Library looks to preserve our past

On a sunny Monday earlier this month, a third grade class of students at Winter Park’s Killarney Elementary School was greeted not by their regular classroom teacher, but by a petite brunette with a powerful Alabama drawl who came to set them on an expected adventure: historical research.

Maybe you just mentally groaned and the thought of a dry topic like researching the past, but if your experience included having it brought to life by an enthusiastic, 20-something dynamo like the Winter Park Public Library’s new archivist, Rachel Simmons, you might change your mind. When Rachel walked into that classroom for Orange County Public Schools’ Teach-in 2016 event, she told the children “I am an archivist. That means I am a cross between a librarian and a historian.” What she showed them was an infectious excitement for a field that requires her to also be a sleuth, chemist, organizer, networker and, above all, educator.

As the keeper of the Winter Park History and Archives Collection, one of Rachel’s top priorities is bringing our town’s history out of dusty boxes and sepia-tinged photos and making it come alive for a better understanding of who we are and where we came from. Slipping comfortably into her role as community educator is a key strategy to doing just that.

“I’m not going to tell kids what life was like more than 130 years ago,” Rachel said, “I am going to show them and let them feel it, touch it and taste it.” Already in the works is an interactive program inspired by information in the Library’s archives that documents life from the late nineteenth century when Winter Park was founded. Children will engage in games, wear clothing and even try recipes pulled directly from historical records.

For the upcoming holidays, Rachel isn’t going to talk about what the Christmas season might have been like in Winter Park all of those years ago. She will make history real by displaying the original recipe for “Crown Cake,” preserved instructions for a confection Rachel has identified from the city’s early days and was likely eaten at Christmas under the name “Twelfth Night Cake.” She might even recruit one of the bakers on staff to make it for sampling.

Rachel is already preparing to expand her selection of classes and presentations. In addition to programs for young people like the “Research Crash Course” she delivered at Killarney, she has plenty to teach adults. At the Albin Polasek Museum’s Heritage Day Festival, Rachel taught attendees how to preserve precious family documents, photos and artifacts and is looking to expand her offerings in that area.

“Lots of people don’t even realize that the letters and pictures they have saved from family members throughout the years and sometimes through generations are deteriorating. There is a real science to keeping those items in a way that assures they will be available and readable for decades or even centuries to come. I can teach them how,” Rachel says.

Sometimes it takes a trained eye to know exactly how to best keep and store materials. Residents can bring their personal documents to Rachel in the library’s archives and she can help identify the best preservation solution based on the age, kind of paper, kind of storage and many other factors.

Of course in 2016, the next level of preservation is to also digitize historical materials. Scanning and photographing provides a level of assurance that information can live on or be reproduced in case they are destroyed by a tragedy like a fire or flood. It also allows the documents to be searched and even shared. In the coming months, Rachel will give leadership to the launch of the Library’s “Memory Lab,” which will provide training, equipment and software to residents wishing to digitize and electronically store their family’s memories.

Rachel’s lessons and services are not limited just to individuals and families. Any business in the City of Winter Park that had been in operation for 40 years or more can research its past in the History & Archives Collection. “If a business is looking for examples of vintage advertising, we have much of that here,” Rachel explains. She is also available to teach local businesses how to preserve their institutional history by caring for their artifacts and papers.

“My goal is to provide Winter Park a shining example of a 21st century archive, combining the convenience of digital and online access, while preserving the physical artifacts of Winter Park’s history for its people and businesses,” Rachel says. “And I want our residents to know that our history is many things, but it absolutely isn’t boring.”

Anyone wishing to schedule a presentation for their classroom, community organization or business can contact Rachel at [email protected] or 407-623-3300, ext. 106. You can also watch the library website at www.wppl.org for listings of upcoming programming and events.