Week Three: Freeze-Frame

A previously undiscovered film negative potentially depicting Michael Gladden Jr. outside of his storefront, c. February of 1927.

Hello, reader! Despite no more museum heist madness occurring, this week has been rather thrilling in a different way. While at the Museum of the Apopkans last Friday, Ms. Boykin and I came across a Black history folder that was once compiled by both Marie Stapler Gladden and Mrs. Mildred Board during their time with the Apopka Historical Board. Its contents revealed a horde of newspaper articles, handwritten documents, and a surprise! Stashed inside an old paper envelope were four original film negatives kept safe by Mrs. Gladden and Mrs. Board. Unbelievably, two of the images match an original photograph of Michael Gladden Jr. and Joseph Cauley inside M. Gladden Staple and Fancy Groceries, while the remaining two capture a previously unknown moment of Michael Gladden Jr. standing outside of his storefront. My hands shook as I realized what I was holding, hopeful that somehow, I could recover these precious images.

Film negative depicting Michael Gladden Jr. and Mr. Joseph Cauley within the interior of M. Gladden Staple and Fancy Groceries, c. February of 1927.

At this week’s RICHES meeting, I brought up my discovery of the photo negatives to the team to discuss best practices for digitizing and preserving them. Geoffrey Cravero informed me that the CHDR lab had recently received equipment meant to process film and negatives. We tentatively scheduled an appointment to digitize the negatives next Tuesday! I can’t wait to share my experience using this technology and obtain the images for the digital archive.

Continuing this week’s theme of photographs, Marie Stapler Gladden recently became of interest to the RICHES team due to the upcoming Georgetown History Harvest. When I first learned that the event would be held at this historic Hopper Academy, I remembered from my research that Marie Stapler Gladden was brought up in the Sanford area and educated at Hopper Academy in her youth. In the early 1920s, Mrs. Gladden obtained her first teaching opportunity at Hopper Academy and worked as an educator there for six years. I excitedly brought this information to the attention of Dr. Lester and the team, sharing Mrs. Gladden’s obituary as the only evidence I had of her connection to Hopper Academy at the time.

A copy of Marie Stapler Gladden in front of Hopper Academy with the first class of her teaching career, c. 1923, is currently displayed at the Orange County Regional History Center.

This past Tuesday, I was delighted to hear that Dr. Lester brought up Marie Stapler Gladden to the Georgetown Preservation Board. Because of her prominence in both the greater Sanford and Apopka communities, she will be a topic of discussion at the Georgetown History Harvest. Excited by this development, I asked Ms. Boykin about any potential artifacts tying Marie Stapler Gladden to Hopper Academy. Apparently, the answer was hanging in the museum all along! Displayed in our Black history exhibit was a photograph of Mrs. Gladden and her class in front of Hopper Academy, captured in 1923. Since the object currently on display is a printed copy, Ms. Boykin is working on locating the original among her extensive collection of community photographs. Once the original is found, I hope to digitize it for use by the RICHES team and provide a high-quality copy, along with complete object metadata, to the Georgetown Preservation Board for their archives and community resources.

Two marked store receipts for the account of Arthur J. Willis, c. May of 1929.

Over on the digital archive, I added a new artifact collection: The Arthur J. Willis Collection. So far, I have uploaded three examples of Mr. Gladden’s receipts that weren’t preserved for monetary safekeeping, but rather for their intended purpose. Mr. Arthur J. Willis was one of Mr. Gladden’s contemporaries and Apopka’s trusted tailor, cleaner, and presser. My favorite set of objects from this collection consists of two store receipts for pins and patches that reflect more personally on Mr. Willis’s everyday trade. That's all for now! Expect an exciting update next week, reader!