Summer Research

I was lucky enough to take a couple of trips this summer for research (I'm actually still on the road). Still, I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I would check in. Take a moment to check out these two images. The statue is from the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA. This is a private museum, so the national in the title is a little problematic. Nonetheless, it is good museum with a nice exhibit that does a good job of incorporating major themes from the Civil War into very viewable exhibits. The second image of a document housed at the Pennsylvania State Archive. I was luck enough to be award a Scholar-In-Residence fellowship to the archive this summer. I'm studying a forgotten city planning advocate named J. Horace McFarland. You might not know the name, but there was a time when McFarland was national leader in civic betterment. Harrisburg was his home and his first major civic improvement program was to clean-up the city of Harrisburg. He was "Mr. City Beautiful" and ran the American Civic Association, an organization he helped form, from 1904 to 1924. I can't believe the summer is almost over, but I think the research I got done this summer will keep me and my students busy for years to come.

The Colony Wins A Telly

Orange County Scrapbook, Episode #2 (Colony Theater, Orlando Aviation & World War II, Street Signs) has received a national Bronze Telly Award! The Telly Award honors the very best in local, regional, and cable television commercials, video, film production, and web content.

The End is Nigh

I can taste the end of the semester and it tastes like.....not victory. . . survival. The chances that everyone will learn something profound are shaping up to be about 50/50. That the normal outcome for me. Let see what I can do in the last week.

Fox Day

Rollins College has a long and interesting history. While Fox Day is not the most important tradition, it is the one that I have the hardest time explaining to friends. The idea of a "day off" with no strings attached is fun, especially as the end of the academic year exhaustion hits.

After fun and games all day everyone comes back for the picnic where you get free food and see happy people everywhere. Even before the Fox appears, the fun starts as everyone (students and faculty) try to guess "What day will the president pick for Fox Day?"

Not surprisingly, the Fox Day tradition has evolved over time. I was surprised to learn today from long time faculty member that historically Fox Day included a open discussion in the chapel where students could ask questions of the president. The "airing of grievances" aspect of Fox Day is gone, but the day off is still very much appreciated.

Dr. Who and History

Funny title I know, but lately I wish I were Dr. Who. He has it easy. He can travel in time, he has centuries to master the complexities of who did what and the problem of explaining it to young companions. On the other hand, every semester I struggle with what to talk about and what not to talk about. There is not enough time in the class to discuss everything, so you opt for really concentrate burst of "what does this mean?" and "how did we get here?" and my favorite, "tell me what changed here?" types of questions and answer session. If I were Dr. Who I could hop into the Tardis and take them to event and go--see this is what happen. The odd science fiction refer aside, as always I'm hoping that reading, discussion, and writing equal out to something. I just can't bring myself to bet the universe on it.

Fire!

This semester my HIS 143 class is exploring the Winter Park Fire Department. As always I expect they will make some unexpected discoveries. The chance to consider the growth of a public institution such as the Fire Department is another way to think about historical change over time. Getting into the archives and researching different aspects of the Fire Department will, I think, force students to understand how changes in work, technology, and society affect everyday life. On the other hand, they might just think its weird. I think that the Winter Park Historical Association will get some new web-pages (eventually) for Historic Winter Park. At the end of the day, I think it will add a level of engagement to the class that would not have existed without the project. Between the speakers that have joined us (Fire Chief Jim White and the author of Orlando FireFighting Ginger Bryant) and the supplemental reading related to firefighters and fire fighting, I think students are getting a big view of the topic. Since I received a Service Learning Grant for the semester for the project, students will also interview retired firefighters, a task I know many are not looking forward to. However, this like other aspect of the project will engage the students in a way that books and articles cannot. Let hope they don't cause any fires in their quest to get their interviews done.

The Historian's Craft: Revision

Funny title I know, but it is the truth. I worked with a colleague on an museum exhibit for the Winter Park History Association. Our exhibit on the Colony Theater was meant to be an exploration of the problematic use of memory associated with the theater. The community's desire to preserve the vertical marquee while gutting the inside over and over again represents a conflicted understanding about the nature of preservation and the need to develop that has transformed Florida. The exhibit work out well and really fueled an ongoing research agenda into Florida identity and consumption. One element that jumped out during the research was the existence of a African-American movie theater called the Famous and another called the Star. One question we had was whether or not African-Americans were allowed in the Colony. Its a tricky issue. I suspect they were not, but hadn't found concrete evidence. There remain a possibility that, at the end of the theater's life (early 1970s) they could have been allowed into the balcony. I recently talked to several African-American residents who said they were never allowed into the theater. So, while the oral history of a small sample may not represent the last word, it is pretty compelling. This is made all the more problematic by the fact that a new article in Orlando Magazine on the exhibit does quotes me as saying African-Americans did attend the theater. The revision which I probably won't get to share in Orlando Magazine, look more and more like no African-American patrons for the Colony. Whether this was official policy or unspoken rules that prevent African-American from crossing the railroad tracks even well into the 1970s, I don't know. I am coming to understand that Winter Park's black and white communities had a strange relationship, one that distorted by the affluence of the community and an emphasis on paternalistic cooperation. Although a very nice piece, the Orlando Magazine article does not and cannot deal with the problem represented by the Colony. I think that any public history exhibit has to operate on many levels (honestly, I don't believe many people read the text panels), it is a balancing act that requires constant adjustment between the audience's desire and scholarly inquiry.

Eighteen-century British elections vs. twenty-first American ones!

In my Hanoverian England class, we are about to embark on an examination of elections in the eighteenth century, looking primarily at the question of party involvement. The traditional approach to the political structure, espoused by Macauley and Trevelyan, envisioned two parties—Whig and Tory—clearly delineated by political and religious philosophies. Revisionists, such as Lewis Namier, reject the existence of parties and claim instead that men acted politically through factions dedicated to their political gain and personal enrichment. Philosophy had nothing to do with it.

Such a contrast in interpretations is instructive to me in considering the current political atmosphere in the United States. First do parties actually exist? We have two clearly defined political parties indentifed by unmistakably liberal and conservative positions, right? Perhaps one could argue that, on the surface at least, the Democrats seem to possess more philosophical diversity than the Republicans. For instance, the Republicans all line up behind their President on the war in Iraq (all except Ron Paul who seems to be going nowhere) and most other issues (except perhaps immigration policy), while the Democrats seem spread out over the spectrum on a whole host of issues. Paul Krugman, in his recent Conscience of a Liberal, argues that the parties are more philosophically cohesive now than they have been in a long time, but I’m not so sure. The Republicans are in fact deeply divided between social and fiscal conservatives who have little in common, while the Democrats may be as united to their opposition to Bush as the Republicans are united in his support but that’s about it. Surface agreement on the war, health care, or immigration policy soon dissipates in the details. Both parties appear to be uneasy coalitions bound together only for the purposes of gaining election.

Secondly why do men (and thankfully in the twenty-first century, women) enter politics? On the local level it seems clear that it is one set of developers trying to outmaneuver another. One might argue that on the national level the situation is the same, only somewhat more disguised. Are Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney seeking the presidency for altruistic reasons to serve their country or do they yearn for raw power? Was the Compassionate Conservative really more concerned about aiding his friends in the oil business?



While the idealist sitting on my left shoulder would like to believe that philosophy prompted the politics of Robert Walpole and John Kennedy, the cynic on my right sees it all arising from self-interest. Increasingly the Namier in me seems to supercede the Macauley. What a pity!

Mystery Solved

I know that I mention that Famous Theater seem unknown. I was wrong. I just needed to find the right people to ask. I found older African-American residents who remebered the Famous and talked about life on the westside in the 1940s and 1950s at the Unity Day festival celebrating Martin Luther King's legacy. There memories helped to clarify the story of the Famous and its relationship to the Star, but more importantly it reminded me of the importance of getting out and recording stories.