Reflections on City of Apopka History Harvest

     Every History Harvest I have a unique experience. This is technically my third History Harvest that I have been a part of. The first one, which I don't remember where it took place, I was actually really late for and was only their at the tail-end to help the RICHES team pack up everything. I was able to talk to some of the local people in the community. The harvest was also for a colored school that was being demolished to build a community center, and the people there were giving oral histories and telling stories about their time, or siblings time, at the school.

    My second history harvest I also forgot the name of until I started walking around the Apopkans Museum where our History Harvest took place. It was in Zellwood, and I made sure to arrive bright and early to make up for missing the first History Harvest while I was an intern at RICHES. At that Harvest, I was working on scanning things. Unlike the Harvest at Apopka, where there was relatively few people that I saw that brought in objects to scan, there were a lot of people who brought in one or two documents to get scanned. At that Harvest, I also scanned a crumbling bible and hymn book that was from around the 1880s or 90s. 

    This History Harvest at Apopka was different because I spent most of my time around two ladies that brought in a load of things. Both were from families that lived in Apopka for a very long time. The first lady, Judy, had brought a whole scrapbook filled with photos of her family, especially photos of her family that was in the military. I worked mainly with the other lady, who was part of the Ryan's family that moved to Apopka from Gadsden, FL sometime in the late 1800s. What was cool about her collection is that many of her photos were before 1930. She had a small book of photos taken after the tornado destroyed large parts of Apopka in January of 1918. She also had different type of documents, such as the report cards of the father's that spanned much of his educational career. 

    I think one of the coolest things that she brought in was photos from who she described as a "lost relative". She said that the man who took the photos, named Isaac Aten, had married into the family, but his main residence was not Apopka and so he was not in the immediate "Ryans of Apopka" family so to speak. Isaac owned his own photography business and took photos across Florida, but mainly in the central region. 

    What I liked most about this History Harvest has to do with those photos. While I was scanning them and Dr. French was looking at them, we both had the idea that she had enough photos of Isaac Aten to create some sort of mini-collection or exhibit of his works. The lady provided photos of him and his wife, where his business was located and a picture of that as well, a load of picture that Isaac Aten had taken, the crest that he put on the back of his photos, and she had more information about him that she could share. 

    I think moments like that, where a person comes in just wanting to preserve some of their history and then hearing how excited we get about preserving and showcasing their history, is one of the most rewarding feelings of a Harvest. Even Judy, who had a jokester personality and would fake cry to get a reaction out of the people scanning, I could tell really appreciated that the people at the Harvest were taking the time and interest to preserving their history. Moments like that where the community can see our excitement for their history not only makes the people who come feel more important and comfortable to sharing their history, but also helps build more trust with the overall community. Perhaps next time there is an Apopka History Harvest, Judy and the lady from the Ryan's family, who have more authority in the community, can encourage others to come out and share their history with us.

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