I finally made it out to the West Oaks Genealogy Library to get my hands on a few specific books that are only available in person. Both are family history books. One that appears to be a transcription of Jessie Branch's journal (though it is lacking in any provenance information) and the other is a collaborative book created by the Bumby family. These family histories are great for several reasons; they provide a lot more substance to the "bones" of the stories that I've been able to compile using records and they can also connect me to living individuals, which is a goal of the grant. Community outreach and involvement is something that we discussed at our recent grant meeting and while I do hope that we can make my supervisor's plans of "history harvests" and oral history collections a reality, finding at least a few descendants already interested in sharing their family histories will make our jobs a lot easier.
In addition to these sources, I made a detour to "hallowed ground." This is a site that's been identified as significant to the Ocoee Massacre, either because it was an African-American cemetery before 1920 or because it was the site of some of the violence. While the sources I've read regarding this didn't seem to be definitive either way, a monument has been placed there and the lot adjacent is being acquired through eminent domain by the City of Ocoee to be preserved as a memorial to the massacre. A goal I have with this tour is to link Greenwood Cemetery to other local cultural heritage sites, so this is one that I would like to connect to both July Perry's tour stop as well as Samuel Salisbury's stop.
This week I will start my essay writing in earnest. Though I've conducted much more research, my current plan is to complete two essays each week for the next two weeks (on Fred Weeks, Jessie Branch, City origins/Street names, and Mayor Jewell) and then I'll switch to editing the seven essays my intern has authored during Thanksgiving break. The final week of the month will be dedicated to assembling the essays into the Clio tour to serve as version 2.0 of the proof-of-concept tour which will be my final project for this internship. After that, my intern and I will develop and practice our presentation for the internship showcase. The additional topics that I researched, including Dr. William Wells and the Wilmott family, will be written during winter break. I hope to have all thirteen topics completed in final draft form for the consulting professors to review by the New Year. I also plan to meet with our future podcast producer over winter break to formulate our plan for the podcast series we hope to launch prior to the official roll-out of the tour. I sent him a rough, bulleted list of events in the Wilmott story, and seeing it all on one page has me very excited! It's certainly a case of truth is stranger than fiction.
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