The Opportunity of a Lifetime: Sharing My Research

Blog Post by: Kendra Belton, FCHoF Student Fellow

            Friday, 23 January 2026, was a momentous day for me, and only the beginning of a wonderful and educational weekend. Though I had attended the Florida Conference of Historians (FCH) one year prior, I had never gone to the conference as a student fellow for the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame (FCHoF). The Florida Southern College (FSC) bus left campus full of history students, history faculty, and me; the college archivist and technician were to join us later. We traversed from Polk County to Alachua County, stopping for a truly southern meal at The Yearling, an historic restaurant dedicated to Marjorie Rawlings, before arriving at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center in Gainesville.

The Hilton was everything one would expect: luxurious, tidy, and perfect for a conference. After settling into the hotel, I prepared for the reception, the weekend’s first FCH event. I joined my compatriots in the lobby, where I met other history students and researchers, with whom I struck up a weekend-long (and, hopefully, life-long) bond. The reception resulted in more connections, more conversations, and more smiles and laughter. A key aspect of the reception was the discussion of Florida’s civic literacy requirements. Everyone left the event feeling encouraged about the future of Florida education—so many of the younger folks, including me, had shared stories of how we aim to develop civic literacy in the future. The reception being over with, we all retired to our rooms, hoping to prepare for our presentations the next day.

Saturday was by far the longest and busiest of the conference days. From 9 A.M. until the evening banquet, students, professors, and independent historians shared their work with others, giving and accepting feedback. Though I cannot speak for others, I can certainly say that I learned an immense amount of knowledge on Saturday and into Sunday. I hope that others learned, too, especially from my presentation. I am honored to have successfully written a 19-page research paper on citrus crate labels—an adaptation of which I have published on this blog—that was accepted as an FCH presentation. I was ecstatic to share my research on the Markets, Movements, and Labor in Florida’s Past afternoon panel, and the questions and feedback I received from the panel’s chair and audience provoked ideas for further exploration and revision. Thanks to the critique I received, I am excited to say that I will be submitting my paper to the FCH’s yearly publication.

The banquet was the event of the evening, coming with fancy dishes and much chatter. But everyone grew silent for the distribution of awards and Dr. Steven Noll’s presentation titled “Patient No More: Incorporating Disability History into the Mainstream.” Dr. Noll’s keynote address was deeply enlightening; I had not known much, if anything, about disability history, which was his point. Thanks to him, I now have a blooming interest in researching and sharing information about disability history.

My learning continued on Sunday. Though the FCH only hosted two panels on Sunday morning, I still took in even more information, giving me a significant amount of material to mull over on the bus ride back to FSC. Now that I’ve returned, I look forward to continuing my work for the FCHoF, and who knows… maybe I’ll produce more FCH-worthy research soon!