Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Fellowship Program

The Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Fellowship Program was created in 2008 at Florida Southern College (FSC), in Lakeland, to help catalog, preserve and digitize citrus memorabilia and artifacts for inclusion in the State of Florida Citrus Archives while creating an engaged learning environment for students.  The program also exposes students to the citrus industry who might otherwise never have had the opportunity.   

Each student is assigned a specific job during their fellowship term, ranging from handling intake of materials to scanning and appropriately cataloguing the materials for research purposes and creating special displays. Projects currently underway include:

• A digital archive database on Florida Citrus Crate Labels which currently contains information on over 1,300 images.  The database enables a researcher to look for specific elements such as types of images (flowers, people, animals, etc.), location, colors, packinghouse origination and brands.
• An Oral History Project, in which video-taped interviews are conducted with Hall of Fame members and other individuals who have made great contributions to the Florida citrus industry. The interviews allow for the preservation of historically relevant knowledge and memories possessed by industry greats and are transcribed before being catalogued in the Citrus Archives at the McKay Archives Center. Interviewees are asked about how they became established in the citrus business, their contributions to the industry, and the changes that they have witnessed throughout their careers. 
• A video overview of the industry and the members of the Citrus Hall of Fame, entitled “From Bins to Barrels,” made possible through a grant from HESCO and MacroPlastics.
• A citrus memorabilia “loaner program,” which offers coordinated artifacts and citrus items for loan to cities, museums and schools in order to create a three-dimensional educational program for the general public. 
• Maintaining the web site, www.FloridaCitrusHallofFame.com, including researching and supplementing information on all of the Citrus Hall of Fame inductees. 

The Hall of Fame currently sponsors three permanent fellowship opportunities each semester and one summer fellowship.  Two of the fellowships are named after late Hall of Fame members, Frank S. Bouis and D. Victor Knight, Sr., along with a fellowship named after the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Students admitted to the program must be in their junior or senior year and qualify for the program through interviews with faculty members from the library, archives center and history departments. All work efforts of the fellowship students are coordinated under the direction of LuAnn Mims, archivist for the McKay Archives Center.

To make a donation to help with furthering education in citrus history and preservation efforts of the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame and the State of Florida Citrus Archives, send checks made payable to Florida Southern College, 111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland, FL 33801 with the memo line to read: FCHOF Fellowship Program.For more information, to donate citrus memorabilia and antique artifacts, or to receive an invitation to the Golden Jubilee events, please contact Brenda Eubanks Burnette at 561.351.4314 or BBurne1003@aol.com.  

2011-2012 Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Fellowship Students at Florida Southern College

Holly Bennett is the senior lead of the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Fellowship Students at Florida Southern College. She is a senior history major from Tallahassee, Fla., and is in her second year as a fellowship student.  She has worked primarily with the Oral History Project, doing video-taped interviews with industry pioneers to preserve their life stories.  After graduation this year, she intends to pursue her Master’s in Public History, and develop a career as a museum curator.

Dalton Davis was raised in Wauchula, Fla. and grew up working for his father’s citrus, hedging, and cattle company, Larry Davis, Inc.  In his first year of the program, he expects to graduate next year as a communications major and is producing a citrus video entitled “From Bins to Barrels,” made possible through a grant from MacroPlastics and HESCO.

Mary Yurso was born and raised in Orlando, Fla., and is a senior who will graduate in April with a double major in History and English Literature.  This is also her first year in the program and her duties include scanning, reviewing and cataloguing photos in the Citrus Archives. After completing her graduate program, her career goal is to work in exhibiting historic estates.