Oral history interview of Florence (Patchell) O’Connor, a docent for the Student Museum, located at 301 West Seventh Street in Sanford, Florida. O’Connor was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on November 10, 1931. While living in Pennsylvania, she taught elementary school for nine years. After marrying, she moved to Marlton, New Jersey and continued teaching and substitute teaching until 1991. That same year, she moved to Florida. O’Connor worked as a substitute teacher, and began volunteering as a docent in 1996. This interview was conducted by Katie Kelley at the UCF Public History Center on October 11, 2012.
The Student Museum, located at 301 West Seventh Street, was originally occupied by Sanford High School, which was established in 1902. The structure was designed by W. G. Talley in the Romanesque revival style. Due to an increasing student population, a new school building was constructed on the corner of East Ninth Street and South Palmetto Avenue in 1911. The original building on Seventh Street served as Westside Grammar Elementary School, which was later renamed Sanford Grammar School. In 1984, the structure was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places and converted into the Student Museum. The building reopened as the University of Central Florida’s Public History Center in 2012.