Remaking Place and Asserting Space: The Land Trust Experience in Winter Park, 1991-2010__Ep 3: The Making of a Theortical Framework

Photos by Kelsey Von Wormer












The Plan for Winter Park








Allison England and I continue our efforts to understand the CLT experience in Winter Park. We can say firmly--there is a complex story related to housing policy and local story. We continue to deepen our understanding of local story. Recently, we took a walking tour around Hannibal Square. As the images can attest, the physical layout of the community tell a story about development on the "other side of the tracks." There are a number of possible avenue we can take to highlight, understand, and explain the Winter Park experience. Incorporating the established literature on race and housing, we can place the local African-American experience within a broader regional perspective. Recently Allison reviewed Andrew Wiese's work and noted the “domestic service employment suburb” that housed “shopkeepers, mechanics, industrial workers, and the servants who made it possible for white residents to "live comfortably in the palatial homes" within whites communities he identified in his research relates easily to the Winter Park experience. In addition, we have considered the work of Gwendolyn Wright and Dolores Hayden to understand the social implications associated with the home. Our analysis has established a strong culture of property ownership for African-Americans and the implications of that culture on perceptions about community continue to shape resident's perceptions, even as broader economic, social, and political changes have worked to marginalize Hannibal Square.

For me, as a historian of urban planning history, I can see how traditional tensions over race and class framed Winter Park's development. As we move forward I think our research will allow us to explore the link between community, policy, and the home. As we currently struggle over the effort to promote middle-class homeownership, the history of this type of policy offers important lessons. Key to this analysis in my opinion is how the assumptions about property and public policy practice at the turn of the century--social control, order, and modernity were refined in significant ways by municipalities throughout the twentieth century. In Florida, the importance of modernity, consumer consumption, and the socialization of space play a crucial part shaping perceptions of the lived experience. Winter Park's story can and will inform our understanding of the American housing experience.

Remaking Place and Asserting Space: The Land Trust Experience in Winter Park, 1991-2010__Ep 2: The Story Grows More Complex

Caption: Allison England working in the archive.
Photo by Julian Chambliss











Caption: Shady Park sit at the center of the Hannibal Square, the historic black community in Winter Park. Photo by Kelsey Von Wormer







Part of the value of working in the Rollins Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Program is the opportunity to pursue those ideas you don't have time to pursue during the regular academic year. Working with students to show them the reality of your discipline, getting into the archive, and making discoveries that reshape your thinking are all part of summer research. Allison England and I recently took a few days to burn through the Olin Library Archive and Special Collection vertical files on the Westside Winter Park. Some elements I knew, some I did not. Allison confessed, "It is a more complicate story than I thought." While you might rightly point out, she is new the material, in her defense, it was a more complicated story than what I thought also!


We have been doing some free writing, summarizing information and mapping out the story. Recently Allison wrote this:

Winter Park’s west side, Hannibal Square, was founded for African-American residents in 1881. By all accounts, West Winter Park was “a bustling, vibrant community that, in some ways, had more going for it than it does today.” It had a black-owned newspaper, The Advocate, catering to both blacks and whites, and two black men were twice elected as city aldermen. A negative image of West Winter Park has led to “a renaissance of sorts” by Winter Park, and a decision to revitalize and redevelop the community. The tracks running through Winter Park have historically stood as a dividing line between black and white, but this line has recently moved, causing some to wonder “if the rapid transformation of the area is a healthy boost or a destruction of culture.”

Everything she wrote is true, but that shift from "vibrant community" at its founding to "renaissance of sorts" is a complicated story. It also happen way before the story we are suppose to be talking about. As we discuss our finding, I was struck by how much the origin story of Winter Park is tied to the idea of two worlds, one black and one white and the homes in those two worlds. While I thought of our story as being about the meaning of the home in the city and the historical implication of the struggle to have a home, I had not thought about that meaning as one long narrative present at the foundation of the community. In the beginning Oliver Chapman and Loring Chase purchased 600 acres bordering Lakes Maitland and Osceola with the goal of creating a beautiful winter residential community for wealthy northerners. Between 1881 and 1885, they developed and advertised the new town of Winter Park located just four miles from the county seat. Chase and Chapman relied on the area’s natural beauty to entice visitors and to support the image of a community as tourist destination. Between 1882 and 1886 Chase oversaw the construction of the Seminole Hotel. Reminiscent of the coastal luxury hotels owned by Henry Flagler, the Seminole was situated on Lake Osceola and offered two hundred guest rooms and amenities that included sailing, rowing, fishing, and two steam yachts for guests. The hotel and the agricultural business developing in Central Florida required labor and African-Americans were crucial for the hotel and the groves in the area. When plotting the original town, Chase and Chapman set aside plats to the west of the rail tracks to be sold to African-Americans at a low price with the restriction that they must erect a home on the lot. Thus, the African-American labor in Winter Park, like much of the South, allowed the community to function. Yet, the sale of land and the demand to build a home, also created a vibrant community of property holding African-Americans. Indeed, the town could not have been incorporated without the support of African-American residents in Hannibal Square. Hannibal Square was the heart of the black community and residents enjoyed relative economic stability and strong community organization at a time when southern Democrats moved to redeem the South after a decade long effort to reconstruct society. The growth of Hannibal Square coincided with the emergence of Eatonville, FL (the oldest incorporate African-American community in the United States) and the two communities shared cultural and educational links. In 1887,Gus C. Henderson, the African-American owner of local general printing and publishing company rallied African-American voters to support Loring Chase’s efforts to incorporate Winter Park. Henderson, a staunch Republican urged, the sixty-four registered African-American voters to support the measure. These votes were crucial; only forty-seven white voters were registered and the total year round African-American population outnumber the total year round white population!

The measure passed and the newly incorporated town included Hannibal Square. Reflecting the importance of the black community, the election of new aldermen included African-Americans Walter B. Simpson and Frank R. Israel representing West Winter Park. Yet, like much of the south, conflict between Democrats and Republicans and wider control of the region changed the political landscape. In 1893, William Comstock and several other residents petition the Florida legislature to detach Hannibal Square from the city. Like most African-Americans, Hannibal Square residents were Republicans and Hannibal Square represented a powerful counter to Democrats' control. The Florida Legislature voted to change the city boundary, despite local opposition. While the strong economic and social links between the black and white community continued, the political link temporary came to an end. In an ironic twist, in 1925 Winter Park once again annexed Hannibal Square when city officials realized they needed a greater population base to qualify for state funding for municipal projects. Once again, African-American property owners were needed in order for the state to designate the "Town of Winter Park" as the "City of Winter Park."

The link between the black homes and white homes in Winter Park was there at the beginning. Also at the beginning is a question of fairness, access, and power. Winter Park's one time slogan of "City of Homes" is full of meaning, as we learn more, that meaning is only become more and more complex.

Remaking Place and Asserting Space: The Land Trust Experience in Winter Park, 1991-2010_ Ep. 1

Photo: Kelsey Von Wormer

This summer I'm back working with the Rollins Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Program. My research collaborator is Allison England. Our project, as the blog title suggests is Remaking Place and Asserting Space: The Land Trust Experience in Winter Park, 1991-2010. The goal of this summer project is to create an integrated multimedia article that analyzes the history and impact of the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust (HSCLT) in terms of its own self identified goals and within the context of the affordable housing debate in the United States. Created by the Winter Park Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) in 2004, the first HSCLT homes were completed with the assistance of the Homebuilders Association, the Orlando Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Orange County Division of Housing and Community Development, SunTrust Bank, and technical assistance from Florida Community Partners to create affordable low incoming housing for Westside Winter Park residents.

The story of the land trust is however, more complex than the simple story of its formation. Housing represent one aspect of the American dream, perhaps the biggest visible aspect of what it means to be American. One long term consequence of the economic downturn is now Americans are questioning the validity of the American dream. Does every American, if they work hard and play right, end up with a home of their own? For some the answer is suppose to be yes and not being able to hold on to their dream home is a blow to their vision of America. This issue is at the core of the ongoing debate about the housing crisis. This is our first week doing research and believe it our not, we spent some time exploring the symbolic nature of the home in the American experience. Going back to colonial era and following the idea all the way to contemporary suburbia. The true is that the physical layout of the American home and the policy governing the American housing market are linked to old ideas about what the American experience is (or what we think it is suppose to be), but those ideas have been open to manipulation by forces as wide-ranging as the writings of Andrew Jackson Downing to the provision of WWII era G.I. Bill. On top of that gender, race, and environmental concerns play a part in the discussion. In discussing things with Allison, I pointed out we don't need to reinvent the wheel. Its a good thing, the wheel is big and its only the two of us to do the whole thing in eight weeks!

On the bright side, I realize I can refer to Andrew Jackson Downing as his era Martha Stewart and someone will instantly understand who he is...I gotta remember that one for class!

The Capstone: The Historiography Situation

Reflecting on the Capstone class, I realize that the graduating seniors are walking into dangerous ground. Last week and this week, they are providing historiographical presentation of several subfields. The results vary, but that in itself is not a problem. Its an interesting exercise and they learn (some of them learn) valuable truths about the evolution of academic thought. The reality of a small history department is that the full complexity of the historical study may be loss to one our students. They probably cannot with real understanding describe what each faculty member specializes in beyond, geographic and chronological grouping. Thus to them ( and the public at large) our department is two American historians, two European historians and one Asian historian. The truth is far more complex, but from the student perspective meaningless. In part, this explains why, the historiographical presentation matters. As a urban historian (yes, I'm an Americanist, but I'm really an urbanist), I reference a very distinct chain of ideas and literature.

New methods and concerns connected to social science developed in the 1960's as a consensus among scholars pushed for scholarship with greater social relevance. Many believed that the social sciences could find solutions to modern social problems. Several unexplored fields of historical study received consideration with the intent that new scholarship would highlight different viewpoints. Urban historians abandoned examinations of elite political and social groups, instead studies began to ponder the actions and motivations of the common man living in the city. As a consequence, the "new" urban history focused on particular social questions concerning women, labor, immigrants, African-Americans and other issues. Methodological demands pushed aside themes of culture and ecology that formerly guided urban studies. Without a unifying concern urban history struggles to provide a unique insight to the city. Urban history's early foundation drew on several different sociological and historical theories. Among these early urban scholars were Max Weber and Robert Park. Weber's The City (1905) asserted that capitalism produced a crude urban environment, but not strictly in the marxist model of structure development. In 1916, Park developed the concept of urban ecology. He believed that studying the city could reveal how the urban environment shaped human culture. These works remain important because they stimulated interest in urban culture. Each essay stresses that the city's culture resulted from the cumulative effects of people living together. These early works inspired other scholars to investigate the city further.

The most prominent members of this new school of urban thinkers were not historians, but their influence shaped historical works. Louis Wirth, a sociologist from the Chicago school developed many key ideals about urban living. Wirth believed that sociology should be built around questions of human behavior. The urban environment is especially important for behavioral studies because the city's social organization leads to behavior changes and consensus driven actions. Lewis Mumford developed the community concept further. Mumford's theories on the city strove to place the urban environment within some kind of context apart from other subjects. He does not dissect the elements of the urban environment, instead he looked at the city as a separate entity apart from the country, but intimacy connected to the land and people.
The formal study of urban history started with Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr.'s 1933 volume, The Rise of the City. This book, a part of the History of American Life series, along with Schlesinger's seminal essay, "The City in American History" set the city apart from historical studies of political or industrial issues. These works established that the city itself was a framework comparable to Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis. Schlesinger's urged historians to produce more urban studies that considered the unique relationships found in the city.

Several scholars answered with studies that focus exclusively on urban developments. Period history from Carl Bridenbaugh and Thomas J. Wertenbaker produced studies of Boston, New York, and Charleston during the colonial period. Urban biography offered close examination of a single city. Some notable examples are Bessie L. Pierce's Chicago (1937), Blake Mckelvey's Rochester (1945), and Bayrd Still's Milwaukee (1948). Edward Kirkland's Men, Cities, and Transportation (1948) and James W. Livingwood's The Philadelphia-Baltimore Trade Rivalry, 1780-1860 (1947) addressed issues of economics and transportation development. Various works also examined themes of immigrant life and housing. Oscar Handlin's Boston's Immigrants, 1790-1865 (1941) ranks as one of the first examinations of immigrant life. Edith Abbott's Tenements of Chicago, 1908-1935 (1936) added greater depth to questions of urban slums and housing reforms.

These histories considered the city as a community of individuals working together to build distinct cultural sphere. At their core, these early urban histories reflected the theoretical assumptions that grew out of urban social analysis. Urban biography celebrated cultural development. Each biography highlighted the organization and consensus that allowed cities to grow and prosper. These works aimed at developing a cultural interpretation of urban living that resisted broad categorization. Every city told a different story, each region reflected a different kind of community.

Stephan Thernstrom's work revealed the limitation of these studies. Thernstrom's Poverty and Progress (1964) and The Other Bostonians (1973) established a new framework in urban history. In Thernstrom's words his work differed because until then, "Virtually the only systematic mobility research in America has dealt with the social origins of members of American business elite." Thernstrom's works revealed a new complexity in American culture. Thernstrom's examination of Newburyport, Massachusetts examined social mobility in the lower classes. He characterized this mobility in terms of increasing achievement through time. Meaning that each subsequent generation had a better economic standing compared to the previous generation. The Other Bostonians furthered his study of mobility to include factors of ethnic groups and races. Both studies used examinations of census tracts, tax records, and other data to track individuals over time.

Thernstrom established several things with Poverty and Progress. First, it marked the merger of the new urban history and the new social history. Second, it was the first book to look at history from the bottom up. Third, this book brought the question of mobility to forefront of social study. Finally, it represented a methodological evolution in the historical field. Whereas general topic oriented around the culture or ecology drove urban history prior to it, after Poverty and Progress urban history strove to answer specific questions and followed assumptions connected to interpreting data on the mass population. In this framework, the United States represented a unique model of cultural assimilation and development. Class was not conceptualized clearly and the inevitable change from traditional to modern society had special ramifications for the community.

The Urban History Group's round table conference in 1966 marked the first serious evaluations of the new urban history. H.J. Dyos's essay "Agenda for Urban History," called for increased clarity, more analysis, cooperation between scholars, and greater unity in the scholarship's new direction. Urban historians debated whether or not the new social science techniques were worthwhile and how they applied directly to the study of history. It seemed obvious to most historians that the merging of more science to history was beneficial, especially in light of Thernstrom's work, but the apparent problem laid in the aims of urban history apart from the methods used. Scholars seemed unsure where the new direction in urban history would end up.
Conzen stresses that prior to quantification, urban history's concerned itself with the city, "The city itself functioned as an intervening variable in some more general historical process such as populism or slavery."

After quantification scholars asked new questions with different goals in mind. The new methods needed specific factors that could be coded and analyzed. Complex questions of culture and ecology were not easy confronted with the new methods historian now utilized. The Yale conference on Nineteenth Century Cities held in 1968 reflected on the intellectual framework that developed within the field. At the conference, Norman Birnbaum's "Afterword" spoke to this point. Birnbaum pointed to common intellectual dimensions in the conference's varied presenters. First, the studies highlight a social structure in the United States that is more complex than any theorized before. Second, most of the conceptional structure associated with American society were "uncertain and fragile." Finally, quantification was an accepted tool in historical analysis.

This neat summary of trends is misleading. In reality, many urban scholars found a blanket description of urban history impossible. Leo F. Schnore pointed out that many historians argue that the new urban history seemed limited to questions of urban stratification, mobility, or spatial patterns. Furthermore, the elements of the new urban history could be traced to older works. In this atmosphere, however, agreement on two conflicting points emerged. First, historians agreed that quantitative methods addressed a limited range of substantive questions and problems. Second, scholars needed to identity what those questions should be. This inability to judge the exact direction of urban history is directly linked to quantification's influence.

The problems associated with historians and their methods is nothing new. David Potter pointed out that often, "The most important achievements of historians were attained in spite of their methods rather than by means of it." Potter's statement referred to the variety of generalizations that historian must make while writing history. Potter asserted that historians often directly slight matters of motivation, classification, and causation. In a way, quantification has directed historical studies away from these issues as they relate to the urban culture by demanding that issues that could be coded for mathematical models had to be the focus of research.

By the 1970's the search for a broader conceptual perception that would produce a unique city perspective apart from other frameworks led to new works influenced by historians like Eugene Genovese and Theodore Hershberg. The complexity of urban history is matched by other subfields. As faculty members we are tasked with making the complex clear throughout the student academic career, but in the Capstone class this complexity returns with jarring results for graduating seniors. Yet, they are not without the tools to understand these arguments.

Historical Perspective

This semester is moving along. I have the first exam to grade, a search committee to get through, and worries about next academic years to consider. Despite all of that, I'm gonna drop in on the Daily Buzz tomorrow and give some input on the Chris Matthews issue and the state of African-American marriage. Morning shows are perfect for inviting you and giving you just enough time for a soundbite. Still, as a friend one said to me, "You gotta take the information to the people."

In the case of the African-Americans and marriage, it a complicate problem. The fact of the matter is that marriage in the United State is not what it use to be. The societal restriction against divorce has lessen and as a result couples divorce at higher rates. When you factor in race, the numbers get worst, especially for African-Americans. Yet, the factor related to African-Americans marriage are not all unique to the black community. Since the 1960s, social commentators have pointed to female-head household as failure of the black family.

The causes and consequences single-family household are complicated. Conservatives point to disincentive associated with marriage and general family created by social welfare program. On the other hand, de-industrialization, suburbanization, and crime have led to problems as varied as high incarnation rate for African-American males to low educational achievement. This means young black men are not available to wed during prime marriage age. Added to that, the number of African-American men who drop out of school means there is an education deficit that affected social and economic opportunity. Consider the factors women use (regardless of race) when considering marriage: security and prospect of long terms support. In both cases African-American males often fail in the lowest percentile of any measure. Education also broadens the world view, which adds to possibility of marrying outside your racial group and pushes the median marriage age up. These factors combine to force African-American women to search longer for a suitable mate.

African-American Middle-class women (who tend not to marry outside their race) are further marginalize by stereotypes of beauty and behavior that continue to be produced by popular media. All these factors lead to troubling marriage pattern for African-Americans. Both Working-class and Middle-class African-Americans suffer from the cascading issues that undermine traditional marriage. The problem is amplified by media coverage that conflate issues related to class and race to individual moral failing and/or absence of personal responsibility.

I'm not going to solve the problem with two minute segments, but maybe I can try to clarify some of these issues.

Synergistic Flow

What do historians do exactly? It is a good question. One hundred years ago, you ask people about what historians do, they would give you a straight answer. Now, you ask me what a historian does and it is a little fuzzy. This problem (if you want to call it that) doesn't usually bother me, but in the Spring I get to deal with it head on. Every spring I'm tasked with teaching the History Department capstone course. It is the last course you every take as a history major (it suppose to be at least). The students, in victims senioritis, want to know "What do I need to do in that class?" My answer never satisfies them and to be honest....I don't worry about it. If they can't roll with the punches at this point.....life will be unpleasant. Still, I do have goals. First, I want them to tell me what a historian does. It is not an easy answer. Is History a Social Science or Humanities? History has evolved a great deal in the twentieth century, depending on your Master (sorry adviser), you look a little social science or a little humanities or a little of both. Second question, what have you (as a graduating senior) learned as a history major. No, I don't mean the facts. They didn't really learn historical facts (they did, but it not like they can rattle that off). No, I think the History Department want graduating seniors to be able to think and act with certain tools at their disposal. If they are graduating they have the tools, but it likely they have never actually processes the fact...this is how I deal with a problem. This is my process of information analysis and presentation. In the capstone...they kinda sit down and go, "Yes ,I do this and then this, and this is why I do it that way." Third, and this is a really me pushing it. I kinda want see a little synergistic flow. Yeah, they are given the change to pull things together... make presentations...pull this idea from that class and this idea from over here and maybe remember something from econ or English, or Antho or some service learning project or something they saw studying abroad and it all means.........something. At least, it suppose to to mean whatever they manage to argue in a clear and orderly way. Still, they will feel unhappy, they got to the end and here I am...messing with them.

Pray for the History Seniors. Pray they Survive.

Thanksgiving Reflections: African-Americans and Autonomy

The semester has been busy, so this year's thanksgiving is a welcomed break. As I think about ongoing work and plan for next semester, I realize that one theme comes through--the unique experience of African-Americans in Florida. As one faculty out of many concerned about Florida as prism to understand the American experience (and I mean the Americas, not the United States alone), I keep seeing unique links between the Florida experience and how we understand the past. Case in point, Thanksgiving!! Dr. Michael Gannon, of course long ago pointed out the first thanksgiving celebration took place in Florida. A story he shared when he visited the college in April and received the Alfred J. Hanna Award in recognition of his long career and work. I'm not going to step into that hornet nest, but it reminded me, as I attempt not to over eat, that the Florida experience is different.

This semester several departments on campus as getting together to support and participate in programs and discussions about Zora Neale Hurston. As many of you likely know, Eatonville, FL hosts the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities. The festival, celebrates Hurston's life and work. The festival in 2010 is unique in that it marks the 50 year anniversary of Hurston's death. For Rollins's this is a unique opportunity to explore our relationship with Hurston. While others may stress their interest in the Hurston, the fact of the matter is that Rollins has a real and important place in Hurston's life.

Considered one of the most important writers of the African-American experience in the twentieth century, Hurston’s work is closely linked to the African-American cultural and intellectual invigoration associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston wrote two books of folklore and four novels using her training as an anthropologist and extensive fieldwork as a foundation. While it is not well known today, in 1932, Professor Edwin Osgood Grover and Professor Robert Wunsch helped Hurston develop her ideas about folk theater. While teaching and working at the college, she wrote and staged From Sun to Sun (1933) and All De Live Long Day (1935), both of which, explore southern work culture. The Olin Archive's Zora Neale Hurston Collection contains archival letters related to these events. Moreover, Rollins was and continues to be an institution interested in promoting dialogue. As the program for the Interfaith and Race Relations Committee listed above suggests.

Hurston's renewal, driven by writers like Alice Walker and media tycoons like Oprah Winfrey has made her a cottage industry. Yet, some of the most interesting parts of Hurston's story are often overlooked. Her time at Rollins is one example, but her conservatism is another. One thing, I hope that comes from the projects we are planning right now is a better understanding of how Hurston, a product of an all black community, could be resistance to the integration message associated with modern civil rights movement. I know from oral history and primary document research that the black communities in Florida felt a great sense of pride. That holiday celebrations, such as Thanksgiving were a time for families to come together and celebrate their good fortune. Indeed, communities like Eatonville and Hannibal Square in Winter Park had much to be thankful about. Self-governed and containing a large number of property owners, these all black communities provided security and protection for African-Americans in the later nineteenth century, a time when rising anti-black violence and political disenfranchisement was crippling black autonomy from its heights durng Reconstruction. Hurston always express great pride and rejected any suggestion that somehow African-Americans were not equal to whites. Indeed, her literary legacy is an investigation of black belief and black thought that practically omits whites. She has been branded a conservative, but is this conservatism is the classic sense that historians have used to describe schism within the black community? I think Hurston's story offers a more complex narrative about what it means to be African-American in the late nineteenth century. Part of that story I believe is a story of Florida's frontier status, the independents that existed in state and was enjoyed by its residents. Am I suggest, lesser racism in Florida? No, the strange case of the detachment and annexiation of the Hannibal Square proves that the politics of race in Florida was and continues to be a powerful force. Nonetheless, the flexibility offered by unsettled space and the power gained by creating community is a worthy topic to consider.

History and the World

This semester Dr. Yusheng Yao is teaching in Shanghai, China. Rollins, as you probably know, has strong historical and contemporary links to China. The China Center at Rollins works to promote cross cultural learning. Dr. Yao has been on the forefront of these activities at Rollins teaching about China for the History Department since his arrival. One of his most popular courses is HIS 212/212F A Journey to the Middle Kingdom, field study that takes students to China.



Get more information about international travel opportunity by contacting the Office of International Programs and look for more field study opportunities coming from the Department of History in the future.

The Social in History

The irony of summer vacation for an academic is that you "work" more during the summer on certain projects than you do during the year. This summer, I have spent some time honing my oral history skill with a workshop sponsored by the Maitland Historical Society (MHS). The MHS sponsored a NIH approved certification program for oral history techniques. I have done some training, but new regulations are always being created. The NIH certification is important part of making sure I know the rules and regulation governing oral history projects. The workshop was great and I got a chance to use my new and hopefully improved skills to conduct an oral interview with a Maitland resident this week. Louise Franklin, the subject of my interview, is from one of the pioneer African-American families in Central Florida. Her parents, Larkin and Effie Franklin purchased land in Maitland in the early 1900s. The ten acre parcel they purchased on Lake Sibila became a focal point for the African-American community in Eatonville and Maitland. Louise Franklin, the youngest living member of the Franklin family, expresses great pride in the fact that her family retains control of the property today. Their home is a bit of living history, the trees on the property were planted by Ms. Franklin's father and you can see evidence of the effort he made to make his property a center of community life. As a large landowner, he opened his home to his neighbors in times of celebration and emergency. The Franklin family story challenges the traditional narrative of African-American life in the deep south. Rather than a story of landless desperate African-Americans at the mercy of the white majority, the Franklins owned property, educated their children, and served as pillar of their community. Their home serve as center of activity for holiday celebrations and with a basement, the Franklin home was the community's shelter from harsh Florida storms. Larkin Franklin worked as chauffeur for the mayor of Maitland, but he was maximized his land value planting oranges and other crops. The Franklin family history does not discount the problems faced by African-Americans, indeed their success was built on a rural Florida where black and white interaction was tightly controlled. The Franklin worked in the white society, but lived in a black world. Central Florida African-American community developed with small overall population, punishing climate, and lack of infrastructure acting as barriers to interaction that might lead to violence. Nonetheless, violence was a concern, especially for those African-Americans that dared to challenge Jim Crow rule. Understanding the Franklin family story broadens our understanding of how black life in Central Florida developed.

More stories to come.