An End and a New Beginning

Well, it is finals week and we all know what that means. Lots of drinking,partying, and inappropriate behavior. And if you think the faculty is bad....

Anyway, for me it means the mixed feelings associated with the end of my semester-long sabbatical and my full time foray into this fascinating area of research on the Sunland Centers. It has been a busy but very satisfying time for me. I have stayed pretty plugged in to the university and I'm kind of looking forward to getting back into my little work routine, but this has sure flown by.

I have gotten a mountain of material that I'm still sifting through but an article is in the works and will be submitted by the time classes start. I hope to continue with two arms of the research, those being interviews with staff and family members. They will continue well into the future, and hopefully lead to a bigger body of work. One area that is known to be missing in the historical research into institutions is the human perspective of those who lived it, and I recognize that this needs to be pursued. It is the most difficult area to get at, and I'm still beating the bushes for more subjects.

I've also learned a lot about research techniques and have found sources of data all over the state, but it takes some looking and digging to get to some of these. Last Monday I made the long drive to Jacksonville to visit the "History Room" at the Borland library one more time. I've used this room for my public health history research in the past. It is truly a treasure trove of materials that would have been thrown out when the Board of Health moved to Tallahassee but for the insight and good will of the librarians. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no electronic way of accessing even the catalog of these materials. If you want to see what is there, your choice is by car or by plane. It is this type of situation that makes historical research a challenge.

A terrific source for Florida historiographers that IS available on-line is the Florida Heritage Collection, made possible by the State University Libraries of Florida. I highly recommend it.

I will continue to blog periodically to provide updates, but this entry marks the end of the weekly blog. Thanks for following along with me.

The images above are of the Tallahassee Sunland before and after its demolition in 2006. The Tallahassee Sunland is one of two Sunland Training Centers that were located in former tuberculosis hospitals. Photographer: Beatrice Queral. Source: Florida State Archives and Photographic Collection.