Week 14

It was a slower week than usual, filled with planning for future events. My meeting with Dr. Lyons led to sending out email to Susan Waldrip, former PTA president.

She (Mrs. Waldrip) has a fascinating history which included meeting President Bill Clinton earlier mentioned in my blogs on Sentinel articles of times past. She sent via email a host of responses to some questions I had asked on the subject of Hillcrest as a way to inform how I will formulate my script. Her response began with telling me her children went to the elementary school, which largely fell during the period of the 1990's. One of her daughters was in the initial magnet program, which corresponded to the years Mrs. Waldrip was heavily involved in the school's going ons. She was even awarded the prestigious OCPS Volunteer of the year for her five years of service! She also organized the 75  year anniversary of Hillcrest, which saw a variety of special guests present at the gala. The Sentinel even had a title article on the event with on-site coverage from news outlet. The Clinton visit also received similar coverage. Mrs. Waldrip was also instrumental in the creation of aforementioned magnet school program by visiting schools who had created one in Miami and instituting certain regulations. The foreign magnet included languages like French, Spanish, and Vietnamese, which is indicative of the multiculturalism present at Hillcrest Elementary. Her time at Hillcrest seemed extremely fruitful, with many other programs being recounted by Mrs. Waldrip such as her gift store for the holiday season and initiative to have families socialize with her dollar dinner concept. She goes on the explain Disney's impact, with one field trip in particularly allowing the foreign language. The direct quote from Mrs. Waldrip goes as follows, "The most memorable event of all was a school field trip to Epcot as part of the initial Black History Month celebrations held there. That day, the students, chaperones and I had the amazing opportunity of meeting Rosa Parks, an icon of the civil rights movement.".

Mrs. Waldrip has been an integral part in Hillcrest going, I cannot wait to interview her in the coming weeks and she seems to have even more stories to tell.

Week 13: Meet with Mr. Cravero

This week began on Monday with a meeting with Geoff Cravero in his office. The meeting saw him teach me the basics of metadata and adding to RICHES, explaining one by one on how to fill out the main body of information. Some data needed includes a description of what you are loading onto RICHES, specifically on the case I was working on I described the International Day of Peace held at Hillcrest Elementary in 1986. The one that received the most attention was the Historical Background section, where I spoke at lengths about how the event was spearheaded by teacher Anne Sullivan and how the newly appointed Principal John D. Martin spoke at the event. Also, the images I will upload display the event with the principal speaking and peace balloons being released. Considering the event had press coverage, it seems to be a suitable candidate as my first upload to RICHES. Other necessary sections include the "What location does the item describe", in this case Hillcrest, and write a transcript of what was on the images, which was a straightforward transcription of what words are on the original clippings and images. Geoff would go on to add a in-depth guide to metadata on my flash drive and a template to ease my production of it.

A few days later, I was able to use newspapers.com to find some Orlando Sentinel articles from before the 1980's. Previously, I had only been to travel as far back as 1986 to find digital articles on Hillcrest. All articles before that date would have to be found using the far slower microfilm process. Newspapers.com allowed me to quickly find any article published in the Sentinel, as the newspaper outdates the school itself. The first I found was in 1925, the year after it opened, offhandedly mentioning the grammer school. By the late 20s, it begins speaking of a teachers meetings and other small projects at Hillcrest. 1950s articles speak of typical life on the campus, with basketball games, plays, and other school life well recorded. The 1960s, a decade already well-covered in past blogs, has most of its articles concentrated in '63/'64 due to the Hillcrest Fire, but the rest of the decade has entries on the rebuilding effort and bringing the community together.

Next week entails another meeting with Dr. Lyons on Tuesday, which see her help me make the final preparations on my meta data. Also, there is a possibility of meeting one of the people on Friday who hope to share with the Hillcrest History project, which in itself is very exciting.

Week 12: Preparing for the Final Stretch

In relation to the internship, this week began on Tuesday when I met with the always helpful Dr. Lyons. She began planning a trajectory for where the internship should be going in the next few weeks, which is an excellent guide after coming out of an inactive spring break on my part. One aspect is planning the Oral History with a lawyer who went to Hillcrest in the transition period of Hillcrest (and probably when the first building was in use). This will be an illuminating experience if I able to conduct the interview, as so far I only have written documents like newspaper articles and reference books speaking of Hillcrest I (my colloquial name for the first building constructed in the 1920's and burned down in the the 1960's). Also, the Tuesday meeting saw me establish a meeting with Mr. Cravero, who is assisting in me in finally uploading my abundance of files related to Hillcrest onto RICHES. I plan to see him next Monday, April 3^rd, to become experienced in the process. This is exciting as it my first major contribution to RICHES, and hopefully I will be up to upload with ease in the future. 

Today (the 31st of March) going through “the History of Public Education in Orange County, Florida”, I learned one possible catalyst of the of Hillcrest was Orlando Elementary doing double sessions in the 1910’s. Also, a recurring character in the tale of early Hillcrest is A.B. Johnson, the superintendent who approved the building of Hillcrest. In the “the History of Public Education in Orange County, Florida”, A.B. Johnson takes over for J.F. McKinnon in Tallahassee in the 1910’s, and it is who W.S. Cawthon sends a letter explaining in his report the breaking of ground on a “site at Concord and Hillcrest”. The book reveals that the 1920’s was a short boom period in Orange County, ending in 1927. That period was also the increase in spending by spending money on new sites for potential schools to alleviate overcrowding. Some of those include Concord Park and Marks Street Elementary (both defunct) as shown in Table 3.2 but the chart fails to show Hillcrest’s construction or its budget. The last table of chapter does, in fact, give me a definitive year by saying it was added to the Orange County system in 1923. Table 3.6 does give me several teachers at Hillcrest, with 11 teachers being the constant number in the 1930’s. Lastly, the work does speak of the fire reiterated what the Sentinel said about it almost verbatim.

The book itself is a treasure trove of knowledge, but its lack of an index led me to have to read the whole. Another resource provided by Dr. Lyons, “the History of Public Education in Orange County, Florida” was fascinating in seeing the evolution and development of Orange County and how it relates to Hillcrest.  

Week 9

This week began with multiple viewings of myself and trying to track some of my idiosyncratic behaviors while on camera. My viewings this week confirmed I had been going too fast through the questions and plan going forward to write my script earlier and possibly attempt a mock interview to become more acclimated in the delivery of the question prompts.

This week also saw me put the finishing touches on my files containing the 100+ images, organizing them so they correspond to the real life albums such the "PTA History 1986-1989". Also, it includes two photos of what I call Hillcrest I, also known as the first building which existed between 1924 until the fire of December 1963. Dr. Lyons put me in contact with Mr. Cravero, who will help me take the next step by showing me the process of digitizing the many photos collected at Hillcrest. The process will be done through RICHES, a system I have only perused through via its map function but have not interacted or uploaded any documents on the website.

Additionally, Dr. Lyons tasked me over the weekend to draft a Facebook post for specific Hillcrest page. The message itself will give a few updates on the Hillcrest history project and send the message that we are collecting objects (not permanently of course). The idea that items will be public also seems to be an idea I should convey in the post, so the audience for Hillcrest history knows of the items' accessibility. Later, I made photocopies of the permissions of Mrs. Spicer and Mrs. Rose to display the collected items on RICHES. Also, Dr Lyons mentioned the idea of mentioning how Oral Histories will be conducted little by little and including this in the prospective post. She said that if not all willing interviewees can have their stories recorded this semester with my possible successor continuing the project in fall.

The last internship related activity that took place this week was a final go through the month of January on the Sentinel to mine for Hillcrest relate stories. Sadly, this endeavor was fruitless in finding any more stories but  I was able to photocopy (and turn into a PDF) the Biennial Report 1922-1924 mentioned many months ago. This work was key in pinpointing the construction of Hillcrest I and some of the original layout, something no other previous document has been able to provide for me.

Week 8: 1st Oral History

Another week of firsts, Dr. Lyons was able to organize my first oral interview for the Hillcrest History Project. I was slated to interview Mrs. Rose, a teacher at Hillcrest Elementary spanning the 80's, 90's (with a hiatus) and the 2000's, on March 2nd, 2017.

This required me to utilize the notes and instruction received in Dr. Gannon's Oral History Workshop. Following the Baylor Oral History for Beginner given at the workshop, I began writing a prospective script on Tuesday and Wednesday during this week, implementing tips such as using "open-ended questions" and the interviewer etiquette to guarantee a structurally sound oral history (I did make some blunders, which will be addressed later). Some questions were specifically due to knowledge I had gained during the internship. I referenced Fern Creek Elementary, where many kids were taught when the school was being rebuilt in the 1960's and where the kids will be taught once again in 2017 while Hillcrest is being rebuilt. As I learn more about the school in the last 100 years, I hope I will be able to gear my questions with that knowledge in mind

With Dr. Lyons, Thursday saw another excursion to Hillcrest for the interview, which was hosted in the media center of the reading room of the school. At approximately 2:30, I met Mrs. Rose and conducted the oral history. Through the interview, I learned she was a UCF grad and she had taught a wide range of grades from Kindergarten to Third Grade (which is a great variation ages and how one decides how to conduct a classroom to accommodate for the given audience). Mrs. Rose also gave me an abridged history of when the school was a bilingual school (i.e. pre-magnet designation) and how that shaped her teaching. These and many more of the anecdotes were wonderful and I gave her a big thanks because I know a teacher's time is limited.

Looking at the oral history self-critically, I made some mistakes talking a bit too much while reassuring the interviewee, who should be the center of attention due to it being their story. Also, it ran short due to me not giving Mrs. Rose time to elaborate on her ideas, which make it come across  as rushed when that was not the environment I wanted to cultivate. Hopefully as I become more experienced with the camerawork and gain the poise needed to be the interviewer, I will conduct the oral histories with fewer bumps in the road. It being my first oral history , I will simply move forward and try to avoid my previous missteps.

Week 7: 1st Hillcrest Visit

Wow,  week 7. This internship is going by too quickly. While at times difficult to balance school, being a club president, and the internship, this week has shown me people not only support the current Hillcrest project but are willing to help in a variety of ways.

To elaborate, Professor Lyons and I traveled to the site on Thursday (February 24th) to meet Mrs. Spicer, the librarian, and for me to take pictures of some of the albums of photos available. When first arriving, I was introduced to Principal Ortega, who expressed gratitude and lauded me (under the rightful guidance of Dr. Lyons) for the work I had done. She also gave us some strategies moving forward and allowed me to take a photo of an image depicting the first Hillcrest building that was in black and white.

 After that 15 minute meeting, we went upstairs where I briefly met the aforementioned librarian Mrs. Spicer, and used the camera I borrowed from the History department to take photographs of a multitude of collections at hand. The first was a yearbook from 1984-1985 depicting all the classes at the time. One interesting point the madam I will be interviewing next week in my first oral history was also in that yearbook as a student at Hillcrest. Other collections photographed include two PTA scrapbooks of clipped new articles and an abundance of picture on school wide events such as Field Days and Christmas Pageants. It also keys in on a few specific stories such as an extensive collection on the International Day of Peace in the late 80's, a story on a male kindergarten teacher who won Teacher of the Year in the county, and how a extensive farewell party was held for twenty year crossing guard who retired. That last story really captivated me as a reminder of what a tight knit community an elementary school can be After about two hours, I made it through four albums, with many more still gone unread warranting a second visit in the near future.

The following day, which happens to be the same day I am writing this, saw an effort to name and organize the 120 extra jpeg now found on my laptop's hard drive. While slightly mindless, I don't want to underestimate the importance of being organized (a skill I had to learn the hard way during this internship). Just today, I had to re scan a few documents because of carelessness on my end. Either way, this internship is constantly teaching me the steps I have to take to reach professionalism.

Week 6

This week saw the plans to go to Dr. Gannon's lecture on Oral history come to fruition. The lecture, given on the 16th of February, was titled "How to Conduct an Oral History". While initially being worried it would predominantly focus on the veterans aspect of Oral history due to Gannon's work in that field, it was a great overview of the process of giving an interview. In attendance was a diverse group of people, including my former Spanish teacher Profesora Nalbone, who is planning to interview Pulse victims.

The lecture itself reinforced why Oral History is so important, giving a voice to those who, in Gannon's words, "didn't matter fifty years ago". The lecture also put an emphasis on the pre-interview, saying the preparation determines the quality of the following interview. Another key was how one acted during the interview, stressing not to interrupt the interviewee and also to allow them to weave the narrative. Another tactic to avoid is answering question simply ending yes or no responses, or questions with a clear bias (e.g. if talking to someone from Sanford "Wasn't living in a small town awful"). Also, the concept of active listening was touched upon, as an interviewer is tasked with coming up with follow-up questions on the fly if need be

Today, Friday the 17th, saw another trip to the library finding and citing additional Sentinel sources. The Clinton visit in early September of 1998 was a momentous occasion in Hillcrest history, seeing the recently scandalized president visit to push his domestic education reform. Clinton spoke about reducing class sizes and making schools safer. And he will call on Congress to build or renovate 5,000 schools beset by crowding and dilapidated conditions. The $5 billion federal tax-credit program would allow $22 billion in bonds to go toward school construction.

An article recounting the possibility of a Hillcrest merger says the following: School leaders estimate the move would save at least $7.5 million in operating costs and about $90 million in capital dollars. More money could be saved, they estimated, if the district decided later to sell the properties where the shuttered campuses remain. "We have no choice," said School Board member Christine Moore at Tuesday's meeting before the vote.The schools are Hillcrest, Kaley, Grand Avenue, Richmond Heights, Maxey and Pine Castle. Hillcrest's foreign-language program would be folded into Howard Middle, which would be converted into a K-8 school. This can be paired with the “Save Howard from Hillcrest Merger” but from a Hillcrest perspective.

Week 5

January 3rd Begins by recounting how the principal at the time (Chando O’Dell announced the new Hillcrest plans on January 2nd of that same year). It says six classes will take place Goss Memorial Methodist Church and only one class being held at Fern Creek Elementary. Also, it assures parents that the students will stay with their teachers from the semester before.  It gives assorted teachers names like how one was named Mrs. Stella Scarborough and Mabel Randolph was a second-grade teacher. The teachers themselves would be a fascinating first person account of the rebuilding processing. That period, while likely tumultuous and hard to recount all the events, is a time with a treasure trove of information (if the many Orlando Sentinel account is indicative of anything. While Also, it reveals a busing situation based on certain streets, and reveals the kids would have hot lunch provided for 30 cents.

Jan 8th article recounts how the Hillcrest PTA was asked to make a ‘vote of confidence’ during a meeting at Goss Memorial Methodist. Some people of note speaking to the PTA was city commissioner Doug Barnes and head of the Colonial Town Businessmen’s Association. Parent Don Barbour aspired to spearhead a campaign to rebuild Hillcrest, saying “If the need for a school was there December 22nd, the need is still there (today)”. He also would go on to say “The area is too big without a school” and stating it was 4 sq. miles of Orlando land. Also, a demographic check exists saying now that 388 students go to Hillcrest. Demographics have been fluctuating per accounts given, which seems to demonstrate variance in people’s account. This happened when the author of an earlier article claimed Hillcrest was built in 1925, when hard evidence exists from the “Biennial Report” that in fact it was completed in February 1924. It gives me perspective to be careful what sources I take as fact, as a reporter is likely to make a mistake when compared to superintendent (who wrote the Orange County portion of the Biennial Report).

I hope to begin the process of preparing to conducting oral history interviews, a key component of the Hillcrest project. As mentioned last week, I will be taking workshop with Professor Gannon to hopefully give me the tools but of course Professor Lyons will guide me as usual. 

Week 4

Week 4 began late for me, starting on a Thursday due to other responsibilities related to school. I met with Dr. Lyons that morning, which was an extremely informative meeting which revealed for one, Orange County had a history of the local schools. Another key fact is the existence of a oral history workshop being run by none other than Dr. Gannon, a professor I have had on multiple occasions. The hope is it will prep me for conducting the interviews related to the Hillcrest internship.

Later on, Dr. Lyons and I traveled to the library, where she taught me how to use the microfilm (specifically on this occasion for the Orlando Sentinel). The microfilm viewer was all new to me, meaning some trial and error was bound to occur.

 I began by searching through the Sentinel's Dec 1963 record, which split the month into two equal halves. The December 1st to the 15th contained mostly headlines related to JFK assassination as the mainstay of Sentinel headlines, and had no information related to Hillcrest. While going through the second half, December 16th to the 31st, I found a host of information related to Hillcrest. First, I pinpointed the exact date of the Hillcrest Fire to December 22nd, 1963 over the winter break. The headline "Hillcrest Ravaged by Fire" is the first I came across related to the inferno. The article recounts how 16 quare blocks of Orlando was shutdown, and said Fire Chief Pennington would investigate. It also gave a look into the demographics of Hillcrest, saying 360 kids went to the school and 12 teachers taught. The follow day, December 24th, has the headline "Engineer will check Hillcrest". It reveals the than the fire was intentionally started, with the Fire Chief reporting nine distinct locations such as the Principal's office and Hillcrest's Cafeteria. The December 27th headline "Hillcrest's fate Pondered" sees engineer John Tilden give an price estimate to rebuild the school, and that Orange County Superintendent Kipp thought of forgoing rebuilding Hillcrest and simply incorporating the children to neighboring schools. The final story on Hillcrest, made on the final day of December, relates to how the school carried on by using churches and extra classrooms at Fern Creek Elementary to continue Hillcrest's operation.

Some findings I found interesting was the "Hillcrest Ravaged by Fire" articles posits that Hillcrest was built between 1925 and 1927, while the Orange County Superintendent's report to Tallahasee directly contradicts that by saying a school was built in February of 1924. Another fact revealed by my studies was the existence of a "Negro" version of the Sentinel, which may be useful when research desegregation.  

Week 3

This week began with a meeting with my adviser, Dr. Lyons, on Monday to frame the week ahead. I told the Professor of the hardships I encountered in crossing Orlando, and what I found at the West Oak Library. Doctor Lyons suggested during our meeting to email the UCF librarians Mr. Richard Gause and Mr. Richard Harrison, both who promptly responded to my message.

Mr. Harrison, who emailed first chronologically, point me to the The Sentinel card file index (1970-1985) within the UCF Library. He also suggested to contact the Orange County Regional Historical Center. Mr. Gause, who emailed me early on Thursday morning, said to meet him at noon of the same day.

That meeting introduced me to Eve Bacon's "Orlando: A Centennial History", which had few pieces of information related to Hillcrest such as its founding and a more in-depth description of the fire. This in part helped me begin a loose timeline of Hillcrest, which current has six points including its application to become a magnate school in the late 1990's and more recently a proposed merger with Howard Middle School to become a k-8 school in the late 2000's. Mr. Gause also introduced a new way of looking at the subject matter, pointing me to the Sanborn Fire insurance Maps as a method to see what historically was around the grammar school in its infancy. Also, Mr. Gause suggested using Census Tracts to track demographics in the area. The area near Hillcrest, tract 2, was revealed to be almost exclusively white in the 1960's. Prior knowledge dictates that it will change in the following Census (1970, 1980 and so forth, but it will fascinating to be able to track the pattern.

Also, I was given access to the "Biennial Report between 1922-1924". Interestingly, it contained a report by Superintendent A.S. Johnson of Orange County to Tallahassee recounting the opening of a school on "Hillcrest and Concord St.", with the amount of classrooms and the building of the auditorium, among various other developments in the 1920's Orange County schools. The school itself had a capacity for five hundred people initially, even though the population hovered between 100 students in actuality (speculation due to there only being approximately 200 elementary students in the area according to the "Biennial Report"

Next week entails a trip to Hillcrest on February 3rd, coupled with likely more research going through more census data. The Sanborn Insurance maps have a variation of the commercial and residential areas near Hillcrest. I hope when I do person to person interviews with alumni, some of the locations referenced in the fire insurance maps will line up with the former students accounts.

Week 2 of the Internship

As mentioned in the first blog post, this week entailed a trip to the West Oak Library and Genealogy Center in Ocoee. The journey itself was lengthy, needing to navigate the public bus system of Orlando for the first time. I, like many first timers on public transit, became lost and had to take an Uber to reach my final destination. My driver, Elizabeth, was a Hillcrest Alumni who attended in the early 1960's, a changing time in the narrative of the elementary school. She recounted the a turbulent month of November 1963 where not only the school shut down due to mourning for JFK and then the school itself burning.. Elizabeth also gave an abridged history of the neighborhood, and how the prominent Vietnamese community bought up much of the real estate in the area. I only had about 10 minutes, but luckily recorded her email for possibly more information and hopefully more fascinating anecdotes.

When at West Oak, I was lucky enough to meet Allison L. Ryall. She is the Genealogy Specialist at the library. She gave me plenty of resources to look into Hillcrest, like the Family History Centers associated with the Mormons and Newspaper.com for some of the older Orlando Sentinels. Another reason for the voyage to West Oak was to collect finding aids, or document important as they have information on specific collections. Mrs. Ryall gave me access to the index first showed to me via email to me by Professor French. I went through the Orlando Sentinel and Orlando Sun 1966-1970 Volume II: Orange County and Orlando.

I was able to explore the annals of the genealogy center, spending approximately three to four hours perusing the Orange County section, including the 1966-1970 Orlando Sentinel and Orlando Sun headers but coming with little. Hopefully, future research is more fruitful in my findings.

Week 1 of the internship

Hello all, I want to introduce myself, Peter Torres. I am third year History major and I strive to explore local history through this internship.

Week 1 of the internship has been eventful, with some preliminary research on Hillcrest Elementary, the site that will be the main focus of the research. Hillcrest has a rich history as it is one of the oldest schools in Central Florida. I hope it can act as a significant microcosm of America in its many phases during the 20th Century, such as during World War II or in the integration period in the South. In the sphere of education, Hillcrest has unique characteristics such as once having an active Vietnamese program to cater the burgeoning ethnic minority present in Orlando. I strive to conduct interviews for more information on personal experiences at the school, which are likely to have been unknown in the past. The school is being rebuilt in the summer, giving the project a sense of urgency in my work. I registered myself for the Orange County Public Schools to volunteer on-site, and was able to meet with my advisers on Wednesday.

Next week entails a trip to Ocoee, specifically the West Oaks library and Genealogy Center for finding aids to assist a later search through the Sun Sentinel of Orlando. Luckily, I have been informed that UCF Library has the paper on microfilm so that will make the trip to research far shorter in the future.