A closeup aerial of homes in the Oak Ridge II phase of Sky Lake, which was located in the southern part of the development, in the 1960s. Sky Lake is a residential community and unincorporated area in Orange County, Florida. It is located approximately seven miles south of Downtown Orlando between Lancaster Road and Sand Lake Road. The community was developed in late 1950s and 1960s by Hymen Lake. Houses originally sold in the range of $10,000 to $15,000. In the 1970s, Sky Lake became one of the first housing developments to be racially integrated. The community was originally proposed to include one thousand homes within the middle of the square mile block and a ring of commercial developments along the perimeter.
Original 8 x 10 inch black and white photograph by Fred DeWitt: Pine Castle Historical Society, Pine Castle, Florida.
Oak Ridge II By Orlando's Largest New Home Builders
This brochure shows model homes that were being built in the Oak Ridge II community of Pine Castle, Florida. The brochure features five ranch model homes and includes prices and available interest rates. Florida Ranch Lands, Inc. is a real estate development firm founded by Craig Linton in the early 1960s. Linton's firm was best known for brokering the land deal that brought the Walt Disney Company to its present location. This brochure was also co-opted by Florida Gas Utilities Company.
Original 13-page brochure: Collection of the Pine Castle Historical Society, Pine Castle, Florida.
The Ocala Union Station, located at 531 Northeast First Avenue in Ocala, Florida, in the 1920s. Built in 1917, the Ocala Union Station was not the pioneer depot for Ocala's booming phosphorus mining, citrus cultivation, and Silver Springs tourism. Ocala was a developing city for transportation long before Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) crossed lines and created Union Station. According to the Historic Ocala website, Ocala had achieved its population, well-developed system of transportation, and prosperous economy by 1895, well before the arrival of the Ocala Union Station, Periodic recessions, however, from 1890 to 1920 took an especially hard toll on Florida. U.S. Census data shows that the Marion County population fell from 26,941 in 1910 to 23,968 in 1920—an 11 percent drop. As the Ocala Union Station grew as a result of tourism, trade, and the Florida Land Boom, it helped reverse the trend. Census data from 1930 shows 29,578 people living in Marion County, which houses the station to this day.
Digital reproduction of reprinted black and white photograph: Kevin McCarthy and Ernest Jernigan. Ocala. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2001.
Arcadia Publishing
The Ocala Union Station, located at 531 Northeast First Avenue in Ocala, Florida, in 2014. Built in 1917, the Ocala Union Station was not the pioneer depot for Ocala's booming phosphorus mining, citrus cultivation, and Silver Springs tourism. Ocala was a developing city for transportation long before Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) crossed lines and created Union Station. According to the Historic Ocala website, Ocala had achieved its population, well-developed system of transportation, and prosperous economy by 1895, well before the arrival of the Ocala Union Station, Periodic recessions, however, from 1890 to 1920 took an especially hard toll on Florida. U.S. Census data shows that the Marion County population fell from 26,941 in 1910 to 23,968 in 1920—an 11 percent drop. As the Ocala Union Station grew as a result of tourism, trade, and the Florida Land Boom, it helped reverse the trend. Census data from 1930 shows 29,578 people living in Marion County, which houses the station to this day.
Original color digital images by Carlos R. Mercado, March 12, 2014.
Ocoee Project - Genre-based Bibliography (06-25-2020)
A genre-based bibliography for the Ocoee Project from the Alliance for Truth and Justice. The Alliance for Truth and Justice (ATJ) is a volunteer-based organization that engages with the community to promote education concerning the truth of local history and to advocate justice for those who have been harmed by inequities born of prejudice. ATJ builds on the work of Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative as well as the local efforts of Democracy Forum, the West Orange Reconciliation Task Force, and the Ocoee Human Relations Diversity Board. This project is rooted in acknowledging the 1920 Election Day Massacre in Orange County and all of the violence committed in the name of white supremacy. Their mission statement says that they are "working to create a more hopeful, collaborative, and just society for every person in Orange County, Florida."
Original genre-based bibliography by the Alliance for Truth and Justice, Orange County, Florida.
RICHES
A poster for the Orlando Gay Chorus concert, “Odd Numbers”. The event was held at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park, located at 812 East Rollins Street in Orlando, Florida, on June 14 and 15, 2003. The event's tagline reads, "songs we've always wanted to sing but..." Tickets were $18 in advance through Rainbow City, Urban Think, and orlandogaychorus.org and $21 at the door. The poster features a white background with abstract green accents and simple blue and green text. Featured artwork includes the logos of the OGC and various sponsors across the bottom of the poster. The Orlando Gay Chorus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and humanitarian organization part of GALA Choruses. Founded on Valentines Day 1990, OGC is not only one of the largest mixed gay choirs in the United States at over 100 members, but they also boast four smaller ensembles that perform annual concerts, cabarets, and a whole host of community events like Come Out With Pride, Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees, and World Aids Day memorial services. In 2017, the group performed at over 105 events, including 15 performances for the first anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. Members come from all walks of life and all sexual and gender orientations, including straight allies. OGC lives by the motto “Singing the World to a Better Place” and strives to use music to change attitudes and build a stronger community.
Orlando Gay Chorus
Original color poster: University of Central Florida Special Collections, Orlando, Florida.
John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Loch Haven Park, Orlando, Florida
A program for the Orlando Gay Chorus' concert, "Odd Numbers", on June 14 &amp
15, 2003, at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Orlando, Florida. The program includes short biographies on the Artistic Director Terry Thomas, the Accompanist Genoa Minga, and the ASL interpreters Patricia Clifton and Paul Rutherford, program notes, an outline of the show's itinerary, a list of chorus members and contributors, and a history of GALA Choruses. It also features biographies of the special guests: Malikah Burroughs, Chuck Davis
Lisa Ferrigno, and Darcel Stevens. The Orlando Gay Chorus (OGC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and humanitarian organization, and part of the Gay and Lesbian Association (GALA) of Choruses. Founded on Valentines Day 1990, OGC is not only one of the largest mixed gay choirs in the United States at over 100 members, but they also boast four smaller ensembles that perform annual concerts, cabarets, and a host of community events, such as Come Out With Pride, Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees, and World AIDS Day memorial services. In 2017, the group performed at over 105 events, including 15 performances for the first anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. Members come from all walks of life and all sexual and gender orientations, including straight allies. OGC lives by the motto “Singing the World to a Better Place” and strives to use music to change attitudes and build a stronger community.
Original 24-page program, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, Orlando, Florida
Office Memorandum of the Seminole Soil and Water Conservation District, 1952
Office Memorandum of the Seminole Soil and Water Conservation District for 1952. The Seminole Soul and Water Conservation District began in 1948 with a goal to assist in agricultural interests. Over the years, the Seminole Soil and Water Conservation District began to also concentrate on the development and management of recreational enterprises. Their interests also entailed inventory and evaluations for land uses and solving issues concerning soil and water resources. In the Office Memorandum from 1952, H.B. Helms, the assistant state conservationist, informs Albert R. Swartz, the acting area conservationist, that J.G. McMeekin of the Regional Records and Reports Division has advised that Seminole District #43 may discontinue submitting form SCS-198 as the sample requirement for land conversion has been met. The one page document is signed by H.B. Helms.
Original 1-page typewritten report by the Board of Supervisors of the Seminole Soil and Water Conservation District,1952: Folder SSWCD Statistical and Historical Information, 1948-1977, Seminole Soil and Water Conservation District, Sanford, Florida.
Seminole Soil and Water Conservation District
The officers and men of the USS Carola at the Chateau Barracks in Brest, France, in June 1919. Built as a steam yacht in 1885 in Culzean, Scotland, the ship was acquired by the United States Navy on June 10, 1917. It was commissioned USS Carola IV (SP 812), on July 7, 1917. The boat was decommissioned on December 27, 1919, and sold to a resident of Brest, France. It was scrapped in 1957. A notable soldier in this image is Henry Lawrence Gau (1899-1988). Gau was born to Paul and Ann Gau in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on October 7, 1899. Both of Gau’s parents were immigrants who came from Germany and Canada. Gau had three siblings: Laura, Preston, and Chester. On June 6, 1917, Gau joined the United States Navy. While serving in World War I, Gau worked on the USS Carola and patrolled the coasts of France. In early 1920, Gau returned to live with his family. He married his second wife, Elizabeth, in August of 1937. Gau joined the Army in 1939 at the age of forty to serve in World War II, where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He also later served in the Korean War. Gau moved to Florida in his later years, where he met and married his third wife, Mildred. They lived at Sun City Center, a retirement community on Florida’s West coast, where Gau joined the community’s Retired Officers Association. Gau was buried at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida, in 1988. His wife joined him in 1996. In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for k-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.
Digital reproduction of original black and white photograph.
A newspaper article the installation of new officers for the Oviedo Woman's Club (OWC). Claire Evans was installed as the new president, with Teresa Duda, Nancy Beasley, and Karen Morgan as vice presidents. Mary Walker was installed as treasurer, Grace Whittier as recording secretary, Judy Stamps as corresponding secretary, and Helen Leinhart as parliamentarian. The Oviedo Woman's Club was founded in 1906 as the Oviedo Magazine Club by seven charter members: H. B. McCall, Edith Meade, Georgia Lee Wheeler, Lillian Lee Lawton, Mattie Aulin Wheeler, Milcah Yonge, and Mary King. The first clubhouse was constructed in 1914 and also served as Oviedo's first library. In 1916, the club joined the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs (FFWC) and officially changed its name to the Oviedo Woman's Club. In 1923, the woman's club was federated under the umbrella of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs (GFWC). A new clubhouse was built in 1961 on property donated by R. L. Croom, a former member, which is located at 414 King Street. The Oviedo Woman's Club is involved in many civic projects, including the annual Great Day in the Country Arts and Crafts Festival, the Spring Fundraiser, Tasting Luncheons, and Celebrate Spring Teas.
Original newspaper article: "Officers Installed." The Evening Herald, May 13, 1975: Private Collection of Beatrice Gestrich.
Oviedo Woman's Club
Official Schedule for the Sanford Lookouts, Florida State League
Official schedule of the Sanford Lookouts of the 1939 Florida State League. The cover page features a drawing of a batter and catcher. There are two advertisements and a list of games played by the Lookouts in the 1939 Season. Sanford entered the world of pro ball in 1919 with the formation of the Class D Florida State League. In its inaugural season, the Celeryfeds won the first half pennant, finishing in a tie with Orlando for the best overall record. Although the league folded in 1928, it was revived in 1936, and once again included a team from Sanford called the Lookouts, which was part of the Senators family of clubs. This struggling team finally turned around when they acquired former Major League star, Dale Alexander, as manager and first baseman in 1939. In over 80 years of Florida State League history, no team has ever matched their .737 winning percentage that season. The next season, the Sanford Seminoles emerged as the city's baseball team.
Florida State League
Original schedule by the Florida State League: "Official Schedule, Sanford Lookouts, Florida State League 1939." Sanford, Florida: Celery City Printing Company, 1939: Baseball Exhibit, Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.
Official Summary Report Form: 1974-76 Community Improvement Program: General Federation of Women's Clubs/Sears, Roebuck and Company
An official summary report form for General Federation of Woman's Clubs (GFWC)/Sears, Roebuck, and Company's 1974-1976 Community Improvement Program. This form was completed by Mrs. John W. Evans, President of the Oviedo Woman's Club (OWC). The form summarizes the club's Library Services Project and Rescue Van Project. According to the form, through the efforts of OWC, Oviedo residents were able to gain access to unlimited, free use of complete library services. The form also summarizes the club's efforts to raise money in order to replace a rescue van that was stolen and burned. The Oviedo Woman's Club was founded in 1906 as the Oviedo Magazine Club by seven charter members: H. B. McCall, Edith Meade, Georgia Lee Wheeler, Lillian Lee Lawton, Mattie Aulin Wheeler, Milcah Yonge, and Mary King. The first clubhouse was constructed in 1914 and also served as Oviedo's first library. In 1916, the club joined the FFWC and officially changed its name to the Oviedo Woman's Club. In 1923, the woman's club was federated under the umbrella of the GFWC. A new clubhouse was built in 1961 on property donated by R. L. Croom, a former member, which is located at 414 King Street. The Oviedo Woman's Club is involved in many civic projects, including the annual Great Day in the Country Arts and Crafts Festival, the Spring Fundraiser, Tasting Luncheons, and Celebrate Spring Teas.
Original form by Mrs. John W. Evans, February 1, 1976: Private Collection of Beatrice Gestrich.
A newspaper article published in The Leesburg Daily Commercial discussing fish kills that occurred in Lake Apopka in June of 1981. The article gives quotes from Harold L. Moody and Mike Wicker of the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission (GFC), who state that further fish kills are very likely to occur. The article states that the current drought conditions in Florida were exacerbating the poor condition of the lake, concentrating the lake's water and promoting the growth of algae. The algae growth causes the lake's oxygen levels to drop, triggering fish die-offs. The Lake Apopka fish kill is estimated to have killed between 30 million and 40 million fish. Lake Apopka is one of Florida’s largest lakes and was once considered to be one of the world’s best lakes for bass fishing. The lake’s sport fish population began to decline in the 1960s, with major die-offs occurring almost yearly. The lake’s problems are generally considered to be the result of over-nutrification from various sources. Twenty thousand acres of wetlands bordering the lake’s north shore were drained in the 1940s and used for highly fertile “muck farms.” These farms were routinely flooded to protect the fragile soil, and the fertilizer and pesticide-laden water was then discharged back into the lake prior to each growing season. Other sources of pollution include discharge from citrus processing operations, as well as treated wastewater from sewage plants. The nutrient-rich discharge promoted algae growth in the lake, turning the water to a green color, and blocked sunlight from reaching aquatic vegetation, which provided food and habit to the lake’s fish population. The lake’s bottom soil became increasingly “mucky,” also disrupting aquatic vegetation from taking root. Restoration work on the lake began in the 1960s with attempts by various agencies to remove “trash fish,” such as gizzard shad, from the lake via seining, which would hopefully allow the lake’s sportfish to thrive. The Lake Apopka Restoration Council, an initiative formed under Governor Claude Kirk (1926-2011) in 1967, launched several studies to find methods to improve the lake, though no serious action was taken. Various methods were debated to restore the lake through the 1970s and 1980s, including “drawdown,” which entailed completely draining the lake to allow the mucky bottom to consolidate. Restoration attempts were stalled for lack of funding and research. The Lake Apopka Restoration Council was reformed in 1985 under Governor Bob Graham (b. 1936), and, in 1987, the Surface Water and Improvement Management Act was passed. Together, these actions allowed comprehensive restoration plans to take shape, such as the Marsh Flow-way, a project by the St John’s Water Management District that uses natural methods to remove nutrients from the lake. The Friends of Lake Apopka, a citizen environmental advocacy group, began to push for further restoration efforts in the 1990s. The lake’s north shore muck farms were eventually purchased by the State of Florida, helping to reduce the amount of nutrient entering the lake.
Photocopy of original newspaper article: Horvath, Paula. "Officials Think Fish Kills May Spread." The Leesburg Daily Commercial, July 22, 1981: binder 1981, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, Oakland Nature Preserve, Oakland, Florida.
The Leesburg Daily Commercial
Offloading the Apollo 11 Crew in the Mobile Quarantine Facility
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (U.S.)
The mobile quarantine facility being offloaded from the USS Hornet at Hickam Air Force Base (present-day Hickam Field) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to be flown directly to Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas. Apollo 11 was the first space mission where humans set foot on another celestial body, the Moon. Launched from Launch Pad 39A at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 fired the third stage engines two and half hours after launch to leave Earth's gravitational pull. The mission was highlighted by the first lunar landing by human beings and Mission Commander Neil Armstrong's (1930-2012) descent from the Lunar Module (LM) to place his foot on the surface of the Moon. He and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin (1930-) spent less than 22 hours on the Moon, including two and half hours outside Eagle, their Lunar Module. The crew, which also included Command Module Pilot Michael Collins (1930-), returned to Earth on July 24, 1969.
Original color photographic print, July 26, 1969: Leonard Pugh Collection.
Chronopoints
Hickam Air Force Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
A page from a family biography the Wells of the Bahamas. This particular page shows the offspring of Washington Wells, who was an Afro-Bahamian planter during the mid-19th century: John Wells (1866-1941), Herbert Alexander Wells (1882-1960), and Melborn Wells. Herbert Wells (1882-1960) was the first African American hired by the Florida East Coast Railway Company (FEC). Born in the Bahamas in 1882, Herbert migrated to Key West, Florida, via the Fearless in 1900 and began working for the FEC as a fireman around 1915. He worked for the FEC for 32 years before retiring in 1947. Herbert also owned and operated a drug and grocery store that was located at Northwest 2nd Court and 17th Street in Miami. Herbert married Mary Ellen Knowles Wells (1892-1948) in 1916 and had one daughter, Berdina Wells (b. 1930). This item was contributed by Cary Marshall Felton, the great grandson of Herbert Wells and great-great grandson of Washington Wells.
Digital reproduction of original 1-page typewritten document: Private Collection of Cary Marshall Felton.
OHS Honors Outstanding Athletes at Banquet
A newspaper article published by The Oviedo Outlook on May 26, 1977. The article describes Oviedo High School's Athletic Banquet that was held at the Sanford Civic Center and lists the various awards and recipients. Oviedo High School is a Seminole County Public School located in Oviedo, Florida. Originally called the Oviedo School, the institution was first established in 1922 as a K-12 school. In 1948, the secondary grades separated from the elementary school. The upper grade levels formed Oviedo High School and moved to the campus at 601 King Street. Oviedo High School is notable for The Lion's Tale, the award-winning school newspaper recognized by various national and state scholastic press associations of its high ratings from the Governor's A+ Plan for Education of and its successful athletics programs.
Original newspaper article: "OHS Honors Outstanding Athletes at Banquet." The Oviedo Outlook, Vol. 4, No. 40, May 26, 1977, page 2: Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
OHS Students Earn Credits by Examination
A newspaper article published by The Lion's Tale, Oviedo High School's student newspaper, in February of 1984. This article discusses the Secondary Level Examination Program (SLEP), which grants high school credits to students that successfully passed tests for courses. Several students from Oviedo High School, Lake Brantley High School, and Lake Mary High School earned credits from the examination. Oviedo High School is a Seminole County Public School located in Oviedo, Florida. Originally called the Oviedo School, the institution was first established in 1932 as a K-12 school. In 1948, the secondary grades separated from the elementary school. The upper grade levels formed Oviedo High School and moved to the campus at 601 King Street. Oviedo High School is notable for The Lion's Tale, the award-winning school newspaper recognized by various national and state scholastic press associations; its high ratings from the Governor's A+ Plan for Education; and its successful athletics programs.
Original newspaper article: "Students Earn Credits by Examination." The Lion's Tale, Vol. XIII, No. 5, February 1984: Private Collection of Dan Beistel.
The Lion's Tale
Lake Brantley High School, Altamonte Springs, Florida
Lake Mary High School, Lake Mary, Florida
Okay for McCoy Expected: Port of Entry Status Close
A newspaper article about the development of McCoy Air Force Base. After the McCoy AFB was fully transitioned from military to civilian use, it still lacked the status of an international port of entry. As a result, international tourists had to use other airports in Florida, such as Tampa and Miami. Due to the growth of attractions like Disney World, Central Florida was quickly developing a larger tourism industry. It was important that the airport was able to cater to international traffic so that the industry could continue to grow more effectively. Congressman Lou Frey, Jr. (1934-2019) petitioned the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to give special consideration to the City of Orlando's bid to change the Jetport's status and this measure was successful. The second part of the article is missing,
Original newspaper article: "Okay for McCoy Expected: Port of Entry Status Close." July 14, 1976: Lou Frey Papers, Clippings Binder, Lou Frey Institute of Politics & Government, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Orlando Jetport, McCoy Air Force Base, Orlando, Florida
Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C.
The Army and Navy Chronicle was published between 1835-1842. It shared news and stories about the activities of the United States Army and Navy and included pieces contributed by the soldiers or sailors themselves. This is a poem published about the death of Lt. Col. Alexander Thompson, written by someone from New York who identified themselves as “M.” Alexander Thompson was born around 1793, in New York City to Alexander Thompson Sr. and Amelia Thompson née De Hart. Thompson Jr. had one brother, William, and three sisters, Margaret, Catherine, and Amelia. His father, Alexander Sr., died in 1809, and one year later, Thompson Jr. entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated early because of the onset of the War of 1812, in which he participated as a lieutenant. When the war ended, Thompson continued in military service, rising through the ranks until he became lieutenant colonel in 1837. During this period, he also married Mary Nexsen. They had no surviving children. In 1837, his 6th Infantry Regiment was sent to participate in the Second Seminole War. Thompson died leading his regiment at the Battle of Okeechobee on December 25, 1837. He is buried at the US Military Academy Post Cemetery at West Point and commemorated at the St. Augustine National Cemetery in Florida. In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for K-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.
Old Downtown Oviedo, Florida, looking east from the intersection of Broadway Street/County Road 419/Florida State Road 426 and Florida State Road 434/Florida State Road 419. A Coca-Cola sign can be seen the right side of the photograph. The two-story building on the left was later replaced by the Townhouse Restaurant, which is located at 9 East Broadway Street.
Original black and white photograph: Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
Downtown Oviedo, Florida sometime between 1880 and 1919. The Timucuan Native Americans Originally inhabited the area of present-day Oviedo, although the remains of their settlements have disappeared. Homesteaders arrived along the shores of Lake Jesup in 1865 just after the Civil War ended and began growing celery and citrus. The area was called the Lake Jesup Community until March 13, 1879, when postmaster Andrew Aulin, Sr. (1843-1918), a Swedish immigrant, chose the name Oviedo.
Original black and white newspaper photograph: The Seminole Outlook: Private Collection of Bettye Reagan.
Former building at First Street and Magnolia Avenue prior to the construction of the N.P. Yowell and Garner Woodruff Buildings. The building was named after Fort Reid, which was established by Colonel William Harney on July 7, 1840. Colonel Harney named the fort after Robert Raymond Reid, the fourth Territorial Governor of Florida. "Reed" is another common spelling used in Sanford. Newton P. Yowell first came to Central Florida in 1884 with his family. Nine years after arriving in Florida, Yowell borrowed money from his mother and friends and opened a dry goods store. Shortly after Yowell opened his store in Sanford, the freeze of 1894-1895 hit the community hard. Even though crops were damaged and many people left Sanford, the Yowell Store remained open and survived the hard economic times. After the freeze, Yowell began construction on a new two-story brick building that would become the new store.
Original 8.5 x 11 inch black and white photograph by Chase & Company: Chase Collection (MS 14), box 211, folder 3.30A, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Old Mill, a painting by Ralph L. Bagley (ca. 1914-2008). Old Mill features a mill in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Bagley was an artist and instructor who taught in Central Florida from the 1950s until his death in 2008, when he was 94 years old. He was born in Bertrand, Missouri, and attended the Flint Institute of Art in Flint, Michigan, continuing his studies in New York and Washington, D.C. Bagley and his wife, Marianne Bagley, moved to Orlando, Florida in 1950, where Bagley founded the Orlando Institute of Art, the city’s first fine-arts school. Bagley depicted landscapes, still lifes, and portraits in a variety of media, including oil, watercolor, and charcoal. Bagley also taught at Orlando Junior College, becoming head of the school’s art department in 1965. After the college closed in 1971, he taught at Lake-Sumter Community College in Leesburg, the Maitland Art Center in Maitland, and the Loch Haven Art Center (now the Orlando Museum of Art). He toured the nation with at least 30 one-man art shows featuring his paintings. Among many positions he held in art organizations, Bagley was president of the Orlando Art Association and a founding member and president of the Artists’ League of Orange County. The works of his many students sustain his legacy.
Original painting: Bagley, Ralph L. Old Mill: City of Orlando Terrace Gallery, Orlando, Florida.
The Old Orlando Railroad Depot, located at 127 West Church Street in Orlando, Florida, sometime between 1881 and 1890. The station was first constructed in 1880 connecting Orlando to Sanford. After the railroad was bought up by the Plant System in 1883 from the South Florida Railroad, it was extended to Tampa. This brought a large boom to Orlando's economy shipping cattle and lumber, but chiefly citrus. By 1926, the depot was becoming too small for the volume of trade going through, so the depot was moved south to what is today the Amtrak Station. The depot became run down until the mid-1970s when Church Street Station opened up around the depot and stayed open until the early 2000s. Now the station is used as a stop along the SunRail Tram system.
Digital reproduction of original 8 x 10 inch black and white photoprint: Reference Collection, shelf number 12360, call number RC18768, Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida, Tallahassee, Florida.
State Library and Archives of Florida
Old Orlando Railroad Depot, Orlando, Florida
Old Powder Magazine During Revolutionary War Postcard
A postcard depicting the Powder Magazine in Charleston, South Carolina. This structure was constructed in 1713 to store gunpowder during the American Revolutionary War. The Powder Magazine now serves as a museum located at 79 Cumberland Street. This postcard is part of a collection of postcards kept by Lucile Campbell, a schoolteacher in Sanford, Florida, for 30 years. In 1931, she took advantage of a special rate for teachers and sailed to Europe, where she traveled for several months and is thought to have acquired many of these postcards. During the 1940-1941 school year, Campbell taught at Sanford Grammar School. Before her retirement in 1970, she taught at many other area schools, including the Oviedo School, Westside Grammar School, and Pinecrest Elementary School. Campbell used these postcards as aids in her classrooms to teach advanced subjects, such as Shakespearean drama. The collection, along with her other teaching aids, papers, and photographs, was later found at Sanford Grammar School after it became the University of Central Florida's Public History Center. Campbell's postcard collection and photographs provide insight into the life of a respected Florida educator.
Original 4 x 6 inch color postcard by the Gulf Stream Card and Distributing Company: ACC# SM-00-243, file folder 1 (U.S. blanks), box 10A, Lucile (Mary Lucile) Campbell Collection, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Powder Magazine, Charleston, South Carolina
Old Railroad Spur at South Florida Railroad Station
Old railroad spur at the South Florida Railroad station, located at 209 North Oak Avenue in Sanford, Florida, with the Plant Investment Company (PICO) office to the far left of the photograph. The Lake Monroe and Orlando Railroad was organized in 1875. The charter planned to constructed a railroad from the St. Johns River port in Sanford south to Orlando. On October 16, 1878, the South Florida Railroad was incorporated but did not receive a charter until December 9, 1879, when it gained control over the Lake Monroe and Orlando Railroad charter. The first train on the new railroad ran between Sanford and Orlando on November 11, 1880. Henry Plant and his Plant System purchased three-fifths of the South Florida Railroad stock on May 4, 1883 and soon began laying tracks towards Tampa, whose railroad station opened on December 10, 1883. In 1893, the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway, which was also a part of the Plant System, acquired the South Florida Railroad. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) acquired the entire Plant System in 1902. In 1967, the ACL merged with the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which is now operated by CSX.
Original 8.5 inch x 5.25 inch black and white photograph: Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.
Plant Investment Company, Sanford, Florida
South Florida Railroad Station, Sanford, Florida
On January 10, 1880, the City of Sanford broke ground for the construction of the South Florida Railroad station on Oak Avenue in Sanford, Florida. President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) famously participated in the groundbreaking ceremony. Originally only a 10-mile track between Sanford and Longwood, the line expanded to Orlando within the first six months of its operation. By 1883, Henry B. Plant (1819-1899) had purchased three-fifths of the South Florida Railroad Company and made it part of his Plant System and the Plant Investment Company (PICO). Shortly thereafter, in the winter of 1894-1895, a freeze hit Central Florida, destroying the entire citrus crop. This brought an end to what had been Sanford’s thriving citrus industry prompting the development of its vegetable industry. By the 1900s, Sanford was one of the largest vegetable shipping centers in the United States gaining the nickname of "The Celery City" for its most successful crop. Upon Plant's death in 1902, his widow sold his railroad system to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL). The arrival of the ACL in Sanford brought many new railroad workers as the city grew into a hub for shipping produce to surrounding areas. Rand Yard, ACL’s freight yard, housed a car shop, engine servicing facility, small locomotive shop, and the state's largest railroad ice plant. In the early 1900s, Lake Jesup farmers demanded that the ACL build a line for them to ship their produce into town, but the railroad company refused. In response, the largest growers chartered the Sanford and Everglades Railroad with Sydney Octavius Chase (1860-1941) as the president. The new line was completed as an ACL branch at Lake Charm. The ACL purchased the new line in 1913 when the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) showed interest in buying it. The branch became the most profitable in the ACL system. By the mid-1900s, the amount of good farmland was shrinking in Sanford due to development, driving farmers further south to farms with more acreage. This, coupled with the establishment of a U.S. Naval Air Station in the town, turned the city's focus from agriculture to the military. In 1967, the ACL merged with the Seaboard Coast Line (SCL) Railroad and later was acquired by CSX. Today, the railroad station originally built by the ACL is no longer in use.
Original 7 x 5 inch black and white photograph: Vincent Collection, Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.
What is now called the "Theatre" building, this building was originally Florida Technical University Science Auditorium until 1982. Between 1972-82, this building would also be shared with the Theatre Program.
University Photograph Collection. Image 121.
A postcard depicting Elijah Green (ca. 1838-), a former slave, sitting in front of the Old Slave Mart, located at 6 Chalmers Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Green was said to have been born in 1838 and was one of the few ex-slaves still living in 1941. The Old Slave Mart opened in 1808 as a response to the ban on the United States' participation in the international slave trade. It served as a domestic slave collecting and reselling center until 1863. The site was placed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and was acquired by the City of Charleston in 1998. This postcard is part of a collection of postcards kept by Lucile Campbell, a schoolteacher in Sanford, Florida, for 30 years. In 1931, she took advantage of a special rate for teachers and sailed to Europe, where she traveled for several months and is thought to have acquired many of these postcards. During the 1940-1941 school year, Campbell taught at Sanford Grammar School. Before her retirement in 1970, she taught at many other area schools, including the Oviedo School, Westside Grammar School, and Pinecrest Elementary School. Campbell used these postcards as aids in her classrooms to teach advanced subjects, such as Shakespearean drama. The collection, along with her other teaching aids, papers, and photographs, was later found at Sanford Grammar School after it became the University of Central Florida's Public History Center. Campbell's postcard collection and photographs provide insight into the life of a respected Florida educator.
Original 3 x 5 inch black and white photographic postcard: ACC# SM-00-243, file folder 1 (U.S. blanks), box 10A, Lucile (Mary Lucile) Campbell Collection, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Old Slave Mart, Charleston, South Carolina
Old Spanish Mission Built in 1696 Postcard
A postcard depicting what was once believed to be an old Franciscan mission with origins dating back to the time of Christopher Columbus (ca. 1451-1506). However, Captain Charles Henry Coe (1856-1954) debunked this myth in Debunking the So-Called Spanish Mission Near New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Florida in 1941. Instead, Capt. Coe revealed evidence that the site was actually a sugar mill, which is now known as the New Smyrna Sugar Mill Ruins, which was destroyed by Native Americans in 1845, just five years after it was erected. The ruins were added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Also known as the Cruger and DePeyster Sugar Mill, the ruins are located at 600 Old Mission Road in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. This postcard is part of a collection of postcards kept by Lucile Campbell, a schoolteacher in Sanford, Florida, for 30 years. In 1931, she took advantage of a special rate for teachers and sailed to Europe, where she traveled for several months and is thought to have acquired many of these postcards. During the 1940-1941 school year, Campbell taught at Sanford Grammar School. Before her retirement in 1970, she taught at many other area schools, including the Oviedo School, Westside Grammar School, and Pinecrest Elementary School. Campbell used these postcards as aids in her classrooms to teach advanced subjects, such as Shakespearean drama. The collection, along with her other teaching aids, papers, and photographs, was later found at Sanford Grammar School after it became the University of Central Florida's Public History Center. Campbell's postcard collection and photographs provide insight into the life of a respected Florida educator.
Original 3 x 5 inch black and white postcard: ACC# SM-00-243, file folder 1 (U.S. blanks), box 10A, Lucile (Mary Lucile) Campbell Collection, UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
New Smyrna Sugar Mill Ruins, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
A postcard depicting an African-American woman with a basket of vegetables on her head, and a poem used for selling them. This postcard is part of a collection of postcards kept by Lucile Campbell, a schoolteacher in Sanford, Florida, for 30 years. In 1931, she took advantage of a special rate for teachers and sailed to Europe, where she traveled for several months and is thought to have acquired many of these postcards. During the 1940-1941 school year, Campbell taught at Sanford Grammar School. Before her retirement in 1970, she taught at many other area schools, including the Oviedo School, Westside Grammar School, and Pinecrest Elementary School. Campbell used these postcards as aids in her classrooms to teach advanced subjects, such as Shakespearean drama. The collection, along with her other teaching aids, papers, and photographs, was later found at Sanford Grammar School after it became the University of Central Florida's Public History Center. Campbell's postcard collection and photographs provide insight into the life of a respected Florida educator.
A poster for the Orlando Gay Chorus concert, “Oliver Button is a Sissy”. The event was held at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Loch Haven Park, located at 812 East Rollins Street in Orlando, Florida, on March 23, 2003. Featuring guest star Peg O'Keef, the show was based on Tomie dePaola's classic children's book, "Oliver Button is a Sissy". Tickets were $8 for adults and children were admitted free and also received a free copy of the book. The poster features a rainbow background with a child's drawing in the bottom left corner. Featured artwork includes a photo of O'Keef and the logos of the OGC, NCCJ, and the Universal Orlando Resort. The Orlando Gay Chorus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and humanitarian organization part of GALA Choruses. Founded on Valentines Day 1990, OGC is not only one of the largest mixed gay choirs in the United States at over 100 members, but they also boast four smaller ensembles that perform annual concerts, cabarets, and a whole host of community events like Come Out With Pride, Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees, and World Aids Day memorial services. In 2017, the group performed at over 105 events, including 15 performances for the first anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. Members come from all walks of life and all sexual and gender orientations, including straight allies. OGC lives by the motto “Singing the World to a Better Place” and strives to use music to change attitudes and build a stronger community.
Oliver Button is a Sissy, March 23, 2003
A program for the Orlando Gay Chorus' concert, "Oliver Button is a Sissy", on March 23, 2003, at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center in Orlando, Florida. The program includes short biographies on the Artistic Director Terry Thomas, the Accompanist Genoa Minga, the Narrator Peg O'Keef, and the main actor Joe Erwin. Also included is an outline of the show's itinerary. The Orlando Gay Chorus (OGC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and humanitarian organization, and part of the Gay and Lesbian Association (GALA) of Choruses. Founded on Valentines Day 1990, OGC is not only one of the largest mixed gay choirs in the United States at over 100 members, but they also boast four smaller ensembles that perform annual concerts, cabarets, and a host of community events, such as Come Out With Pride, Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees, and World AIDS Day memorial services. In 2017, the group performed at over 105 events, including 15 performances for the first anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. Members come from all walks of life and all sexual and gender orientations, including straight allies. OGC lives by the motto “Singing the World to a Better Place” and strives to use music to change attitudes and build a stronger community.
Original 4-page program, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
Olokunkemi Ojelofun Olamina, George Oliver, Ann Patton, Joan Erwin and Lawanda Hughley
Soil collection at Greenwood Cemetery in Orlando, Florida, on November 3, 2018. Holding hands, from left to right, is Olokunkemi Ojelofun Olamina, George Oliver, Ann Patton, Joan Erwin and Lawanda Hughley. The site was chosen because Julius "July" Perry is buried there. The Alliance for Truth and Justice (ATJ) is a volunteer-based organization that engages with the community to promote education concerning the truth of local history and to advocate justice for those who have been harmed by inequities born of prejudice. ATJ builds on the work of Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative as well as the local efforts of Democracy Forum, the West Orange Reconciliation Task Force, and the Ocoee Human Relations Diversity Board. This project is rooted in acknowledging the 1920 Election Day Massacre in Orange County and all of the violence committed in the name of white supremacy. Their mission statement says that they are "working to create a more hopeful, collaborative, and just society for every person in Orange County, Florida."
Original color photograph by Willie J. Allen Jr.: Alliance for Truth and Justice, Orange County, Florida.
On the Stage: America's Greatest Hillbilly Comedian Cousin Wilbur
Advertisement for Cousin Wilbur, a "hillbilly comedian", and the Tennessee Mountaineers' performance at the Ritz Theater on May 19, 1946. Originally the Milane Theatre, the Ritz was built at 203 South Magnolia Avenue in Sanford, the former location of the Star Theatre, an abandoned movie house. Scroggs and Ewing, architects from Georgia, prepared the plans for the Milane. The name of the new theater was derived from the combination of the presidents of the Milane Amusement Company president and vice president: Frank L. Miller and Edward F. Lane. The Milane opened in July of 1923 and seated 823 patrons. In 1933, the Milane was sold to Frank and Stella Evans, investors from Lake Mary, Florida. The new owners renamed their business the Ritz Theatre and held the property until the 1990s. However, the Ritz struggled financially in the 1960s and closed in 1978 due to failure to compete with the new multiplex theaters. The building remained vacant until 1984, when it reopened as the Showtime Cantina. The Showtime Cantina closed in 1988 and remained vacant and in decay. In the mid-1990s, Ritz Community Theater Projects, Inc. acquired the property and began rehabilitation in 1998. On May 6, 2000, the theater reopened as the Helen Stairs Theatre in honor of the citizen who led the restoration project, Helen Stairs. The following year, the location was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, additional renovations were completed at the theater was renamed the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in honor of the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust Fund for contributing to the renovations fund.
Digital reproduction of original black and white poster, 1946: Bishop, Katherine. Sanford Now and Then: An Official Project of the Greater Sanford Chamber of Commerce, Commemorating the Incorporating of the City of Sanford, 1877. S.l: s.n.], 1976, page 56: Item number DP0009054. Central Florida Memory. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/CFM/id/120167.
Onan Corporation Generator at Travelodge Orlando-Sky Lake
The Onan Corporation generator at the Travelodge Orlando-Sky Lake, located at 7101 South Orange Blossom Trail (OBT), just north of the Bee Line Toll Road, in Orlando, Florida, around 1970. The hotel was constructed in 1970 by Hymen Lake and is currently in operation as the Royal Inn. Photographs from this era show the hotel offered a free continental breakfast, heated pool, and colored television. The Onan Corporation, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, commissioned the photographs. Onan was photographing a standby electric plant that had been recently installed at the hotel.
Original 8 x 10 inch black and white photograph: Pine Castle Historical Society, Pine Castle, Florida.
Onan Corporation
Travelodge Orlando-Sky Lake, Sky Lake, Florida
A poster for the Orlando Gay Chorus Cabaret "Love is... Classic". The event was held in the Crimson Hall at the First United church of Christ in Orlando, Florida on February 14, 2014. The poster features a red backgroung with multiple hearts. A black panel at the bottom of the page contains information like time, location, with the OGC header at the top of the page. The Orlando Gay Chorus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and humanitarian organization part of GALA Choruses. Founded on Valentines Day 1990, OGC is not only one of the largest mixed gay choirs in the United States at over 100 members, but they also boast four smaller ensembles that perform annual concerts, cabarets, and a whole host of community events like Come Out With Pride, Orlando Museum of Art’s Festival of Trees, and World Aids Day memorial services. In 2017, the group performed at over 105 events, including 15 performances for the first anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub tragedy. Members come from all walks of life and all sexual and gender orientations, including straight allies. OGC lives by the motto “Singing the World to a Better Place” and strives to use music to change attitudes and build a stronger community.
Original color poster, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
First United Church of Christ, Orlando, Florida
Citrus fruit industry--Florida--Orange County
One year old citrus buds at Isleworth Grove in Windermere, Florida in 1904. Chase & Company was established by Joshua Chase and his brother Sydney in 1884. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century. By 1886, the Chase brothers purchased several citrus groves to expand their business, including Isleworth Grove. Isleworth Grove covered a total of 1,300 acres along the Butler Chain of Lakes. Between 1894 and 1895, Central Florida was hit by several freezes and most of the citrus crop was destroyed. Chase & Company did not grow citrus crops again until 1904 when Joshua came back from an extended stay in California. Between 1894 and 1900, different types of pesticide equipment was created, including equipment driven by steam, machines, and horses.Randall Chase joined in the family business soon after his brother, Sydney Chase, Jr., did in 1922. Randall became the president of Chase & Company from 1948-1965. The Isleworth property stayed in the Chase family until 1984 when Franklin Chase, the son of Sydney Chase, sold the property to famed golfer Arnold Palmer.
Original 5 x 7 inch black and white photograph by Chase & Company: Chase Collection (MS 14), box 212, folder 8.18, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Only Lighthouse in U.S. Within City Limits - Key West Postcard
A postcard depicting the exterior of the Key West Lighthouse, located at 938 Whitehead Street in Key West, Florida. The lighthouse opened in 1848, with Michael Mabrity (D. 1832) as its first keeper. After Mabrity died, his wife, Barbara Mabrity (1782-1867) became new keeper, despite being a woman. The lighthouse was later destroyed by the San Francisco de Borja Hurricane of 1846, also known as the Great Havana Hurricane of 1846, A new lighthouse was completed in 1848. The Key West Lighthouse was ultimately decommission in 1969 and was subsequently converted into the Key West Light House and Keeper's Quarters Museum. This postcard is part of a collection of postcards kept by Lucile Campbell, a schoolteacher in Sanford, Florida, for 30 years. In 1931, she took advantage of a special rate for teachers and sailed to Europe, where she traveled for several months and is thought to have acquired many of these postcards. During the 1940-1941 school year, Campbell taught at Sanford Grammar School. Before her retirement in 1970, she taught at many other area schools, including the Oviedo School, Westside Grammar School, and Pinecrest Elementary School. Campbell used these postcards as aids in her classrooms to teach advanced subjects, such as Shakespearean drama. The collection, along with her other teaching aids, papers, and photographs, was later found at Sanford Grammar School after it became the University of Central Florida's Public History Center. Campbell's postcard collection and photographs provide insight into the life of a respected Florida educator.
Photograph of the Opera House in Sanford, Florida. The Opera House was first replaced by the Star Theatre and then later the Milane Theatre. The Milane Theatre was built at 203 South Magnolia Avenue. Scroggs and Ewing, architects from Georgia, prepared the plans for the Milane. The name of the new theater was derived from the combination of the presidents of the Milane Amusement Company president and vice president: Frank L. Miller and Edward F. Lane. The Milane opened in July of 1923 and seated 823 patrons. In 1933, the Milane was sold to Frank and Stella Evans, investors from Lake Mary, Florida. The new owners renamed their business the Ritz Theater and held the property until the 1990s. However, the Ritz struggled financially in the 1960s and closed in 1978 due to failure to compete with the new multiplex theaters. The building remained vacant until 1984, when it reopened as the Showtime Cantina. The Showtime Cantina closed in 1988 and remained vacant and in decay. In the mid-1990s, Ritz Community Theater Projects, Inc. acquired the property and began rehabilitation in 1998. On May 6, 2000, the theater reopened as the Helen Stairs Theatre in honor of the citizen who led the restoration project, Helen Stairs. The following year, the location was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, additional renovations were completed at the theater was renamed the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in honor of the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust Fund for contributing to the renovations fund.
Photocopy of original black and white photograph: Milane Theater Collection, Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.
An oral history interview of Alan R. Holtz, who served in the U.S. Navy, during the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Storm. Born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, Holtz enlisted in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He later joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and helped mobilize Reservists during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. This oral history interview was conducted by Jared Grossi on November 13, 2014. Interview topics include enlistment, boot camp, the USS Hancock, the Vietnam War, the Naval Reserves, Operation Desert Shield, and Operation Desert Storm.
Holtz, Alan R.. Interviewed by Jared Grossi, November 13, 2014. Audio/video record available. Item DP0016189, UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
RICHES of Central Florida
Oral history of Algerine Miller, interviewed by Autumn Reisz on March 2, 2013, for the UCF Public History Center's History Harvest. In the oral history, Miller discusses how she found out about the History Harvest, the documents and photographs she contributed, and her family's property in Sanford, Florida. Born in Orangeburg County, South Carolina in 1909, Algerine's father Moddie moved to Sanford, where he and his wife, Alberta, purchased the property that the Miller family still owned as of 2013.
Miller, Algerine. Interviewed by Autumn Reisz. UCF Public History Center. March 2, 2013. Video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Oral history interview of Algerine Miller, who was born on December 6, 1940, in Sanford, Florida. Miller graduated from Crooms Academy, located at 2200 West Thirteenth Street, in 1958. After high school, she attended the Walker Business School for one year. Miller worked for the State of Florida as an Eligibility Interviewer for 16 years and for Seminole County Community College as an Assistant Financial Interviewer. Miller has also worked with the UCF Public History Center as a volunteer, especially within the Crooms Academy Alumni Exhibit: Triumph Through Adversity. This interview was conducted by Meghan Vance at the Goldsboro Museum, located at 1211 West Thirteenth Street, on November 7, 2012, in Goldsboro, an African-American neighborhood in Sanford.
Miller, Algerine. Interviewed by Meghan Vance. UCF Public History Center. November 7, 2012. Audio/video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Hopper Academy, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
An oral history of Algerine Miller. The interview was conducted by Barbara Coleman-Foster at the Dr. Velma H. Williams Westside Community Center in July 2025.
Miller, Algerine. Interviewed by Barbara Coleman-Foster, July 2025. Audio record available. RICHES. Orlando, Florida.
Oral History of Alice Kathryn Aulin Bunch
An oral history interview of Alice Kathryn Aulin Bunch (1926-), conducted by Porsha Dossie on April 18, 2015. Bunch was born in in Oviedo, Florida, on July 2, 1926. After graduating from Oviedo High School, Bunch began working in a bank in Downtown Orlando. On August 17, 1946, she married Richard Burdette Bunch (1924-) and together they had two daughters: Mary Kathryn Bunch Hamby (1947-) and Billy Beatrice Bunch Parrot (1948-). In the interview, Bunch discusses attending high school during World War II, her career as a bank teller, how she met her husband, the founding families of Oviedo, church and her social life growing up, the influence of the military on Oviedo, the artifacts that she contributed to the Oviedo History Harvest, her parents and her siblings, and how Oviedo has changed over time.
Bunch, Alice Kathryn Aulin. Interviewed by Porsha Dossie, April 18, 2015. Audio/video record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
Episode in the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's 20th Anniversary video series, chronicling the orchestra's history in Central Florida. This episode features an interview with Andrew Lane, who is a horn player, one of the orchestra's founding members, former Principal Pop, and current Resident Conductor. Topics in the video include the closing of the Florida Symphony, the creation of a new orchestra, how the orchestra obtained funding, trombonist and general manager Mark Fisher, an early concert in Kissimmee, and Lane's proudest accomplishment. Andrew Lane began his career with the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C. Following his resignation in 1986, Lane performed as a freelancer with the American Chamber Orchestra, Washington Chamber Orchestra, Kennedy Center Orchestra, and National Gallery Orchestra. He joined the Florida Symphony in 1990 and the Florida Symphony Orchestra of Orlando in 1991. Other past positions held by Lane include: music director of the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra from 1994 to May 2005; principal conductor of the Southern Ballet Theatre, presently called the Orlando Ballet; and guest conductor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Naples Philharmonic, and the Florida Orchestra. As of the fall of 2002, Lane is currently the conductor of the Florida West Coast Symphony Youth Philharmonic and the principal conductor of the Florida West Coast Symphony Youth Orchestra Program. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, located at 812 East Rollins Street Suite 300 in Orlando, was inspired by the closing of the Florida Symphony in 1993. The orchestra performs in more than 125 concerts each season. In June of 2013, the Philharmonic made plans to purchase the Plaza Live, located at 425 North Bumby Avenue in downtown Orlando, for office space, a rehearsal hall, a music library, and a music hall.
Original 4-minute and 2-second video by Joe Gennaro, Timothy G. Brown, and Lisa Mills: "The Orlando Phil's 20th Anniversary | Andrew Lan." Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, October 3, 2012: Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Orlando, Florida.
Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Orlando, Florida
An oral history of Arthurene Wilson Cook (b. 1930), conducted by Joseph Morris on October 4, 2011. Cook was born in Orlando, Florida, in 1930, but migrated to Sanford around 1942. In the interview, Cook discusses life in Sanford, her employment experiences, her husbands and children, growing up during the Great Depression, prosperity in the post-World War II era, her husband's career in the railroad industry, her children and grandchildren, and her battle with cancer.
Original 44-minute and 42-second oral history: Cook, Arthurene Wilson. Interviewed by Joseph Morris. October 4, 2011. Audio record available. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Magic Kingdom Park, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
An oral history interview of Bernard O. Blackwood, conducted by Alexandra Dobson on March 19, 2015. Blackwood was born on April 9, 1933, and attended the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, Florida. After graduating from college, Blackwood migrated to St. Petersburg with his wife, Suzanne A. Blackwood, to work as a city planner. In the 1970s, the couple moved to Oviedo with their children. There, Blackwood helped plan several residential subdivisions alongside Ben Ward, Jr. Interview topics include land development, the effects of Florida Technological University (present-day University of Central Florida), Blackwood's wife and children, Ben Ward's contributions to the community, desegregation and the Civil Rights Movement in St. Petersburg, and his career as a city planner.
Blackwood, Bernie Interviewed by Alexandra Dobson, March 19, 2015. Audio record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
An oal history of Bette Skates, conducted by Diana Dombrowski on July 9, 2010. As the historian of the Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Sanford, Florida, Skates discusses growing up in Sanford, how Sanford has changed over time, her educational and family history, her career as a teacher, school integration, the history and activities of the Holy Cross Episcopal Church, her role as church historian, how education has changed over time, ad Florida's Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).
Skates, Bette. Interviewed by Diana Dombrowski. July 9, 2010. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Geneva Elementary School, Geneva, Florida
Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Sanford, Florida's. Gertrude's Grove, Sanford Florida
An oral history of Bette Skates, conducted by Austin Smith on July 14, 2010. As the historian of the Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Sanford, Florida, Skates discusses the history of the church and other churches in Sanford, missionaries at Mellonville and Camp Monroe, the founding of the City of Sanford by Henry Shelton Sanford (1823-1891), and how the church and the city has changed over time. The interview also includes commentary from Alicia Clarke, curator of the Sanford Museum, and Grace Marie Stinecipher (b. 1936), historian of the First Baptist Church of Sanford.
Skates, Bette. Interviewed by Austin Smith. July 14, 2010. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Sanford, Florida
First United Methodist Church, Sanford, Florida
All Souls Catholic Church Historic Chapel, Sanford, Florida
All Souls Catholic Church, Sanford, Florida's
Oral History of Bettye Jean Aulin Reagan
An oral history interview of Bettye Jean Aulin Reagan, conducted by Rebecca Schwandt on April 2, 2015. Born January 27, 1934, Reagan is the granddaughter of Andrew Aulin, Sr. (1843-1918), who is credited with naming Oviedo, Florida. In this oral history, Reagan discusses growing up in Oviedo, attending school at Oviedo High School, the great technological advances that have occurred during her life, segregation and integration, her hopes and aspirations, and her family life. She also tells stories about her grandfather and talks about the history of the Aulin family, as well as the Lawtons and the Wheelers. Finally, Reagan discusses her career as an artist.
Reagan, Bettye Jean Aulin. Interviewed by Rebecca Schwandt, April 2, 2015. Audio/video record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
An oral history of Bob Hattaway, conducted by Daniel Motta on June 14, 2012. Hattaway was born and raised in Altamonte Springs, Florida. In the interview, Hattaway discusses growing up in Altamonte Springs, working in the fern industry, his real estate and agricultural endeavors, his family's influence in Altamonte Springs and Casselberry, the greenhouse business, local politics, and the air travel industry.
Original 49-minute and 20-second oral history:Hattaway, Bob. Interviewed by Daniel Motta. June 14, 2012. Audio record available. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Winter Park High School, Winter Park, Florida
Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida
Orlando-Sanford International Airport, Sanford, Florida
Adult Toy Storage, Altamonte Springs, Florida
Lake Monroe (Seminole County and Volusia County, Fla.)
An oral history of Bobby Martin (b. 1944), conducted by Daniel Motta on June 13, 2012. Martin was born in Tampa, Florida, in 1944, but spent much of his life as a commercial fisherman on Lake Jesup and Lake Monroe. In the interview, Martin discusses growing up in Longwood, serving in the military during the Vietnam War, the commercial fishing industry, the relationship between fishermen, fishing methods, catfish farming and the decline of the wild commercial fishing industry, leaving the fishing industry, and the dangers of fishing.
Original 59-minute and 36-second oral history: Martin, Bobby. Interviewed by Daniel Motta. June 13, 2012. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Sanford Boat Works & Marina, Sanford, Florida
Oral History of Calvert and Phyllis Conklin
An oral history of Calvert Conklin and Phyllis Conklin. Cal moved from Baltimore, Maryland, to Florida in 1963 and Phyllis was born in Florida. The couple met each other at the University of Illinois, where Cal pursued his doctorate degree after returning from the Korean War. In the interview, Cal and Phyllis discuss their involvement in the development of the historic section of Downtown Sanford. They also discuss their humanitarian experiences and awards. The couple then delves into the racial tensions within Sanford during integration, even going so far as to tell detailed stories of violence within the city and the alienation they experienced because they came from the North and openly mixed with African Americans.
Conklin, Calvert and Phyllis Conklin. Interviewed by Trish Thompson. Celery Soup, June 24, 2011. Audio record available. Creative Sanford, Inc., Sanford Florida.
Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center, Sanford, Florida
Woman's Club of Sanford, Sanford, Florida
Rescue Outreach Mission of Central Florida, Sanford, Florida
Good Samaritan Home of Sanford, Sanford, Florida
First Presbyterian Church, Sanford, Florida
An oral history of Cecil A. Tucker II, conducted by Stephanie Youngers on September 23, 2010. Tucker served as a County Agent for the Extensions Office in various counties in Florida. In the interview, he discusses growing up in Christmas, Cracker Christmas and Fort Christmas Historical Park, his educational history, the 4-H (head, heart, hands, and health) program, working for the Extensions Office in Marion County and Seminole County, agriculture in Seminole County, opening Tucker's Farm and Garden Center, and his wife and children.
Tucker, Cecil A. II. Interviewed by Stephanie Youngers. September 23, 2010. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Fort Christmas Historical Park, Christmas, Florida
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Tucker's Farm and Garden Center, Sanford, Florida
An oral history interview of Chad Etchison (b. 1974), who joined the U.S. Navy in December of 1992 and served during Operation Active Endeavor and the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Ethicson was born in Anderson, Indiana, on December 12, 1974. He attended boot camp at Naval Training Center Orlando (NTC Orlando) and later served on several Navy frigates. He also served President Bill Clinton (b. 1946) as part of the White House Communication Agency and attended the Fleet Combat Training Center in Dam Neck, Virginia. In Orlando, Etchison served at the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command Operations Force Center and the Navy Operations Support Center. Ethicson achieved the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer (CPO) and earned a Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Navy Commendation Medals, five Navy Achievement Medals, and a Presidential Service Badge. This interview was conducted by Chad Eric Joyner on March 15, 2014, three months before Etchison left the Navy. Interview topics include enlistment, boot camp, NTC Orlando, the Grinder, Ethcison's naval career after Orlando, and how the Orlando area has changed over time.
Ethcison, Chad. Interviewed by Chad Eric Joyner, March 15, 2014. Audio record available. Item DP0014895, UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
Recruit Training Center Orlando, Orlando, Florida
Naval Training Center Orlando, Orlando, Florida
Naval Training Center Great Lakes, Great Lakes, Illinois
Naval Training Center San Diego, San Diego, California
Naval Station Mayport, Jacksonville, Florida
Navy Operations Support Center, Orlando, Florida
Oral History of Charles Lewis Hite's military service during the Vietnam War (1961-1975) and the Persian Gulf War (1991). Hite was born on March 23, 1947 in Centralia, Illinois. In 1972, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and trained at Blyheville Air Force Base in Blyheville, Arkansas. He served in Thailand during the Vietnam War and then returned back to Blyheville to work as First 2nd LT Radar Navigator. After being promoted to Standardization/Evaluation Radar Navigator, Hite was stationed in various locations: Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City, Louisiana; Offutt Air Force Base near Bellevue, Nebraska; Ramstein Air Force Base near Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany; and MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida. He also was assigned duties during Operation Desert Storm (1991). Throughout his service, Hite served in various units, including 97th Bomb Wine, 340th Bomb Squadron, 1st Combat Evaluation Group, HQ Strategic Air Command, 7th Air Division, and DET 1 8th Air Force (SAC) Central Command. He achieved the rank of Major and received both the Commendation Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal. Hite left the military on May 31, 1992 and began working at the University of Central Florida. This oral history interview was conducted by Edmund Kallina at the UCF Research Parkway in Orlando, Florida on October 12, 2012. The Vietnam War was a Cold War Era "military conflict". The war was originally waged between Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. The United States became involved as a preventive measure to combat communism. The official date of the military conflict is November 1, 1955 and ending in April 1975. The date of the war has been disputed, but a study in 1998 by the Department of Defense definitively put the start of the Vietnam War as November 1, 1955. The first combat military troops 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade didn't arrive until 1965. With the arrival of the combat troops came the first traditional battles of combat fighting in the war. During the Vietnam War, not only did American military go into battle with and for South Vietnam, the military also trained members of South Vietnam to fight alongside during the war. Peace talks were attempted, with France moderating, beginning on May 10, 1968. These talks were unsuccessful and lasted over three years. The longest battle of the Vietnam War began on January 21, 1968 and didn't end until the U.S. reclaimed Route 9 on April 8, 1968, seventy-seven days later. While the military conflict ended in 1975, it was a long process towards reunification and redevelopment as a country. The conflict left Vietnam in both political and economical ruins. While the U.S. military was fighting overseas, Many American citizens protested the war at home. Demonstrations took place across the country with the most famous one being at Kent State University in Ohio. While this is the most well known demonstration it was not the first. Americans questioned the U.S. involvement in the war throughout.
Hite, Charles Lewis. Interviewed by Edmund Kallina. UCF Community Veterans History Project, D0010465. October 12, 2010. Audio/video record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries
An oral history of Charles Whittington b. 1938), conducted by Joseph Morris on November 18, 2011. Whittington was born in Sanford, Florida, in March of 1938. In the interview, he discusses his childhood in Sanford and Charleston, celery and gladiola farming, his father's service in the U.S. Navy, his mother and sister, how Sanford has changed over time, his employment history, his world travel experiences, his activities after retirement, his work with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),his wife and children, his service in the U.S. Army and in the U.S. Air Force, and the Apollo 8.
Original 58-minute and 16-second oral history: Whittington, Charles Interviewed. by Joseph Morris. November 18, 2011. Audio record available. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Sinclair Oil Corporation Gas Station, Sanford, Florida
Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, South Carolina
An oral history of Charlie Morgan, conducted by Joseph Morris on September 21, 2011. Morgan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1940, but migrated to Bookertown, an African-American community in Sanford, Florida. In the interview, Morgan discusses life in Bookertown, working in the agriculture and construction industries, segregation and race relations in Sanford, moonshine, civil rights, serving in the military during the Vietnam War, how Bookertown and Sanford have changed over time, and Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955).
Original 1-hour, 14-minute, and 22-second oral history: Morgan, Charlie Interviewed by Joseph Morris. September 21, 2011. Audio record available. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Oral history of Christine Kinlaw-Best, interviewed by Mark Miller on March 2, 2013, for the UCF Public History Center's History Harvest. In the oral history, Kinlaw-Best discusses how she found information about the History Harvest, her family's attendance at the school building at 301 West Seventh Avenue since it opened in 1902 as Sanford High School, her family's report cards from the various schools that were housed in the building, what changes have been made to the building, how students were transported to the school when her grandmother attended, how children helped their parents farm when the school year ended, and the different schools in Sanford. 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.
Kinlaw-Best, Christine. Interviewed by Mark Miller. UCF Public History Center, HAR1063414P. March 2, 2013. Video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Westside Grammar Elementary School, Sanford, Florida
Sanford Grammar School, Sanford, Florida
An oral history interview of Martha Reuter (b. 1964), who is nicknamed Connie. Reuter was born in Abingdon, Virginia, on March 20, 1964. She enlisted in the U.S. Navy (USN) on May 7, 1984, and completed her service on April 1, 1988. Reuter re-enlisted just six months later in the U.S. Naval Reserve (USNR) and was discharged on October 31, 2005. Reuter attended Naval Training Center Orlando (NTC Orlando). She later served at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Naval Air Station Ingleside in Ingleside, Texas. This oral history interview was conducted by Leanne Wiggins on March 6, 2014. Interview topics include Reuter's background, enlistment, naval training, attending boot camp at NTC Orlando, serving was a woman in the Navy, graduation from boot camp, Liberty Call, the USS Blue Jacket, the Grinder, serving as a photographer's mater, the Naval Reserve, and the Lone Sailor Memorial Project.
Reuter, Martha. Interviewed by Leanne Wiggins. Audio/video record available. Item DP0014908, UCF Community Veterans History Project, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas
Naval Station Ingelside, Ingelside, Texas
World Trade Center, New York City, New York
An oral history interview of Curt Sawyer (b. 1954), who served in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 1994. Sawyer was born in San Francisco, California, on May 1, 1965, but grew up in Tennessee. While living in Fort Myers, Florida, in 1986, Sawyer joined the Army. During his service, he participated in training exercises with the French Foreign Legion in Corsica and served at Guard Post Ouellette in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North Korea and South Korea. Sawyer achieved the rank of First Lieutenant and received the Expert Infantryman Badge. He was also a graduate of the Army Ranger School, Army Airborne School, Army Air Assault School, and Army Rappelling School. This interview was conducted by Robin Dunn at the University of Central Florida (UCF) on November 13, 2014. Interview topics include attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, Airborne School and Air Assault School, serving in South Korea, the 1st Ranger Regiment, meeting his wife, his post-Army life, and training with the French Foreign Legion.
Sawyer, Curt. Interviewed by Robin Dunn, November 13, 2014. Audio/video record available. Item DP0016000, UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
United States Military Academy at West Point, West Point, New York
Guard Post Ouellete, Demilitarized Zone, South Korea
Eglin Air Force Base, Okaloosa County, Florida
An oral history interview of Dann Pottinger, conducted by Caitlin Baldwin on November 9, 2015. Pottinger was born August 14, 1947, on the British Bay Island in Honduras. He moved to Orlando, Florida as a small child and attended primary school in the area. Pottinger spent most of his working career as a banker in the Orlando area, however he describes himself as an historian. Pottinger has been involved in a number of historical groups and was an early member of Orlando Remembered, which is a community group, dedicated to preserving memory of Orlando's downtown landmarks. To date, the group has constructed approximately 18 displays, which are located in building throughout the Downtown Orlando area. Pottinger was president of the group in the early 2000s.
Original 34-minute and 38-second oral history: Pottinger, Dann. Interviewed by Caitlin Baldwin, November 9, 2015. Audio record available. Orlando Remembered, Oviedo, 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
Jones-Francis Maternity Hall, Georgetown, Sanford, Florida
Oral history of David C. Grace, the Master Gardener and docent at the Student Museum and Center for Social Studies, located at 301 West Seventh Street in Sanford, Florida. Grace was born in Wichita, Kansas, on December 2, 1942. He attended Wichita State University and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in 1965. He performed missile maintenance at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, until he retired after three years. He accepted a job with United Telephone and moved to Fort Myers around 1970. When United Telephone purchased the Winter Park Telephone, Grave migrated to Central Florida. After being laid off, he decided to become a Master Gardener for the Student Museum, while also working as a Chief Financial Officer for the Florida Safety County. This interview was conducted by Autumn Reisz in Sanford on October 30, 2012.
Grace, David C.. Interviewed by Autumn Reisz. UCF Public History Center. October 30, 2012. Audio/video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Student Museum and Center for Social Studies, Sanford, Florida
Episode in the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's 20th Anniversary video series, chronicling the orchestra's history in Central Florida. This episode features an interview with David Schillhammer, Executive Director since 2010. Topics in the video include performing at the Grand Opening of Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter, being conducted by John Williams, sales and programming, the concert experience, the involvement of musicians on the Board, the Orlando Philharmonic's track record of fiscal responsibility, and educational programs offered by the orchestra. David Schillhammer was born and raised in Burlington, Vermont, and received his Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance from the Eastman School of Music. He has also served as the executive director of the San Antonio Symphony, general manager of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and production and education coordinator for the Rochester Philharmonic. On April 30, 2010, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer declared April 30th to be "David Schillhammer Day." The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, located at 812 East Rollins Street Suite 300 in Orlando, was inspired by the closing of the Florida Symphony in 1993. The orchestra performs in more than 125 concerts each season. In June of 2013, the Philharmonic made plans to purchase the Plaza Live, located at 425 North Bumby Avenue in downtown Orlando, for office space, a rehearsal hall, a music library, and a music hall.
Original 5-minute and 48-second video by Joe Gennaro, Timothy G. Brown, and Lisa Mills: "The Orlando Phil's 20th Anniversary | Executive Director David Schillhammer." Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, October 25, 2012: Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Orlando, Florida.
Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Orlando, Florida
An oral history of David Scott, conducted by Susan Holcomb on April 9, 2010. Scott was the son of Grady Scott, who served as Superintendent of the Old Folks Home, formerly located at 300 Bush Boulevard in Sanford, Florida. The property has since been converted into the Museum of Seminole County History. In this interview, Scott discusses the layout and residents at the home, his responsibilities as an employee, growing up in Sanford, and how Sanford has changed over time.
Scott, David. Interviewed by Susan Holcomb. April 9, 2010. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida
An oral history interview of Debbie Simmons, the co-owner of Shelbie Press and a founding member of the Metropolitan Business Association (MBA), an organization supporting LGBTQ businesses in Orlando, FL. As MBA president, she also helped found Come Out with Pride and the LGBTQ History Museum of Central Florida. This interview was conducted by Sara Raffel at Shelbie Press in Orlando, Florida, on June 16th, 2018. Some of the topics covered include attending the first gay pride parade in Orlando, founding the Metropolitan Business Association, facilitating a network of allies and inspiring activism, working with the Human Relations Board of the City of Orlando, building an LGBTQ+ community and collaborating with other groups, forming Come Out With Pride, the history of the gay rights movement, preserving the history of the LGBTQ+ community, her favorite memory from work at GLBT History Museum of Central Florida, organizing the first exposition of the Metropolitan Business Association, how the small business community impacted the LGBTQ+ community, omitting references to homosexuality in the organization’s name, and goals and challenges for the GLBT Museum of Central Florida and the Metropolitan Business Association.
Simmons, Debbie. Interviewed by Sara Raffel, June 16, 2018. Audio record available. RICHES of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
GLBT History Museum of Central Florida
Shelbie Press Print & Copy, Orlando, Florida
Metropolitan Business Association, Orlando, Florida
Joy Metropolitan Community Church, Orlando, Florida
Orange County Regional History Center, Orlando, Florida
An oral history of Derek Mason Henry's experience serving in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Henry enlisted in the United States Army and served in the 2nd Battalion, the 124th Regiment, the 53rd Infantry Division. Interview topics include overseas service, Henry's family, enlistment, the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, the attacks on September 11th, basic training, service in Afghanistan, and the National Guard.
Henry, David Mason. Interviewed by Jeff Key and Jade Holroyd. UCF Community Veterans History Project, DP0011890. February 28, 2011. Audio record available. University of Central Florida Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, Orlando, Florida.
An oral history with Diane Yeaton, President of the Board of Trustees of the Marine Discovery Center, located at 520 Barracuda Boulevard in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Yeaton migrated to New Smyrna Beach from Rhode Island in 2002. The Marine Discovery Center, Inc. (MDC) was founded in 1998 for the purpose of protecting the Indian River Lagoon. Founders include New Smyrna Beach Mayor, James Vandergrifft, as well as various civic leaders, biologists, and other members of the community.
Original 12-minute and 12-second oral history: Yeaton, Diane. Interview by Zachary McCormick. Daytona State College, New Smyrna Beach-Edgewater Campus. October 29, 2013. Audio/video record available.
Daytona State College
Marine Discovery Center, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Marine Science Center, Ponce Inlet, Florida
An oral history of Dick Groskey, conducted by Joseph Morris on October 28, 2011. Born in Springfield, Ohio, Groskey migrated with his family to Orlando, Florida, in the early 1950s. In the interview, he discusses migrating to Florida, growing up in Ohio, how Orlando and Central Florida has changed over time, his experience contracting with various companies and government institutions, the metalworking industry, business taxes, his service in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, and his wife and children.
Groskey, Dick. Interviewed by Joseph Morris. October 28, 2011. Audio record available. Museum of Seminole County History, Orlando, Florida.
An oral history of Dick Quentin Harkey (b. 1942). In 1942, Harkey was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the fifth child in his family. In 1957, his family moved to Gainesville, Georgia. Harkey attended Young Harris College and the University of Georgia, graduating with a degree in psychology. He worked first for Great American Insurance in the Claims Department and married a woman that he met at the University of Georgia. After living in Atlanta, Georgia, for some time, Harkey was transferred to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1967. He moved back to Atlanta for a couple of years after getting divorced, but later transferred to Orlando, on March 25, 1971. Harkey met a schoolteacher, Cheryl Harkey, through the Young Republicans in April 1973. The couple married in December and had their daughter, Marianne Harkey, on February 11, 1978. After working for Great American Insurance, Harkey went to work with IMA and then later for CNA Financial. In this oral history, Harkey discusses the story of how his family came from North Carolina, stories about when he worked for Channel Nine, and stories about his time as a lawyer for insurance policies. He was active within the Republican Party and discusses the political and economic implications of the SunRail for Sanford and the surrounding areas. He also speaks briefly about racial tensions.
Harkey, Dick Quentin. Interviewed by Trish Thompson. 2009. Audio record available. Creative Sanford, Inc., Sanford, Florida.
Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
Florida Hospital Health Village, Orlando, Florida
An oral history of Doris McClendon, a former member of the U.S. Navy. This interview was conducted by Andrew Glen Weeks at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida, on April 11, 2014. The interview was conducted as part of the UCF Community Veteran's History Project (CVHP) and background research for a memorial honoring the for Naval Training Center Orlando (NTC Orlando). McClendon attended recruit training at the NTC Orlando in 1976. At that time, the training center was the only naval facility to train both male and female recruits. In this oral history, McClendon describes her experience as a female recruit at NTC Orlando. She also talks about her role as a legalmen in the Navy. McClendon left the Navy in 1995 with the rank of E-7.
McClendon, Doris. Interviewed by Andrew Glen Weeks. UCF Community Veterans History Project. April 11, 2014. Audio/video record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
UCF Community Veterans History Project
Pine Villa Elementary School, Miami, Florida
Mays Junior High School, Goulds, Florida
South Dade Senior High School, Homestead, Florida
Naval Air Station Keflavik, Keflavik, Iceland
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
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
Oral History of Dr. Storm Leslie Richards
Oral history interview of Dr. Storm Leslie Richards, an archaeologist and environmental consultant for Storm L. Richards & Associates, Inc. Dr. Richards was born in Patuxent River, Maryland, on August 20, 1950, but his family migrated to Sanford, Florida, in 1953. He graduated from Seminole High School in 1969 and received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D from the University of Florida in Tallahassee in 1973, 1978, and 1987, respectively. Dr. Richards also wrote the grant for the Sanford Grammar School, located at 301 West Seventh Street. This interview was conducted by Ian McLaughlin at Dr. Richards' home in Geneva on October 24, 2012.
Richards, Storm Leslie. Interviewed by Ian McLaughlin. UCF Public History Center. October 24, 2012. Audio/video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Student Museum and Center for the Social Studies,Sanford, Florida
UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida
Oral History of Dr. William "Bill" Blank
An oral history of Dr. William Blank, who served in the U.S. Army (USA) from 1971 until 1974. Dr. Blank ultimately reached the rank of Specialist 4 and was stationed in Mannheim, Germany. Now the Director of Career Development at the University of Central Florida (UCF), Dr. Blank discusses his experiences during and after his military service. Some of the topics include the Yom Kippur War and the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, benefits of being in the military, personal experiences in Europe, the evolution of the military and public opinion of veterans, working with international students, and opinions of the military today and modern conflicts.
Blank, Bill. Interviewed by Gabrielle Hank. Audio/video record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Marine Corps Base Quantico, Triangle, Virginia
Watergate Office Complex, Washington, D.C.
Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France
An oral history intervied of Ed L'Heureux, conducted by Stephanie Youngers on November 12, 2010. L'Heureux was born in Gloversville, New York, in May of 1939, but migrated to Winter Park, Florida, at the age of five. In the interview, L'Heureux discusses growing up in Winter Park, fish fry events, his wife and family, his careers as an insurance agent and as an author, Rollins College, The Yearling, race relations in Winter Park, hurricanes, his father's trucking business, his service in the military, and the effects of the development of Walt Disney World on Central Florida.
Original 39-minute and 25-second oral history: L'Heureux, Ed. Interviewed by Stephanie Youngers. November 12, 2010. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Winter Park Elementary, Winter Park, Florida
Oral History of Edwin White and Carolyn White
An oral history interview of Edwin White and Carolyn White, conducted by Porsha Dossie on April 18, 2015. Around 1967, the Whites moved to Oviedo, Florida, where they established a horse ranch. In the interview, the Whites discuss how Oviedo has changed over time, their horse ranch, and the wildlife that lives around their property. Due to technical difficulties, the first six and a half minutes of the recording lacked audio and were edited out of the final version.
White, Edwin and Carolyn White. Interviewed by Porsha Dossie, April 18, 2015. Audio/video record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
An oral history of Elfleata Hill Devoe. The interview was conducted by Barbara Coleman-Foster at the Dr. Velma H. Williams Westside Community Center in July 2025.
Hill Devoe, Elfleata. Interviewed by Barbara Coleman-Foster, July 2025. Audio record available. RICHES. Orlando, Florida.
An oral history of Elizabeth Bridges. Bridges discusses what life was like in Singapore as a child in the 1960s. She also talks about how she met her first husband, Victor Green. Green worked on an oil rig in the Pacific Ocean for HuffCo. Bridges tells what it was like for her husband to work for that company. She had to learn how to cook Southern food and adapt to life in America. Her first husband died of lung cancer in 1991. She then met her second husband, Jack Bridges, and married him in 1998. After her husband overcame his alcohol addiction, he ran for city commissioner in 2005. He brought many positive changes to the city and was a well-known and successful attorney.
Bridges, Elizabeth. Interviewed by Trish Thompson. 2010. Audio record available. Creative Sanford, Inc., Sanford Florida.
An oral history interview of Emmanuel J. Agon Kresky, a member of the Orlando Gay Chorus. The interview was conducted by Sarah Schneider at the University of Central Florida Center for Emerging Media in Orlando, Florida, on November 17th, 2016. Some of the topics covered include joining the Orlando Gay Chorus, his favorite productions, the 2012 and 2016 Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses festivals, the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub, the Orlando Gay Chorus’s response to the Pulse tragedy, the community, national and international responses to the Pulse tragedy, the significance of Pulse before and after the tragedy, the role of social media in the aftermath of the tragedy, and the long-term consequences of the tragedy.
Kresky, Emmanuel J. Agon. Interviewed by Sarah Schneider, November 17, 2016. Audio record available. RICHES of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, Florida
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando, Florida
GALA Choruses Festival, Denver Performing Arts Center, Denver, Colorado
Publix Supermarkets, Inc., Orlando, Florida
Oral History of Florence Patchell O'Connor
University of Central Florida. Department of History
Oral history interview of Florence Patchell O'Connor, a docent for the Student Museum and Center for Social Studies, located at 301 West Seventh Street in Sanford, Florida. O'Connor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1931. While living in Pennsylvania, she taught elementary school for nine years. After marrying, she moved to Marlton, New Jersey, and continued teaching and then substitute teaching until 1991. That same year, she moved to Florida. O'Connor worked as a substitute teacher, and began volunteering as a docent in 1996. This interview was conducted by Katie Kelley at the UCF Public History Center on October 11, 2012.
O'Connor, Florence Patchell. Interviewed by Mary "Katie" Kelley. UCF Public History Center. October 11, 2012. Audio/video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
An oral history interview of Frank V. Boffi (b. 1922), who served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945 and again from 1948 to 1952. Boffi was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, on May 18, 1922. He served during both World War II and the Korean War, and was stationed on USS Bernadou, USS Hugh W. Hadley, USS Brownsonn, and USS Fiske. Boffi also took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily, the Battle of Anzio, and the Battle of Okinawa. He received a Purple Heart, among other awards, and achieved the rank of 1st Class Machinist. This interview was conducted by Luis Santana Garcia at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. Topics discussed in the oral history include Boffi's background, his enlistment, fighting in Italy, the construction of the USS Hugh W. Hadley and its subsequent destruction, serving in the Pacific Theater, leaving the Navy, his medals and citations, and the Lone Sailor Memorial Project.
Boffi, Frank V. Interviewed by Luis Santana Garcia. Audio/video record available. Item DP0014888, UCF Community Veterans History Project, Orlando, Florida.
Vatican Necropolis, Vatican, Vatican City
An oral history of Garnett White, conducted by Joseph Morris on October 13, 2011. Born in St. Augustine, Florida, White moved with his family to Sanford at a young age. In the interview, he discusses attending Southside Elementary School during World War II, running a paper route and riding bikes around Sanford, his experiences as a real estate broker, Sanford's celery industry, the history of Chase and Company, Red Hill Groves and the citrus industry, his service in the U.S. Navy, his civic service, and his family.
White, Garnett. Interviewed by Joseph Morris. October 13, 2011. Audio record available. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
West 10th Street and South Laurel Avenue, Sanford, Florida
Chase & Company Washhouse, Sanford, Florida
Oral history of Gene Kruckemyer, editor for UCF News at the University of Central Florida's News and Information Office. Kruckemyer moved from Orlando to Sanford in 2004, following a series of hurricanes. He worked as a publisher for The Sanford Herald for three years and as an editor for The Orlando Sentinel for 33 years. This interview was conducted by Megan Kaczmarek at Kruckemyer's office at the University of Central Florida on October 31, 2012. Within the oral history, Kruckemyer discusses his involvement with the UCF Public History Center, located at 301 West Seventh Street in Sanford, Florida.
Kruckemyer, Gene. Interviewed by Megan Kaczmarek. UCF Public History Center. October 31, 2012. Audio/video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
An oral history interview of George G. McGuire, who joined the U.S. Air Force in 1963 and served until 1983. He was born on Summit, New Jersey, on October 17, 1941. A veteran of the Vietnam War era, McGuire achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. This interview was conducted by Judy Scherer on April 1, 2014. Interview topics include McGuire's background and family, his college education, join the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC), Whiteman Air Force Base, McCoy Air Force Base, duties as a procurement officer and a contract administrator, the Defense Contract Administration Services, serving in Bangkok during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (USAFOSI), the Rock Island Arsenal, military retirement, U.S.-Thailand relations, and his many travel experiences.
McGuire, George G. Interviewed by Judy Scherer, April 1, 2014. Audio/video record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, RICHES of Central Florida, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, New York City, New York
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Defense Contract Administration Services Management Office, Naval Air Station Sand Point, Seattle, Washington
Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia
Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island-Moline, Illinois
Osan Air Base, Pyeongtaek-si, South Korea
An oral history interview of Geraldean Matthew, a third-generation farmworker and advocate for environmental justice and migrant farmworkers’ rights. The interview was conducted by Jared Muha in Apopka, Florida, on October 30, 2014. Some of the topics covered include a summary of Matthew’s life, leaving home at age 13, her relationships with her mother and father, her slave heritage, her grandparents, segregation, traveling to the North, tramp trucks and maggot workers, life in labor camps, the replacement of African-American workers with Hispanic workers and the relationship between the two races, educational programs and retraining of the replaced workers, the effects of unemployment and underemployment on African-American families, working for environmental justice and farmworker’s rights, her contribution to Fed Up: The High Costs of Cheap Food, a book about sexual misconduct by crew leaders, modern farms in Florida and the treatment of Hispanic workers today. Matthew passed away in 2016.
Matthew, Geraldean. Interviewed by Jared Muha, October 30, 2014. Audio record available. RICHES, Orlando, Florida.
Oral History of Gordon Pierce and Trina Cothrin
An oral history interview of Gordon Pierce (b. 1930) and Trina Cothrin, who both served in the U.S. Navy. Pierce was born in Buffalo, New York, on September 16, 1930. He enlisted in the Navy in 1948 and served until September of 1977, during the Cold War era and the Vietnam War. During his service, Pierce was station on the USS Wasp, the USS Coral Sea, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the USS John F. Kennedy. He achieved the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer and earned a Navy Commendation Medal and a Navy Achievement Medal. Pierce's daughter, Trina Cothrin (b. 1958), was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on October 13, 1958. Cothrin enlisted in the Navy in October of 1979 and served until October of 1982, when her son was born. She was then in the U.S. Naval Reserve until 1993, when she joined the U.S. Army. She left the military in 2009, after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom during the War in Afghanistan. Throughout her service, Cothrin was stationed at Naval Air Station Miramar (NAS Miramar) in California, Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville), U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) in Qatar, and MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) in Tampa. She ultimately achieved the rank of Chief Yeoman. This oral history interview was conducted by Roger Jordan Sims on March 12, 2014. Interview topics include enlistment, boot camp, Naval Training Center Orlando (NTC Orlando), the Vietnam War, Operation Enduring Freedom and the War in Afghanistan, life after leaving the Navy, how Central Florida has changed over time, the legacy of NTC Orlando, and the Lone Sailor Memorial Project.
Pierce, Gordon. Interviewed by Roger Jordan Sims, March 12, 2014. UCF Community Veterans History Project, DP0014915. Audio/video record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
Cothrin, Trina. Interviewed by Roger Jordan Sims. UCF Community Veterans History Project, DP0014914. March 12, 2014. Audio/video record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
Naval Station Great Lakes, Great Lakes, Illinois
Naval Air Station Sanford, Sanford, Florida
Naval Air Station Key West, Key West, Florida
Naval Air Station Miramar, Miramar, San Diego, California
An oral history of Grace Marie Stinecipher (b. 1936), conducted by Diana Dombrowski on July 13, 2010. Stinecipher was born in Sanford, Florida on September 19, 1936. In this interview, she discusses her family history, growing up in Sanford, her career in education, living in Orlando and Winter Park, school integration, the effects of the Naval Air Station (NAS) Sanford and Walt Disney World Resort on Sanford, the First Baptist Church of Sanford, her role as a church historian, organizing new churches and missions, her career in journalism, and her childhood experiences at New Smyrna Beach.
Stinecipher, Grace Marie. Interviewed by Diana Dombrowski. July 13, 2010. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Chance Education Building, Sanford, Florida; Orlando, Florida
Central Baptist Church, Sanford, Florida
Pinecrest Baptist Church, Sanford, Florida
Westview Baptist Church, Sanford, Florida
An oral history of Gwendalyn Greene. The interview was conducted by Barbara Coleman-Foster at the Dr. Velma H. Williams Westside Community Center in July 2025.
Greene, Gwendalyn. Interviewed by Barbara Coleman-Foster, July 2025. Audio record available. RICHES. Orlando, Florida.
An oral history of Harold Haldeman, conducted by Daniel Motta on July 11, 2012. Haldeman was born on November 12, 1924, in Tampa, Florida, but spent much of his life in Osceola. In the interview, Haldeman discusses his childhood, migration to Osceola, the differences between Maitland and Osceola, the sawmill in Osceola, the lumber industry, race relations in Central Florida, the effect of the Great Depression and World War II on industry, the Geneva airfield, and education in Geneva during the Depression.
Original oral history: Haldeman, Harold. Interviewed by Daniel Motta. July 11, 2012. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
Seminole County Landfill, Geneva, Florida
Oral history interview of Helen Michels, who was born in Palm Bay, Florida, on May 4, 1936. Michels, her parents, and her thirteen siblings migrated to Sanford in 1942. She attended Sanford Grammar School, located at 301 West Seventh Street, and Seminole High School, at 1700 French Avenue. When Michels entered college, she originally began as a lab technician, but changed her major to education. Following college, she taught as a schoolteacher in Hollywood, Melbourne, and Puerto Rico. After witnessing social justice issues while teaching in Puerto Rico, Michels decided to enter into drug therapy work for about 10 years. She then became the director of a halfway house for federal prisons. Upon retirement, she moved back to Sanford. This interview was conducted by Patrick Rotton at the UCF Public History Center in Sanford, Florida, on October 23, 2012.
Michels, Helen. Interviewed by Patrick Rotton. UCF Public History Center. October 23, 2012. Audio/video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.
Federal Halfway House, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Oral history of Henry A. Martin's military service during the Vietnam War (1961-1975). Martin was born on July 8, 1941 in Sayre, Pennsylvania. In 1960, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as an Ordinary Engineer. Throughout his military career, Martin served in Italy, Germany, Vietnam, and Korea and achieved the rank of Sergeant First Class. He received the Good Conduct Medal and the Instructor of the Month award. Martin completed his service on July 1, 1981. This oral history interview was conducted by Carmen Carroquino on November 18, 2010 The Vietnam War was a Cold War Era "military conflict". The war was originally waged between Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. The United States became involved as a preventive measure to combat communism. The official date of the military conflict is November 1, 1955 and ending in April 1975. The date of the war has been disputed, but a study in 1998 by the Department of Defense definitively put the start of the Vietnam War as November 1, 1955. The first combat military troops 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade didn't arrive until 1965. With the arrival of the combat troops came the first traditional battles of combat fighting in the war. During the Vietnam War, not only did American military go into battle with and for South Vietnam, the military also trained members of South Vietnam to fight alongside during the war. Peace talks were attempted, with France moderating, beginning on May 10, 1968. These talks were unsuccessful and lasted over three years. The longest battle of the Vietnam War began on January 21, 1968 and didn't end until the U.S. reclaimed Route 9 on April 8, 1968, seventy-seven days later. While the military conflict ended in 1975, it was a long process towards reunification and redevelopment as a country. The conflict left Vietnam in both political and economical ruins. While the U.S. military was fighting overseas, Many American citizens protested the war at home. Demonstrations took place across the country with the most famous one being at Kent State University in Ohio. While this is the most well known demonstration it was not the first. Americans questioned the U.S. involvement in the war throughout.
Martin, Henry A.. Interviewed by Carmen Carroquino. UCF Community Veterans History Project, DP0010472 November 18, 2010. Audio record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea
An oral history of Henry Carl Okraski, former Deputy Director of the Naval Air Warfare Training Systems (NAWCTSD) in Orlando, Florida. The interview was conducted by Kendra Hazen at Research Park in Orlando, Florida. This oral history was produced as part of the Community Veterans History Project (CVHP) and the Lone Sailor Memorial Committee for the purpose conducting background research for a memorial honoring the former Naval Training Center Orlando (NTC Orlando). Okraski was involved with the defense simulation industry from 1962 to 1994, which included stints as the director of Research and Engineering and the Deputy Technical Director for NAWCTSD. He obtained a Master's Degree in Engineering from the University of Florida.
Okraski, Henry "Hank" Carl. Interviewed by Kendra Hazen. UCF Community Veterans History Project. March 7, 2014. Audio/video record available. UCF Community Veterans History Project, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.
Lake Nona Medical City, Lake Nona, Orlando, Florida
Episode in the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's 20th Anniversary video series, chronicling the orchestra's history in Central Florida. This episode features an interview with Hugh James and Caroline James, patrons of the orchestra. Topics in the video include how the James got involved with the orchestra, working with the people and musicians of the OPO, the Philharmonic's relationship with patrons, the orchestra's role in the community, and ticket sales and subscribers. Hugh and Caroline are members of the Friends of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, an organization dedicated to supporting the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. The Orlando Philharmonic Guild first met in February of 1996 and changed its name to the Friends of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra in July of that same year. They held their first invitational fundraiser, "The Holiday Pops Dinner Gala," at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in December of 1996. The Friends celebrated its 15th anniversary in October of 2011, and continues to host fundraising events focused on garnering financial and community support of the OPO. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, located at 812 East Rollins Street Suite 300 in Orlando, was inspired by the closing of the Florida Symphony in 1993. The orchestra performs in more than 125 concerts each season. In June of 2013, the Philharmonic made plans to purchase the Plaza Live, located at 425 North Bumby Avenue in downtown Orlando, for office space, a rehearsal hall, a music library, and a music hall.
Original 1-minute and 51-second video by Joe Gennaro, Timothy G. Brown, and Lisa Mills: "The Orlando Phil's 20th Anniversary | Hugh & Caroline James." Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, October 24, 2012: Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Orlando, Florida.
An oral history of Ida Boston, conducted by Porsha Dossie on April 18, 2015. Boston is a resident of Oviedo, Florida, and a retired school bus driver for the Seminole County Public Schools. In 1956, she married her husband, Russell Boston, who is the grandson of Prince Butler Boston, a leading figure in Oviedo's black community. In this oral history, Boston discusses the legacy of Prince Butler Boston, establishing a colored cemetery, funding colored schools in the Oviedo area, and the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. Boston also discusses black life in Oviedo, including membership in the Oviedo Citizens in Action Committee (OCIAC), which desegregated public places in Oviedo and fought for integration of Oviedo's schools.
Boston, Ida. Interviewed by Porsha Dossie, April 18, 2015. Audio/video record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Oviedo, Florida
Home of the Boston Family, Oviedo, Florida
Home of Prince Butler Boston, Oviedo, Florida
Oral History of Ima Jean Bostick Yarborough
An oral history interview of Ima Jean Bostick Yarborough, conducted by Joseph Morris on November 10, 2011. Yarborough was born on August 2, 1935 in Ocala, Florida, but spent much of her adult life working in the cattle industry in Geneva. In the interview, she discusses her childhood in Ocala, how Ocala has changed over time, living in Oxford, the cattle industry, life in Geneva, the 4-H program, and her husband's military service.
Original 1-hour and 56-second oral history: Yarborough, Ima Jean Bostick. Interviewed by Joseph Morris. November 10, 2011. Audio record available. Museum of Seminole County History, Sanford, Florida.
In this interview, Ingrid Bryant, a long-time resident of Oviedo, Florida, recalls her experiences growing up and living in this community. Bryant discusses her birth in Munich, Germany, in 1944, during the height of World War II, and her subsequent immigration to the United States. Bryant reminisces about the difficulties that faced her in Orlando, specifically her language barrier. She then goes on to talk about her success at Oviedo High School, her eventual mastery of English, and her decision to become an American citizen. Bryant talks at length about her family and her love for Oviedo. She also highlights her efforts to obtain a Catholic Church for the Oviedo area and her membership in the Oviedo Historical Society (OHS). She also voices her strong feelings about the new plan for Oviedo’s downtown and her desire for the creation of a museum to showcase Oviedo’s rich history.
Bryant, Ingrid. Interviewed by Erin Montgomery, March 21, 2015. Audio/video record available. Oviedo History Harvest, Oviedo Historical Society, Oviedo, Florida.
Most Precious Blood Catholic Church, Oviedo, Florida
Oral history of Jackie Caolo, a resident of Groveland, Florida. Caolo was born in Texas but raised in Florida. As an adult, she traveled with her husband for 20 years while he was in the United States Navy. In 1956, the Caolo's husband was transferred to the Naval Technical Training Command in Sanford. The Caolos stayed in Sanford for a year and then were transferred to Texas. After Caolo's husband retired, the couple settled back in Sanford. Caolo spent much of her time working as a swim instructor. This interview was conducted by Frank "Chip" Ford at Caolo's home on October 20, 2012.
Caolo, Jackie. Interviewed by Frank "Chip" Ford. UCF Public History Center, TOSH0002. October 20, 2012. Audio/video record available. UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.