Newest Citrus Fellow!

Hello Citrus Fans,

My name is Emma Morton and I’ll be taking over for Selys Rivera. I am a BFA Theatre Performance major with a minor in English here at Florida Southern College. I hope to eventually work on Broadway. I lived in a suburb of Chicago for most of my life, but recently my family moved to Dallas, Texas. Living out of state is hard since I do not get to spend as much time with my family and off campus friends as the in-state students get to, but it’s a really great experience that is completely worth it.

As far as extracurricular activities, I am a member of the Campus Cat Feeding Club and the Vagabonds. I am also a sister and officer of Alpha Omicron Pi’s Kappa Gamma Chapter. I am the newest, and youngest, Citrus Fellow here at the McKay Archives and I’m so excited to be taking over this blog.

Since I’ve been employed here, I’ve helped work on a number of projects. I have helped digitize files, organize photos, and photocopy priceless documents. Although, my favorite part about the job is posting photos to our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. I really enjoy looking at the citrus labels that we have dedicated our Instagram account too. I’m also looking forward to researching different topics for posts on this blog.

I sincerely hope that after my good friend Selys leaves, I will be able to continue this blog with the same amount of creativity and elegance that she did. I hope to post regularly and to find unique topics such as citrus pests, today’s citrus industry, and interesting people who work with citrus (both of the past and present).

With all of the holidays coming up, I sincerely wish you all the best and hope you enjoy your time off.

Happy Holidays!

Written by Emma Morton

Student Fellow at the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame

In partnership with Florida Southern College’s McKay Archives Center

To Be or Not to Be an Inductee

               To be a Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Inductee is a great honor, one that is not granted to simply anyone. Inductees need to have motivation, dedication, and most importantly, a passion for the betterment of the citrus industry.

               According to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame website, when the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame was first established in 1962, seventeen nominees were inducted. Every year since then, between two to four new members have been inducted, making the grand total now 177.

               That’s a lot of citrus leaders!

               The website goes on to explain the committee that chooses these inductees. The committee is made up of representatives of different areas of the citrus industry. Each December, they choose recipients and then the actual induction process happens in March.

               

   So, who were these great inductees?

               They were extraordinary men, and even some women, with an amazing love for the citrus industry. They were distinguished leaders who did whatever they could to make exceptional contributions to the Florida citrus industry.

  What I find fascinating are the different kinds of contributions these men and women made. The contributions one inductee made could be completely different from the next. In 1988 inductee Anita Bryant’s case, that meant serving as a spokesperson for the citrus industry.¹ However, in 1988 inductee William G. Strickland’s case, it meant forming the Florida Fresh Citrus Shippers Association.²

 No inductee’s contribution was respected any less than another’s. They were all outstanding and important for the Florida citrus industry. This is why, after these men and women made their contributions, the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame made sure they received the credit they deserved.

              “The purpose of the Hall of Fame,” explains Thomas B. Mack in his book, Citrifacts II: A Portion of Florida Citrus History, “is to give recognition to the persons, living or dead, who have contributed unselfishly through time and effort to the development of the Florida citrus industry.”

              So, what happened after an inductee was inducted? The Florida Citrus Hall of Fame rewarded these inductees with plaques, pictures, and displays.³ What the inductees chose to do from there was up to them, but you can be sure they weren’t done with the citrus world.

              The inductees in the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame were all extraordinary leaders with a strong sense of responsibility to the citrus industry due to their love of citrus. They all have fascinating stories, which I hope to write more on, that are part of the history of the citrus industry and are worth remembering. The Florida Citrus Hall of Fame works to preserve their stories and help others remember the outstanding contributions these men and women have made.

  No wonder, too. I know I’d want to be remembered if, thanks to my efforts, people can enjoy Florida orange juice with their breakfast.

Written by Selys Rivera

Student Fellow at the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame

In partnership with Florida Southern College’s McKay Archives Center

For more information on the inductees, please visit the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame website Inductees section. 

Sources:

¹ Thomas B. Mack, Citrifacts II: A Portion of Florida Citrus History (United States of America: Associated Publications Corporation, 1998), 215.

² Justin Helm, “William G. ‘Bill’ Strickland (1908-2000),” Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, accessed October 3^rd, 2014, http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=670.

³ Mack, Citrifacts II, 215.

To Be or Not to Be a Citrus Queen

                What fascinates me the most from the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame archives at Florida Southern College’s McKay Archives Center is all of the Florida Citrus Queen/Miss Florida Citrus information. Since I know I’ll be writing about them the most (I mean, the stories are endless!), I thought it’d be a good idea to explain what it was to be a Citrus Queen.

                First, I won’t go into detail about the difference between Florida Citrus Queen and Miss Florida Citrus. All I will say is, though there were some crucial differences between the pageants and the positions, the main goal of a Florida Citrus Queen and Miss Florida Citrus was the same.

                So what was that main goal?

                According to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame website, the role of a Florida Citrus Queen, and later Miss Florida Citrus, was to represent the Florida citrus industry and promote it throughout the state, nation, and world.

                Wow, sounds like a big job.

                Because of the importance of this job, there was quite a selective procedure to choose who the new queen would be. Each year, approximately 20 beautiful young women would compete to hold the title. Every year, only one was crowned.

               

                Let me tell you how the queen was selected.

               

                There was an annual Florida Citrus Queen Pageant where these lovely ladies competed for the crown. The specifics of the pageant changed over the years. For example, in an interview with 1966 Florida Citrus Queen La Voyce Leggett Porter, I was told the pageant consisted of on-the-spot interviews, swimsuit and evening gown competitions, nothing more. However, later that changed.

Despite these changes, though, there was one commonality. Like any other beauty pageant, the contestants tried their best at each part of the competition and were judged on how well they competed. The one who did the best was crowned Florida Citrus Queen.

                 After being crowned, the winner would receive all sorts of perks. These included, but were not limited to, paid traveling expenses, a new wardrobe and luggage set in citrus colors, and even a car by 1976 (“Queen” 31).

                Sounds pretty sweet, right?

                As great as being queen sounds, there were many expectations and responsibilities with the title. For her reign, the queen was expected to devote an entire year to her title (“Queen” 31). During that year, the queen had to work hard to promote the Florida citrus industry.

                In the magazine article “A Contest, a Crown, and a Lot of Hard Work,” by Michael P. Mahoney, 1969 Florida Citrus Queen, Kathy Young, explained what it was like working long hours as a queen. She said, “Practically everything a citrus queen does requires that she begin at daybreak and work well into the evening hours” (16). Ms. Young, like other queens before and after her, had to work long hours for her position.

                Now, what exactly did the queen do during these long hours? The better question is what didn’t the queen do?

                If you could see a Citrus Queen’s to-do list, your eyes might widen in disbelief! There were visits to cities, convention appearances, photo shoots, television appearances, meetings and interviews with news people, and more, all several days at a time in one week (Mahoney 16, 18). There were even publicity stunts. The queen simply always had something to do.

                Hopefully this can help you understand a little more about what a Florida Citrus Queen was and what it took to be one. Fulfilling the role wasn’t easy, but it was a promising one that brought any woman who took the crown a sense of confidence, strength, and many fond memories. The perfect example to show this is a quote from the interview with 1966 Florida Citrus Queen, La Voyce Leggett Porter that I mentioned before, which I will close with:

                “All I can say,” said Mrs. Porter in reference to her reign, “is that it was one of the most positive things that happened in my life because it gave me insight…to further pursue any goals I would have and with that I, you know, hit the ground running!”

Written by Selys Rivera

Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Summer Intern

McKay Archives Center, Florida Southern College

For more information on the queens, please visit the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame website Citrus Queens section. You can also go to the Florida Citrus Queens/Miss Florida Citrus Facebook page as well.

Sources:

"Citrus Queens & Miss Florida Citrus." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Florida Citrus Hall of Fame,
             n.d. Web. 10 June 2014.

"Interview with La Voyce Leggett Porter." Personal interview. 3 June 2014.

Mahoney, Michael P. "A Contest, a Crown, and a Lot of Hard Work." Citrus & Vegetable Magazine
             Dec. 1975: 16+. Print.

"Queen Pageant Planned." Citrus & Vegetable Magazine Dec. 1975: 31-32. Print.

Jump Right In! The Citrus Is Fine!

Have you ever just sat down and thought about how important citrus is?

            Yeah, me neither.

            At least, not until I started working for the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame at Florida Southern College’s McKay Archives Center.

            When I first got this job a couple of weeks ago I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. I just thought to myself, “An archive center? It must be like working at a library. It’ll probably be boring and simple. I bet anyone could do this job. Oh well, at least I’ll get paid.”

            Well, I was wrong.

            I was overwhelmed with all I had to do (I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say it involves a little bit of everything). There was just so much information, both historical and new. My mind didn’t know how to process everything at first and I didn’t know how to proceed.

            That is, until something happened. I became absolutely…

Fascinated.

Now, I’ve always been a reader from a very young age, so I always enjoy finding out about a new story. Imagine my surprise when I found that working in the archives was like reading one gigantic story (pictures included!).

Beautiful, Southern belles in gorgeous evening dresses fiercely competed for the glorious title of Florida Citrus Queen/Miss Florida Citrus…

Devoted citrus growers and their families suffered as they watched the life being strangled out of their beloved crops during severe freezes…

Intelligent citrus scientists rattled their brains as they studied these fruits that enthralled and puzzled them…

Colorful citrus labels called out for attention, bragging about the delicious citrus products they represented…

And adorable, silly citrus cartoons and mascots brought laughter to citrus lovers everywhere.

The stories go on and on.

I can honestly say that I have never seen citrus in this light before. I really never thought much of citrus other than a glass of orange juice I might have had with breakfast. Suddenly, though, working for the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame at Florida Southern College’s McKay Archives Center has opened my eyes. Now the next time I drink my orange juice, I’ll be thinking about the history behind it and all of the people involved.

I just know I will never see citrus the same way again.

Written by Selys Rivera

Florida Citrus Hall of Fame Summer Intern

McKay Archives Center, Florida Southern College