Week 14: Reflections on the History Harvest: Democratizing the Past Through the Digitization Of Community History

History Harvest!

Our team and participants.
Hannibal Square, 2023. Photo by Scot French.

    This past weekend I had the privilege and honor of participating in the University of Central Florida's History Harvest for the memory and recollection of the Hungerford School located in Eatonville, Florida. Our team was assigned to collect documents, interview attendants, and collect a general history from participants in the field. I was tasked alongside fellow student Sebastian Garcia to collect oral histories from Central Florida residents, Eatonville residents, Hungerford high school alumni, and children of teachers from Hungerford high school. I had never been apart of a "branded" history harvest, but I did take part in a oral history day led by the Veteran's History Project at UCF focused on veterans working at the multiple campuses across UCF. 

Sebastian Garcia and I interviewing
Brynda Allen and Shellen Washington, alumni
of Hungerford school. Hannibal Square, 2023.
Photos by Scot French

    On my part, the oral history interviews felt like second hand nature. I had done so much work and received so much training on how to conduct a oral history interview that I was able to approach my work with a clear mind to go off script and ask deeper, more methodical questions to our interviewees. Alongside that, having Sebastian Garcia alongside me (UCF's podcaster for the History department), we were more than equipped and energized in our interviews. We engaged in five different 12-14 minute interviews that addressed the recollection and memory of the Hungerford high school and the understanding of how it should be remembered. I took my time to understand not only the tension of the current circumstances of the Hungerford property, but how desegregation completely changed the fate of Hungerford and Eatonville. In her interview, Anita Armstong Watson described the integration of schools in the 1970s as a "loss of identity", stating that they were forced into "a mold they could never fit into". The integration of blacks and whites in the public school system looked like a major step in the right direction on paper, but understanding the cultural connotations it had for blacks through oral history took on a completely new understanding for me. Hungerford students went from cheering on their teams in football games and winning national championships in Basketball tournaments to counting themselves lucky to have a bench position on a white football team. 

"One Thing To Pass On": Contribution, Identity, and the Importance of History

I ended each of my interviews with one question: "If you could tell the next generation of researchers one thing, whether its about Hungerford, Civil Rights, or history in general, what would it be?" I was overwhelmed with what was said. Anita Armstrong Watson responded by saying "Embrace your history"; Know where you come from and what was sacrificed to get you to where you were. Always remember your heritage and learn to love it. Francine Boyken said "Know the importance of an education, love one another"; Hungerford brought her and so many others the opportunity to fight a fair fight through the power of education. She was reintroduced to classmates and others that day. Brynda Allen, one of my last interviewers, said "If you have a skill or and education, contribute"; To know something and to not pass it along is a waste of talent and contribution. She understood the creation and survival of Hungerford as the act of people caring, contributing, and educating one another. 

Overall, my time with the history harvest was more than successful. Each time I'm able to sit down and conduct oral histories, I am reminded of the importance of my work and the tactics I'm studying as I employ them in the field. Public History is living history, and involves the preservation of the most important artifact: Memory.