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!

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.

Review of Reviews: The African-American Experience

I'm stuck in the midst of the "reviews of reviews" and have everything to do. Still it is a time of reflection and as I consider theory and practice in small ways and big--I see what I have done and can still do. The upside is, it occurs to me, I've done a lot! The downside is, it occurs to me, I haven't done as much as I would like:( Case in point, public history projects, of which I have a few, haven't developed fully into the forms I think necessary to provide the information to the wider community. Not to say things haven't been done, they have, but they need to look and feel better. I was talking to Vidhu Aggrawal about the next issue of her journal SPECS. SPECS is a world class publication done with small budget and staff. By comparison, I could do better. I have been thinking about it. The key is to create some sort of mechanism to standardize content and style. This mechanism (whatever it may be) will allow work done my students and faculty to be presented in clean and organized way. There is plenty to explore and once I get it working I think the public will be interested. For me, Central Florida offers a unique story about Gilded Age and Progressive Era, African-American experience, and Art and Culture in the twentieth century. As the coordinator of the Africa and African-American Studies Program, I am of course interested in getting students and the public exploring that history. The fact that Winter Park was designed with the assumption that African-Americans would live west of the railroad tracks and work in white community as support staff created a unique opportunity for a stable and in some ways, very prosperous black community to develop. I think you can see a strong connection between Hannibal Square in West Winter Park and the other more famous black community in Central Florida, Eatonville. Eatonville is famous because of Zora Neale Hurston, but of course, Zora had a unique relationship with Winter Park through the support provided to her by members of the Rollins College English Department. Indeed, the Olin Library Archive at Rollins has a Zora Neale Hurston collection that highlight the link between the author and the college. Still, a bigger question of autonomy and agency needs to be explored in the Central Florida area. I think the effect of leisure economy and Florida's existence as a frontier space allowed for greater sense of freedom for African-Americans in communities like Hannibal Square and Eatonville. Of course Jim Crow racism existed, the story of Hannibal Square's detachment from the town of Winter Park as way to undermine African-American Republican voters testifies to the power of white supremacy in Florida. Yet, the family history collection on display at the Hannibal Square Heritage Center demonstrates that African-Americans found ways to continue to function and thrive.


MORE TO DO

Community Outreach and the Rollins History Departments

One of the things that concerns historians is their connection to the general reading public. Professional historians are required to publish their research. Indeed, there was a time when historians dominated the non-fiction bestsellers list.



Today, for all the hundreds of history books produced annually, few become bestsellers. Those history books widely read by the average American are often not the same books admired within the academy. The reasons for the gap between public history consumption and professional production are complex. One problem, if you wish to think of it as a problem, is that historians have, since the 1960s, been less likely to provide the "feel good" history Americans seem to prefer. Social history, and it emphasis on adding those voices "left out" has displace traditional political histories with new work focus on women, racial minorities, and class conflict. Conservative critics have warned that the shift away from classical history that celebrate national triumph invite balkanization. Nonetheless, history about everybody else has been the focus for most historians for decades. Indeed, the assumption we make within the department is that current history scholarship can find an audience outside the ivory tower. The Winter Park Public Library's Lifelong Learning Institute provides monthly speaker series and history is a popular subject for this program. Rollins History Department has worked to strengthen our relationship to the library in the hopes of promoting public interest in the diverse historical scholarship available. Dr. Jim Norris, the most recent speaker at the Jack Lane Colloquium was happy enough to take time out of his schedule to talk about his book North for the Harvest at the Winter Park Library. This kind of community outreach has been a cornerstone of Rollins' relationship with Central Florida since its founding and the Department of History has worked to live up to that tradition. By making the effort at community outreach we bolster an important institution like the Winter Park Public Library and spark further interest in innovative historical literature.