Week Seven: Counting Down the "Minutes"

Hello, reader! I am pleased to report that many developments have been made to both the Michael Gladden Jr. Digital Archive and the Gladden Collection as a whole. Here on the website, the archive has officially reached 60 object pages. This week, I established the foundation for both the Joseph Cauley Collection and the Apopka Negro Business League Collection.

Adjusted Service Bonds Check for Joseph Cauley, c. 1936.

On the Joseph Cauley Collection page, viewers can explore artifacts related to his life, as documented and preserved by Michael Gladden Jr. Mr. Cauley was a Black veteran of World War I who later returned to Apopka in search of work after demobilization. After Michael Gladden Jr. assumed proprietorship of M. Gladden Staple and Fancy Groceries in late 1924 or early 1925, Mr. Cauley became his chief cook, dishwasher, and store clerk. He remained at M. Gladden Staple and Fancy Groceries for 36 years until his 1961 death. This collection offers insight into Michael Gladden Jr.'s management of Mr. Cauley’s affairs and expresses how important his longtime employee truly was to him. Since Mr. Cauley was illiterate, Michael Gladden Jr. oversaw everything from Mr. Cauley’s property deeds to his adjusted service bonds. One particularly fascinating object in this collection is a 1936 adjusted service bond check signed by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr., who played a major role in financing the New Deal under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Apopka Negro Business League Minutes, c. 1929.

The Apopka Negro Business League Collection will eventually house 18 scans of the council’s meeting minutes. Each typewritten document offers rare insight into the economic development and expansion of Apopka’s Black business district from 1925 to 1945. One particularly significant artifact is a set of 1929 meeting minutes formally renaming the earlier Black business council as the Apopka Negro Business League and establishing Michael Gladden Jr. as President of the newly reorganized league. As stated in this document, Michael Gladden Jr.’s vision for the league was to educate fellow Black businessmen in best business practices and establish relationships with other prominent social organizations. After showing Dr. Lester this artifact, she suggested that it may have been connected to the larger National Negro Business League established by Booker T. Washington. She kindly put me in contact with the head archivist at Tuskegee University to inquire about any evidence of the league or Michael Gladden Jr. in their collections. I look forward to sharing the outcome of this daunting search!

A biographical information sheet on Marie Stapler Gladden I designed to display at the Georgetown History Harvest.

Additionally, Dr. Lester and I successfully arranged a meeting at UCF between her, me, Ms. Boykin, and David Benjamin of UCF Special Collections after I expressed concerns about the future housing of the Gladden Collection. From the beginning, my mission has been to secure a permanent home for the Gladden Collection where it can be properly preserved while remaining accessible to the Apopka community. I am admittedly anxious to see the meeting’s outcome and hope that Special Collections will recognize the Gladden Collection’s remarkable rarity and importance to a less-documented side of Black American history. This meeting will take place on March 20th. In the meantime, I am preparing to negotiate with Special Collections with the support of Dr. Lester and my colleagues in the collections world.

As I mentioned last week, the February 28th Georgetown History Harvest is fast approaching. Thanks to

the RICHES team, I am glad to say that the Michael Gladden Jr. Digital Archive will be advertised to the greater Sanford community. Ahead of the history harvest, I have prepared copies of my flyers and a biographical information sheet I wrote and designed for Marie Stapler Gladden. I will report back on the Georgetown History Harvest next week. See you then!