios Cavoura ran his grocery from this location. W. S. Broderick, a local poultry dealer, was the earliest known resident of Suite 322 in 1911. In 1910, Broderick was beaten and robbed of $20 after leaving his business, which was also located on South Sanford Avenue. In 1917, Rivers Brothers was listed at this address. From approximately 1924 to 1926, W. T. Klicker Meats was located here. Klicker, the store's owner, resided at 133 South Sanford Avenue in 1917. Outlet - The Department Store, which originally encompassed Suites 322-326 in 1947, was expanded to include Suite 320 by 1952. In 1965, Sanford Feed Store was located at Suite 320 and Suite 322 was listed as vacant. By 1975, the Friendly Cafe, Fine & Dandy Wig Shop, and Tom & Joe's Variety Store were operating from Suite 320, Suite 322, and Suite 324, respectively. The cafe had previously been located at 309 South Sanford Avenue. At the time that this photograph was taken in January 2012, this lot was used as a parking lot for Diamond Glass Company, Inc. Diamond Glass Co. is a glass installation business based in Alpharetta, Georgia, with a Sanford location at 305 Palmetto Avenue. The earliest known occupant of Suite 326 was the Beehive Inc. Department Store in 1924, as well as Dr. G. E. Sargeant, an African-American physician, who housed his office in the rear of the building. By 1926, Dave's Store, a department store, was located here. Outlet - The Department Store, which originally encompassed Suites 322-326 in 1947, was expanded to include Suite 320 by 1952. Suite 326 housed Mooney's Appliance Service in 1965 and C & C Liquor Store in 1975. C & C was originally owned by grocer and Italian immigrant Batista Ceresoli and his wife Carolina C. Ceresoli from approximately 1947 to 1965, when the liquor store was located at 312 South Sanford Avenue. Their son, Martin Q. Ceresoli, later owned the liquor store until his death on January 27, 1997. At the time that this photograph was taken in January 2012, this lot was vacant with no building.
City Sewerage System Nearing Construction
In August of 1973, The Oviedo Outlook, Vol. 1, No. 7, August 1, 1973 reported that the Oviedo's new sanitary sewer system was still on schedule to be built that year. Through a joint effort between a group of developers, engineers, and city officials, the 10-acre site, just south of the city limits and east of Florida State Road 520, should generate enough revenue according to most projections.
Original newspaper article: "City Sewerage Nearing Construction." The Oviedo Outlook, Vol. 1, No. 7, August 1, 1973, Vol. 1, No. 7, August 1, 1973: Private Collection of Dan Beistel.
The Oviedo Outlook
Arthur Lott Acquitted of Assault: Circuit Jury Convicts Man on Resisting Charge
A newspaper article published by The Oviedo Outlook on August 1, 1973. The article discusses the case of Arthur Lott, who was convicted by a circuit court jury of a lesser charge of resisting arrest without violence for his altercation with police office Arthur Barkley during a routine traffic stop. Lott was acquitted of aggravated assault charges, despite allegations that he pulled a knife on Officer Barkley. Lott was ultimately ordered to pay a $250 fine and received a two-year suspension.
Original newspaper article: "Circuit Jury Convicts Man on Resisting Charge." The Oviedo Outlook, Vol. 1, No. 7, August 1, 1973: Private Collection of Dan Beistel.
Cigarettes Mower, Stolen; $1,200 Construction Theft
A newspaper article published by The Oviedo Outlook on August 1, 1973. This article details a number of thefts that were reported to the Oviedo City Police Department in August of 1973. These thefts included cigarettes, a mower, and a $1,200 construction theft.
Original newspaper article: "Cigarettes Mower, Stolen; $1,200 Construction Theft." The Oviedo Outlook, Vol. 1, No. 7, August 1, 1973: Private Collection on Dan Beistel.
Oviedo City Police Department, Oviedo, Florida
Lake Apopka, Florida Fish Kill Report by Eugene W. Surber
A report by Eugene W. Surber on the May 1963 Lake Apopka Fish Kill. Surber describes his visit to Lake Apopka, Florida, and examines samples of dead and dying fish recovered from the lake. It is estimated that roughly 3 millions pounds of fish were killed in May 1963. Surber interviews several locals regarding aerial spraying of pesticide and its correlation to the Apopka fish kills. He concludes that pesticide the most likely cause of the fish kills, due to the extremely fast and intermittent nature of the kills.
Photocopy of original 5-page typewritten report: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
Aquatic Biology Section, Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center
Letter from John R. Thoman to A. D. Aldrich (July 25, 1963)
A letter of correspondence from John R. Thoman, the Regional Director of the Water Supply and Pollution Control Division of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, to A. D. Aldrich, the Director of the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. The letter discusses the analysis of the samples taken by Eugene W. Surber during his visit to Lake Apopka, Florida, in June 1963. Analysis of fish samples performed by chemists with the Department of Health found large concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were in the bass fish samples. According to the letter, Thoman does not believe these concentrations necessarily indicate DDT poisoning as the cause of death.
Photocopy of original 2-page typewritten letter from John R. Thoman to A. D. Aldrich, July 25, 1963: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
Florida Game and Fresh Water Commission, Tallahassee, Florida
Oral History of Dr. Stephen Caldwell Wright
Dr. Stephen Caldwell Wright was born and raised in Goldsboro, an historic African-American community in Sanford, Florida. He lived in Sanford for most of his early life, except for one year in Lakeland for ninth grade. He attended Goldsboro Elementary School and Crooms High School, where he graduated in 1964. For his college education, Dr. Wright attended Volusia County Community College (now Daytona State College) in Daytona for one semester, Gibbs College (now merged with St. Petersburg College) in St. Petersburg for the first part of his Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton for the second part of his B.A. in English, Atlanta University for his Master of Arts degree in English, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania in for his Ph.D. in Linguistics and Rhetoric.
Wright, Stephen Caldwell. Interview by Julio R. Firpo. Home of Dr. Stephen Caldwell Wright. March 27, 2011. Audio record available. RICHES of Central Florida.
Crooms High School, Goldsboro, Sanford, Florida
Volusia County Community College, Daytona Beach, Florida
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pennsylvania
Annye Refoe, the daughter of Herman L. Refoe, Jr. and Shellye L. Refoe, was born on January 29, 1951. Since her parents both taught at Midway Elementary School, Refoe also attended the school, as opposed to attending Hopper Academy in Georgetown, an historic neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. Refoegraduated from Seminole High School in the class of 1969. After her treatment in the newly integrated Seminole High School, Refoe decided to enroll in a historically black college/university. She graduated from Fisk College in Nashville with a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1973. Upon her return from college, Annye began teaching in August 1974 at Lake Howell High School in Winter Park. In 1982, she started teaching at Seminole Community College, where she later became the Dean of the Arts and Humanities.
Refoe, Annye. Interview by Julio R. Firpo. Home of Dr. Stephen Caldwell Wright. April 15, 2011. Audio record available. RICHES of Central Florida.
Midway Elementary School, Midway, Sanford, Florida
Crooms High School, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
Lake Howell High School, Winter Park, Florida
Daphne F. Humphrey was born in Sarasota, Florida, but migrated to Sanford at age 5. In this oral history, she first describes Georgetown, an historic African-American community in Sanford. She then talks of her mother, Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," in great detail. She then spends time speaking of her own life and becoming a teacher. Marie Jones Francis, the "midwife of Sanford," left behind a successful hotel and restaurant she owned in Sarasota in 1942 to return to Sanford and become a midwife. World War II caused a shortage in doctors and nurses, so Florida's Children's Bureau sent Francis to Florida A & M to acquire her practical nursing license in 1945. She specialized in premature babies and returned to Sanford to aid her mother, Carrie Jones, at Fernald-Laughton Memorial Hospital before they opened the ward in their home. "When her health starting failing," she recollects in a newspaper article, "I took over." Francis converted her house at 621 East Sixth Street to also serve as a maternity ward, where she delivered over 40,000 babies over her 32 year career. She became a midwife in the same vein as her mother, Carrie Jones, and together they ran the Jones-Francis Maternity Hall in Georgetown. Francis served her community in several ways. She delivered babies for both white and black families from Seminole County, primarily patrons who either preferred natural births or could not afford deliveries at a hospital. In the 1950s, it cost $70 to stay nine days where soon-to-be mothers were taken care of. Francis was assisted by her sister, Annie Walker, who did the cooking. The house and ward also served as a school, where Marie Francis taught nurses the art of midwifery. Nurses would come from across the state to learn how to delivery infants naturally. A heavy burden on a single working mother, Marie Francis had three daughters, Cassandra Clayton, Daphne Humphrey, and Barbara Torre. Clayton and Humphrey became school teachers and Torre became a purchaser at Seminole Memorial Hospital.
Humphrey, Daphne F. Interview by Julio R. Firpo. Home of Daphne F. Humphrey. April 8, 2011. Audio record available. RICHES of Central Florida.
John R. Hurston House, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
In this oral history, Marva Y. Hawkins recounts her life living in Goldsboro, a historic African-American community in Sanford, Florida. Her mother was the owner of the neighborhood grocery store, Hawkins' Meat Market, located off of West Thirteenth Street, originally called Goldsboro Avenue and now called Historic Goldsboro Boulevard. Hawkins lived in Goldsboro her entire life and attended Goldsboro Red School and Crooms High School, where she graduated in 1954. Hawkins has worked in various positions, such as for Family Services, as an insurance agent, and as a columnist for The Sanford Herald.
Hawkins, Marva Y. Interview by Julio R. Firpo. Home of Marva Y. Hawkins. April 6, 2011. Audio record available. RICHES of Central Florida.
Letter from F. G. Banks to Clayton Phillippy (September 5, 1963)
A letter of correspondence from F. G. Banks, the Assistant Chief of the Fisheries Division of the Florida Game and Freshwater Commission, to Clayton Phillippy, a biologist with the commission. The letter describes an attached report by Doyle C. Golden regarding pesticide content in Lake Apopka fish samples and makes recommendations for future samples.
Photocopy of original 1-page typewritten letter from F. G. Banks to Clayton Phillippy, September 5, 1963: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
Letter from Robert "Bob" W. Sherman to Henry F. Swanson (June 19, 1963)
A letter of correspondence from Robert "Bob" W. Sherman, the Killarney Fish Camp Operator, to Henry F. Swanson, the Orange County Agriculture Extension Agent. The letter is written in response to a farming brochure, "A to Zellwood", describing the Zellwood Drainage and Water Control District. Sherman disputes some of the claims made in this brochure, and reminds Swanson that experts convened by the State in June 1963 to examine the fish kills in Lake Apopka did not rule out pesticides as the cause of death.
Photocopy of original 2-page typewritten letter from Robert "Bob" W. Sherman to Henry F. Swanson, June 19, 1963: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
Inspection of Fish Kills at Lake Apopka, Florida
A report detailing Thomas L. Wellborn, Jr.'s visit to Lake Apopka, Florida in June 1963. Wellborn, a biologist with the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife of the Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, visited Lake Apopka to examine fish for signs of disease. Though some fish parasites were identified, Wellborn found no evidence of infectious diseases among the moribund fish in Lake Apopka. Samples were taken and sent to be examined for viral disease. Wellborn details his observations of planes spraying pesticides into Lake Apopka on three separate mornings.
Photocopy of original 2-page typewritten report, June 1963: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
Letter from Doyle C. Golden to A. D. Aldrich (August 26, 1963)
A letter of correspondence from Doyle C. Golden, the Administrative Assistant for the Division of Chemistry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to A. D. Aldrich, the Director of the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. The report gives data from the analysis of fish samples collected from Lake Apopka, Florida, by Chester Burke and L. E. Cromwell on June 24-25, 1963. DDT and DDT metabolites were found to be present in all samples examined.
Photocopy of original 3-page typewritten letter from Doyle C. Golden to A. D. Aldrich, August 26, 1963: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
A newspaper article from The Orlando Evening Star from December 18, 1963. The article discusses the current polluted state of Lake Apopka and various theories about the source of Lake Apopka's problems. The article also mentions possible methods to clean up the lake.
Photocopy of original newspaper article: Rider, Don. "Lake Apopka Woes Not Answered." The Orlando Evening Star: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
Memorandum from L. E. Cromwell to John W. Woods (May 20, 1963)
A memorandum from L. E. Cromwell, a fisheries biologist, to John W. Woods, the Chief of Fish Management for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. The memo describes water samples drawn from Lake Apopka, Florida, by Cromwell and gives his observations of a May 1963 fish kill.
Photocopy of original 2-page memorandum from L. E. Cromwell to John W. Woods, May 20, 1963: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
Conference on Lake Apopka Fish Kills, June 12, 1963
A report by Harold L. Moody for a conference held by various state officials to investigate the fish kills in Lake Apopka, Florida. Moody's notes describe the current fish kill, some past kills, and efforts by the different State departments to investigate the fish kills. Various causes of the fish kills are discussed. Moody disagrees with the State Board of Health that oxygen supersaturation is causing the kills; Moody believes the cause is either pesticides or an unknown fish disease.
Photocopy of original 5-page typewritten report, June 12, 1963: binder 1963, drawer 1938-1987, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
The A. Duda and Sons farm in Slavia, Florida, in the 1970s. Andrew Duda, Sr. immigrated from Slovakia to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1909, later settling in Central Florida to try his hand at farming. Initially successful growing Irish potatoes, the market value of the crop could not cover shipping costs and the Duda family struggled financially to survive. Soon after they returned to Cleveland, where Duda and his sons worked in a factory to support the family. By 1926, the Duda family had saved enough money to return to Slavia. This time, their crops prospered and they formed A. Duda and Sons. The family owned company remains in existence today and is an international brand with locations across the globe.
Original 4 x 6 inch color photograph: Private Collection of Ida Boston.
A. Duda and Sons Celery Farm, Slavia, Florida
The A. Duda and Son's packing house in Slavia, Florida, around 1945. This photograph features of number African-American workers packing the celery crop for shipping and distribution. Andrew Duda, Sr. immigrated from Slovakia to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1909, later settling in Central Florida to try his hand at farming. Initially successful growing Irish potatoes, the market value of the crop could not cover shipping costs and the Duda family struggled financially to survive. Soon after they returned to Cleveland, where Duda and his sons worked in a factory to support the family. By 1926, the Duda family had saved enough money to return to Slavia. This time, their crops prospered and they formed A. Duda and Sons. The family owned company remains in existence today and is an international brand with locations across the globe.
Original 4 x 6 inch black and white photograph: Private Collection of Ida Boston.
A Mule Train on the A. Duda and Sons farm in Slavia, Florida, sometime between 1940 and 1945. Mule Trian was the name of the motorized factory that Duda farm workers used to harvest celery from the 1940s through the 1970s. It was named after a popular song in the 1950s. Andrew Duda, Sr. immigrated from Slovakia to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1909, later settling in Central Florida to try his hand at farming. Initially successful growing Irish potatoes, the market value of the crop could not cover shipping costs and the Duda family struggled financially to survive. Soon after they returned to Cleveland, where Duda and his sons worked in a factory to support the family. By 1926, the Duda family had saved enough money to return to Slavia. This time, their crops prospered and they formed A. Duda and Sons. The family owned company remains in existence today and is an international brand with locations across the globe.
Original 4 x 6 inch black and white photographs: Private Collection of Ida Boston.
Harvest at the A. Duda and Sons Celery Farm in Slavia
The A. Duda and Sons farm in Salvia, Florida, around 1940. African-American workers are photographed cleaning up a celery field after a harvest. Andrew Duda, Sr. immigrated from Slovakia to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1909, later settling in Central Florida to try his hand at farming. Initially successful growing Irish potatoes, the market value of the crop could not cover shipping costs and the Duda family struggled financially to survive. Soon after they returned to Cleveland, where Duda and his sons worked in a factory to support the family. By 1926, the Duda family had saved enough money to return to Slavia. This time, their crops prospered and they formed A. Duda and Sons. The family owned company remains in existence today and is an international brand with locations across the globe.
Mercury-Atlas Management Team at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 14 Blockhouse
A group photograph of the Mercury-Atlas launch management team. Left center in the back row is Dr. Calvin D. Fowler, who launched astronauts Scott Carpenter (1925-2013), Wally Schirra (1923-2007), and Gordon Cooper (1927-2004). The other men in the photographed are unidentified.
A map of the Boston Hill Cemetery, an African-American cemetery located at 199 Boston Cemetery Road in Oviedo, Florida. The dedication deed was signed by Prince Butler Boston and E. Garvin, who were representing the Board of Trustees of the Boston Cemetery, on October 12, 1926. The document was approved by N. E. Douglass, the Seminole County Clerk, on November 3, and was then approved by A. M. Weeks, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the following day, The deed was then notarized on June 6, 1927, and approved by surveyor Allen H. Stone on November 4, 1928, Prince Butler Boston was the son of a Georgia slave owner, Dr. Alexander Atkinson, who moved to Central Florida in 1885, when he was 14 years old. After the citrus freeze during the 1890s, Atkinson abandoned citrus growing and migrated to Miami, leaving most his land to his son. Boston was a member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church for nearly 61 years, beginning in 1886 until his death in 1947. He was ordained as a deacon in the church and also became the superintendent of the Sunday school. Once membership in the church began to grow, he designed a second choir stand and two additional classrooms.
Non-certified copy of original map: Private Collection of Ida Boston.