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.