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Purple Flowers

Week 5: Connections and Collections

This week saw the intersection of familiar faces throughout my work. I was able to further understand the legacies of notable local figures in Orlando. Additionally, I delved more into the world of collections by organizing a unique set of documents. These experiences worked to add more to my understanding of facets of public history.

During my part of the week on site at the Orange County Regional History center I continued to do some familiar tasks. The audio logs I completed this week provided yet again another interesting life history. One that stood out to me was that of a female chemical researcher who shared her experience working with NASA. She detailed her work in many cool innovations such as growing plants in space and in helping to make necessary materials for cleaning rockets. However, she also shared her experience with sexism at certain parts of her career before working at NASA. This helped demonstrate just how far certain industries have come in securing women the safety and respect they deserve in the workplace. Furthermore, I continued research into key figures within local Orlando history. One of these figures was Mary I. Johnson. Ironically, I had started cataloguing her physical belongings at the offsite prior to knowing anything about her or creating the social media post about her. The first items I catalogued were her various pins. At the moment they seemed to be just cute, miscellaneous parts of the vast donations from her family. However, this week I was tasked with doing further research into her career in public service. While doing this research I read that she was very intentional about wearing pins. She was quoted as saying that she loved wearing them as they would spark conversations from people. Furthermore, one of her favorite pins to wear was a butterfly pin as it is the symbol for not only hope but also for her Victim Service Center of Central Florida. She would wear the butterfly pin in hopes of sparking conversation about her great initiative to help victims of crime. These new facts about her helped transform the work I was doing. These seemingly random pins became an important insight into Johnson's various affiliations as well as the causes she wanted everyday people to know about. The pins ranged from simple ones about Orlando to ones highlighting important organizations like workers' unions. Realizing this fact helped me understand Mary Johnson more. She was not just a remote figure but now someone I could resonate with more as I started to understand the depth of her commitment to the people of Orlando. Whether big or small she was eager to talk with those within the community.


Also while at the offsite I refined my new skills in cataloguing these items. It had been 2 weeks since my last visit and there was still a bit of a learning curve. I could remember how to log onto Proficio and get to the appropriate starting point. However, I found myself needing to review the basic steps of inputting the correct information. I began by logging items in slowly. After some time had passed I found myself picking up speed and getting into a comfortable rhythm. Still, there were times where I had to go back and check or modify information as small errors had been made. For example, at one point I put in inches for the slot meant for metric units. Another time I entered the object number wrong for an especially long entry. This entry had a very detailed pin that was hard to describe as the accents around it were meticulous and part of the inscription was in Russian. Thus, when I went to check on the entry later and it initially did not show up, I was upset at the thought of having to re-do it. However, I was able to catch what typo I made for the object number and correct the entry. Despite these hiccups, I felt myself becoming more familiar with this program system.


Additionally, during the week I got to expand upon these skills but in a more hands on manner. At the History Center boxes of goods pertaining to previous mayor and Secretary of State Glenda Hood were present. I was tasked with looking through these boxes and making a brief list on what they contained. This task took some time as the documents within them ranged in subject matter and proved hard for me to organize into a simple list. After some time I came up with general categories like reports, correspondence, advertisements, specific neighborhood files, and more. Some interesting finds within this were handwritten letters to her appealing for help regarding various issues. One man requested help in gaining disability while another talked about a harrowing experience with the police department. Other documents included reports on certain towns and long term plans for increasing the cultural revenue of Orlando. These documents helped me comprehend more about Orlando as well as Glenda Hood herself. I could see how integral she was to several societies and the many people who reached out to her for help. I can't wait to see what else her collection of items hold and what new perspectives on Orlando they can reveal.










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