This week of my internship focused on the female trailblazers within Orlando's history. New strides were made with my Reflections article, and new opportunities were introduced to learn more about Orlando's female leaders.
At the start of the week I was able to continue the editing process for my article on Mary I. Johnson and Glenda Hood. While completing this task I was notified that there was another opportunity to write a similar piece. I was offered the chance to write an article for the Your Community Paper website. I was tasked with choosing another notable female leader and writing a small excerpt about her influence. I was excited to get another opportunity to practice my writing skills in this capacity. Furthermore, this opportunity will grant me more research experience to utilize in the future. Thus, I began my search for who my next focus would be. I was given the suggestion of Mercerdese Richardson Clark, the first Black woman to become director of the Orange County Health Department. I began looking into her life history in order to gain a better sense of who she was. I found one speech through the OCRHC website that she had made to other healthcare professionals. In it, she described her experiences as a black nurse and how during her time hospitals were segregated. In reading more about her I saw an overarching theme, that of the evolution of healthcare. Clark's position allowed her to not only see more inclusivity in healthcare, but also advocate directly for it. Her story could speak well to the issues that still reside in the healthcare system today. Yet, even though I was interested in Clark's history and her achievements I still decided to look into other candidates to spotlight for this piece.
Subsequently, this led me to learning more about Mable Butler. Mable Butler was the first Black woman to be elected to the Orlando City Council, and she was the first Black person to serve in the Orange County Commission. She was elected in 1984 which highlights the recency of such history, and how many more strides need to be made when it comes to diversifying areas of local leadership. These facts stood out to me and made me explore more about her personal history. Through various newspaper articles I learned that she was known for her tough-love, no nonsense approach. There were some of her peers that did not favor her stronger style, but even they could admit that she was efficient in helping the community. Some of her important initiatives included fighting against discrimination in housing and other areas of society. She also participated in promoting the Meals on Wheels program. I felt myself becoming drawn to her the more I read about her story. I was also able to find an oral history that she did with the Orange County Public Library. This gave me much insight into her upbringing and why she was dedicated to helping others. I also learned that she is still alive today at 95 years old and an example of walking history with her rich life experiences. After reading more, I decided to conclude my search and finally choose her as the topic for the Community article. I look forward to working on this piece and gaining more publishing experience.
Lastly, towards the end of the week I discovered that I have a total of 13.5 hours remaining to fulfill the requirements of my internship. This information has caused me to reflect on the best way to spread out my remaining time. I have thought about spending more of it on-site to complete the articles I am working on, but still allot some time to wrap up small projects at the off-site location. More importantly, this news put into perspective how quickly time has passed. It did not feel like it was already time for my position to come to a close. However, rather than dwell on this I will continue to work diligently and enjoy my final moments with the OCRHC. It has been a memorable and truly rewarding time that I will always remember.
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