The RICHES Project is active in a variety of academic contexts, with presentations, workshops, publications, reviews, grants, and various awards produced, conducted, or received over time. View the RICHES Project’s research activity here:
Presentations
Conference Workshops
Refereed:
RICHES,” 2-day workshop sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture in conjunction with the annual conference of the Association of African American Museums, Jackson Mississippi, August 5-10, 2019.
“Harvesting History: Engaging the Public in the Collection and Analysis of Local History” National Council on Public History, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2018, 4-hour workshop.
Organization of American Historians/National Council for Public History: Workshop: Podcasting, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2013.
Organization of American Historians/National Council for Public History: Workshop: Podcasting, 2012.
Non-Refereed, Invited:
U.S. Agricultural Information Network Meeting at the University of Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, April 2016.
East Tennessee State University – Johnson City, Tennessee: Presentation: “What’s in it for Me?: Successful Academic/Community Digital Partnerships, The RICHES Experience,” March 2015. Presentation: “Enjoying the Rewards and Negotiating the Perils of Interdisciplinary Digital Projects and Partnerships,” March 2015.
Society of Florida Archivists Annual Meeting – Orlando, Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, May 2014.
Florida Society of Archivists: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2012.
Conference Papers Presented
Refereed:
International:
“The Near Destruction and Restoration of Lake Apopka: War, Agriculture, and Grassroots Activism, 1940-2020,” Agricultural History Society, Knoxville, TN, 2023.
“Harvesting History: Democratizing the Past through the Digitization of Community History,” Alliance of Digital Humanities, Krakow, Poland, July 2016. Pauley Travel Grant, $1000.
“Using Multiple Strategies to Find Connections in Digital Archives: Making Sense of Historical Data,” Poster Session, Alliance of Digital Humanities, Sydney, Australia, July 1, 2015.
International Alliance of Digital Humanities – Krakow, Poland: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, July 2016.
National Council on Public History – Ottawa, Canada: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2013.
National:
“It’s All in the Bag: Developing the BookBag Tool to Organize and Analyze Data and Create Narratives on the Site Annual HASTAC Conference, UCF, November 3, 2017.
“Podcasting: Where the Academic and Public Meet,” Organization of American Historians, San Francisco, April 12, 2013.
“RICHES of Central Florida: Enriching the community and the
Curriculum with a local History Project, American Historical Association, Chicago, January 7, 2012.
American Historical Association – Chicago, Illinois: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2012.
Gulf South Historical Association: Panel/Presentation: Digital History, 2012.
Organization of American Historians – Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2012.
National Council on Public History – Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2012.
National Humanities Alliance – Washington, D.C.: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2011.
National Council on Public History – Pensacola, Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2011.
Poster Sessions
Refereed:
Southern Historical Association – Atlanta, Georgia: Presentation of Black Entrepreneurship Digital Exhibit, November 2026.
Southern Historical Association – Atlanta, Georgia: Presentation of Black Entrepreneurship Digital Exhibit, November 2026.
Southern Historical Association – Atlanta, Georgia: Presentation of Black Entrepreneurship Digital Exhibit, November 2026.
2015 Global Digital Humanities Conference (International Conference of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organization) – Sydney, Australia: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, June 2015.
Non-Refereed:
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, October 2026.
Florida Historical Society Public History Forum – Daytona Beach, Florida, May 28-30, 2026.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, October 2025.
Florida Historical Society Public History Forum – Orlando, Florida: Presented with RICHES and the Orange County Regional History Center, May 2025.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, October 2024.
Florida Historical Society Public History Forum – Tallahassee, Florida: With the Tallahassee Historical Society Bicentennial Conference, May 2024.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, October 2023.
Florida Historical Society Public History Forum – Lakeland, Florida: With the Florida State Genealogical Society, May 2023.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, October 2022.
Florida Historical Society Public History Forum, May 2022.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, October 2021.
Florida Historical Society Public History Forum, May 2021.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, October 2020.
Florida Historical Society Public History Forum, May 2020.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, 2019.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, 2018.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, 2017.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, 2016.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium – St. Augustine, Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, May 2015.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, 2014.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, 2013.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, 2012.
Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting & Symposium, Panel/Presentation: Digital History, 2011.
Florida Parks & African American Heritage Preservation Network – Tallahassee, Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, May 2015.
Florida Historical Society Conference – Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, May 2014.
Society of Florida Archivists Annual Meeting – Orlando, Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, May 2014.
Florida African American Preservation Network – Tallahassee, Florida: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2014.
Keynote Speaker and Invited Lectures
“Pathways to Parramore” Presentation to City of Orlando, August 20, 2016.
“‘Ordinary’ People,’ Extraordinary Lives,” National Genealogical Society, Ft. Lauderdale, Opening Keynote Address, May 2016.
“The Democratization of History: Carl Becker’s ‘Everyman’ in the Digital World,” Florida Conference of Historians, Orlando, Florida, February 2016.
National Genealogical Society 2016 Family History Conference
Presentation: “Exploring the Centuries: Footprints in Time, Opening Session Address,” May 2016.
Florida Conference of Historians: Keynote Address by Dr. Connie L. Lester, Poster Presentation: “Using Multiple Strategies to Find Connections in Digital Archives: Making Sense of Historical Data, February 2016.
THATCamp
THATCamp (The Humanities and Technology Camp) is an informal, participant-driven “unconference” that originated at George Mason University to bring together scholars, librarians, archivists, and technologists interested in the digital humanities. The University of Central Florida launched THATCamp Florida in 2010 and hosted the event annually through the mid-2010s before it moved to the University of North Florida. During a UCF-hosted THATCamp around 2015, participants developed the idea for the Florida Digital Humanities Consortium (FLDH), a statewide network of digital humanities scholars. Today, FLDH continues to foster collaboration across Florida and hosts an academic conference every other year.
2018 THATCamp Florida – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida: Final Florida THATCamp before the THATCamp network was discontinued. Participants included UCF faculty, graduate students, librarians, and public historians. February 24, 2018.
2017 THATCamp Florida –UCF Center for Emerging Media, Downtown Orlando, Florida: Theme: “Talk. Make. Teach. Play.” Included archaeology, virtual learning, augmented reality, and digital pedagogy sessions. February 25, 2017.
2016 THATCamp Florida – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida: Featured topics including accessibility, digital humanities pedagogy, UCF Libraries, Big Read@UCF, and Florida digital projects. February 20. 2016.
2015 THATCamp Florida – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida: Included sessions on RICHES, mapping tools, public history, podcasts, GIS, digital libraries, and archives. February 28, 2015.
2014 THATCamp Florida – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida: Continued the annual statewide unconference for digital humanities practitioners at UCF, including a demonstration of the RICHE Mosaic Interface. February 2014.
2013 THATCamp Florida – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida: Featured sessions on digital history, archives, GIS, History Harvests, and digital storytelling. February 16, 2013.
2012 THATCamp Florida – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida: Second annual event featuring collaborative sessions on public history, Omeka, digital storytelling, museum interpretation, social media, digital archives, and community engagement. February 17-18, 2012.
2011 THATCamp Florida – University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida: The inaugural THATCamp Florida, organized by UCF’s digital humanities community. Sessions focused on digital humanities, public history, archives, pedagogy, GIS, and emerging technologies. February 18-19, 2011.
Roundtable, Invited Panelist
Refereed:
Organization of American Historians – San Francisco, California: Presentation/Demonstration of RICHES MI, 2013.
Non-Refereed:
International:
“Historical Podcasting and Its Public,” National Council for Public History, Ottawa, Canada, April 19, 2013.
National:
“RICHES of Florida Agriculture, 1870-1945,” U.S. Agricultural Information Network, 15th Biennial Conference, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, April 2016.
“Podcasting and Public History,” Organization of American Historians, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 21, 2012.
State:
“RICHES Mosaic Interface,” Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network Conference, Tallahassee, Florida, May 19, 2015.
“Engaging the Public: RICHES and Digital History at UCF,” Florida Historical Society Annual Meeting and Symposium, May 23, 2015.
“The RICHES Project and the Florida Historical Quarterly online,” Florida Historical Society, Tampa, May 26, 2012.
“RICHES of Central Florida,” Florida Society of Archivists, Sarasota, Florida, May 2, 2012.
Invited Conference Presentations
“RICHES Digital Archiving Project,” Southern Historical Association, Public History Market Place, St. Petersburg, FL, November 7, 2025.
UCF Celebrates the Arts, Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando, FL: “The Roots of Entrepreneurship in Parramore, 1870-1965,” April 11, 2025.
“RICHES Mosaic Interface,” East Tennessee State University, March 19, 2015.
23rd Annual Humanities Day, Bethune-Cookman University, March 20, 2013.
Publications
Articles and Essays
Refereed:
Connie L. Lester, Patricia Carlton, and Sara Raffel, “Interpreting Pulse: Engaging Community Interpretations of Tragedy,” Public Historian, e-publication (October 2019) in collaboration with “Queering Public History: State of the Field,” The Public Historian 41, no. 2 (May 2019).
Denise Gammonley, Connie L. Lester, Daniel Fleishman, Llyod Duran, & Geoffrey Cravero, “Using Life History Narratives to Educate Staff Members About Personhood in Assisted Living,” Gerontology & Geriatrics Education 35 (2014). Oral history project for RICHES. PDF
Articles, Essays, Refereed: Produced by the RICHES Team
Amy Giroux, Connie Harper, Paul Wiegand, “Evaluating Multi-criteria Connection Mechanisms: a new algorithm for browsing digital Archives,” Digital Scholarship in the Humanities https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqz057 (17 October 2017).
Non-Refereed:
Connie L. Lester and James C. Clark, “To Attract, Retain, and Grow: The History of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council,” (Florida High Tech Corridor Council, 2013) | PDF
Exhibits
2026 “Black Entrepreneurship in Parramore,” Bending Toward Justice Digital Exhibit Space, https://bendingtowardjustice.cah.ucf.edu.
2026 “The Historic Goldsboro Commemorative Quilt Project” City of Sanford, February 2026.
2021 “Voting Rights and Voter Suppression: Ocoee as a Case Study,” Bending Toward Justice Digital Exhibit Space, https://bendingtowardjustice.cah.ucf.edu.
2020 The Women of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, October 2020.
2017 Westinghouse Power Generation in Orlando – the early days, October 2017.
2017 “Resilience: Remembering Pulse,” Digital Exhibits, Citizen Curator Project, funded by IMLS Grant.
2017 Citizen Curator Project, May 2017.
2017 The Path to Equality: Black Student Life at UCF, February 2017.
2017 Theater: From Tragic FTU to Broadway UCF, February 2017.
2017 Development, Involvement, and Philanthropy: Greek Life at UCF, February 2017.
2017 UCF Homecoming: The Annual Campus Expansion Report, February 2017.
2016 “Florida Agriculture in the 1920s,” catalog essay, “The Eyes of the Hungry: Florida’s Changing Landscape,” Big Read Exhibit (John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath).
2016 Westinghouse Power Generation in Orlando: A Timeline of Managerial and Organizational Evolution, August 2016.
2016 A Brief History of Westinghouse Gas Turbines: The First 50 Years, August 2016.
2016 Comics Fighting: And Underground War for LGBTQ Visibility, August 2016.
2016 From the Florida Frontier to a City’s Backbone: Orlando’s Public Service, 1870s-1950s, February 2016.
2016 The Transition from Tranquil Town to Technology Titan: Orlando in the 1950s and 1960s, February 2016.
2016 An Unlikely Candidate: Orlando’s Post-World War I Economic Boom, February 2016.
2016 From Civil Rights to Civilization: Policy Makers Bring Change to the Diversifying Community of Orlando, February 2016.
2016 Central Florida’s Military Impact on National Events and the Local Community, February 2016.
2015 Florida Epinal Cemetery Project, December 2015.
2015 Orlando Remembered, December 2015.
2015 Meeting the Needs of a Growing Metropolis: The Orlando Post Office and Its People, October 2015.
2015 The Building and Beyond: Orlando’s Post Office and Its Evolving Community, October 2015.
2015 From Church to Post Office, October 2015.
2015 “Art Legends of Orange County,” Digital Exhibit in collaboration with physical exhibits at the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden, Orange County Board of Commissioners, City of Orlando Terrace Gallery, CityArts Factory, Maitland Art and History Museums, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Crealdé School of Art, Orange County Regional History Center, Orlando Museum of Art, UCF Art Gallery.
2015 Legends: The Next Generation, August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: Paintings by Steve Lotz, August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: Orange County Regional History Center, August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: Crealdé School of Art, August 2015.
2015 Doris Leeper: Hard Edges, August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: Smith, Hurt, Orr and Bok – The Grand Experiment, August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: Friendship = Featuring Art Legend Johann Eyfells and Friend Robin VanArsdol (R.V.), August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: 1932-1982, August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: Judy Albertson and Louise Peterson Artists I, II, and III, August 2015.
2015 Art Legends of Orange County: The Art of Hal McIntosh, July 2015.
2015 Invisible History: Black Life in Oviedo, July 2015.
2014 A Transformed Block: The Development of South Orange Avenue, October 2014.
2014 Up From The Ashes, August 2014.
2014 Orlando Public Library, July 2014.
2014 Orlando Regions Bank, July 2014.
2014 Transformation: From Civilian to Sailors, July 2014.
2014 Central Florida Railroad Depots, April 2014.
2013 Vibrant African-American Community in the 1920s and 1930s, November 2013.
2013 Hidden in Plain Sight: A Selection of Central Florida Monuments, October 2013.
2012 Origins of the Celery City (1877-1913), November 2012.
2012 Politics, Tourism, Education, Non-Profits…Oh My!, November 2012.
Documentary Films
2022 “I, Too: A Documentary Film from the Mind of Carole Anderson” (Bertelsmann Foundation, 2022), On-Camera Historian, Consultant .
2020 “The Ocoee Massacre: The Truth Laid Bare,” UCF Documentary film.
2016 “Filthy Dreamers,” Film Narrator, Nominated Sun Coast Emmy.
2012 “The Committee,” UCF Documentary film, Winner Emmy Award in the “Documentary – Historical” category.
2010 “Shadows of the Past, Reflections for the Future,” UCF Documentary film.
Podcasts
RICHES Podcast Documentaries
Robert Cassanello, Associate Professor of History from the University of Central Florida, produced a 58-episode series of podcasts about the history of Central Florida. Students from the UCF Public History program produced individual episodes on a variety of subjects with cooperation from local area partners, which are available on the RICHES YouTube page and RICHES MI.
A History of Central Florida
A History of Central Florida Podcast is a 50-episode podcast that examines the history of Central Florida through local area objects found in museums, historical organizations and other places. The series was produced by Robert Cassanello, Associate Professor of History from the University of Central Florida. The episodes are available on the RICHES YouTube page, UCF STARS, and RICHES MI.
Academic Reviews of RICHES
“Best Historical Materials 2012,” Reference & User Services Quarterly 53, no. 3 (Spring 2014): 267-268.
RICHES Rated Among the Best Resources for Historical Research
Each year, the RUSA/CODES History Section Historical Materials Committee selects an assortment of resources that reflect the best resources for historical research. RICHES made the 2013 list. Click here to read the committee review (pg.267 – 268).
Research Awards and Grants
2010-2026 RICHES and RICHES Projects $1,090,435 in total funding
External Grant Funding, RICHES, $143,719
o City of Orlando, Parramore Speaks Oral History Project, January 1, 2025-August 1, 2025, $30,000
o Iron Mountain Community Engagement Grant, January 2022-completion, $42,000
o National Endowment for the Humanities, PI, January 2016-June 2017, $11,719
o National Endowment for the Humanities, PI, September 2010-2012, $50,000
o Florida High Tech Corridor Council, PI, May 2011-June 2012, $10,000
External Grant Funding, co-PI with UCF Academic Units, $520,169
o Center for Humanities and Digital Research, NEH Infrastructure and Capacity Challenge Grant, “Expanding UCF’s Center for Humanities and Digital Research (CHDR) Infrastructure, Research, and Public Programming,” $193,736 (2020) + Match for NEH grant, $193, 736 for total of $387,472
o National Endowment for the Arts, Artworks, 2019-2020, co-PI, $50,000
o IMLS, Citizen Curator Project, with T&T, UCF Library, School of Arts and Design, 2016-2018, $25,000.
o National Endowment for the Arts, The Big Read, 2015 and 2016, $27,000
o Winter Park Health Foundation, with UCF Social Work, May 2011-June 2012, $20,997
Internal Grant Funding, RICHES, $309,728
o Center for Humanities and Digital Research, UCF Technology Fee Grant Award, “Digital Humanities Makerspace for Student and Community Engaged Projects,” $128,000 (2020) Submitted by Scot French_site preparation for NEH Infrastructure grant
o UCF-CAH PLANT Grant, PI, February 2017-December 2017, $30,000
o UCF-CAH SEED Grants, November 2015-August 2015
• “Shared Learning: The Space Coast’s Voyage to the Moon,” PI, $9,040
• “RICHES Unit Incentive,” $9,998
• “Pilot Project to Implement Connections Module,” RICHES Team, $8,840
• “Entity Extraction: A Joint RICHES and CHDR Project,” RICHES Team, $10,000
• “The Animators History Project,” co-PI, $12,250
• “The Citizen Curator Project,” co-PI, $12,500
• LIFE Grant, co-PI, 2009, $1350
RICHES’ Community Partner Projects (co-PI) Grant Funding, $100,212
o Peace and Justice Institute, Valencia College, #Votes4All, Florida Humanities, $5,000 (2020)
o Friends of Weeki Wachee, “History Harvests with Weeki Wachi Mermaids,” Florida Humanities Council $5,000 (2019)
o Community Veterans History: $53,500; 2 LIFE grants totaling $2500 and 4 Anne J. Caudel Foundation grants (2013-2021) totaling $51,000
o Documentary Films & Podcasts: $2,500; Life grant (2010) and Florida Humanities Council Grant (2011)
o Home Movie Archives: $18,356; National Film Preservation Grant (2011), $6,400; CAH Research Incentive Grant (2011), $11,956
RICHES Community In-Kind Support, $79,000
o Museum of Seminole County, $25,000 (digitization of Sanford Herald)
o Adaptive Assessment System, $35,000 (technical support for constructing RICHES Mosaic Interface)
o I/O Trak, $10,000 (technical assistance for History Harvests)
o Simiosys, $9,000 (creative support on Story Trove Project)
Other Awards:
2013 Bethune-Cookman University, Humanities Advisory Seminar
2011 University of Central Florida Diversity Week Award