Project: Golden Personalities

Since its founding in 1885, Winter Park has been the home of Rollins, “set like a gem amid the water blue,” the College and the town have grown together over the past 124 years; each has drawn from and shared with the other in a symbiotic relationship. Noted one resident: “Winter Park would not today be the community of cultivated people that it is without the presence of the College. On the other hand a college without a town and there are some is a less interesting and vibrant place to be.” To explore and celebrate this heritage, a student-faculty collaborative research project was launched in summer 2009.

Hamilton Holt (1872-1951), eighth president of the College, coined the term Golden Personalities – “men and women of learning whose sole love was teaching, who enjoyed associating with young people, individuals with noble characters.” Over his tenure of twenty-five years (1925-1949), Holt dedicated himself to the task of bringing such people to Winter Park. To honor Holt, this project seeks to document the lives of leading citizens of both Rollins College and the City of Winter Park. Those deceased figures include not only the founding fathers and early settlers, pioneers and leaders in education, but also influential individuals of town and gown, and community advocates among others.

The members of the project team include: Alia Alli (’11), Angelica Garcia (’10), David Irvin (’10) and Kerem Rivera (’10), with Professors Wenxian Zhang of College Archives and Julian Chambliss of History Department as faculty leaders. This research project would not be possible without the generous support from the Dean of Faculty Office, and Dr. Thomas Moore, the Coordinator of Rollins Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Program. The project team also would like to thank Trudy Laframboise of Rollins Archives, Barbara White of Winter Park Public Library, and Fairolyn Livingston of the Winter Park Heritage Center for their research assistance, and Paul Gindlesperger of Olin Library for his technical support in web design.