The history of the Regional Initiative for Collecting History, Experiences, & Stories (RICHES) dates back to the spring of 2009, when interested History Department faculty met at the campus coffee shop to discuss a proposal made by Jose Fernandez, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities. Dean Fernandez offered to fund a proposal that would create an ongoing interdisciplinary project. At the end of the afternoon, the group had the “bones” of a proposal: a digital archive that would focus on Central Florida History and Culture. Two faculty members, Dr. Peter Larson and Dr. John Sacher provided the name. The full proposal was submitted to Dean Fernandez in June 2009. Once approved, Dr. Beiler, chair of the Department of History secured internal funding to launch the project.
During the fall 2009 semester, Dr. Rosalind Beiler, History Department Chair, Dr. Larry Davis, CEO of Adaptive Assessment Services, and Dr. Connie L. Lester, Interim Director of RICHES developed an outline for RICHES Mosaic Interface, the interactive archive. The planning document was published at the end of January 2010. A programmer (Connie Harper) and director (Connie Lester) were hired. In 2010 RICHES was awarded $50,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the creation of the website.
Beginning in the city of Sanford, RICHES quickly expanded to collect and archive the history of multiple communities and, although its collection primarily focused on Central Florida, it soon included material from across the state. The interests of faculty members throughout the College of Arts & Humanities were soon reflected in the collections.
- Dr. Scot French, Director of Public History, introduced RICHES to History Harvests.
- Dr. Amy Giroux, Center for Humanities and Digital Research, assisted with ABBYY FineReader in making 100 years of the Sandford Herald newspaper available. Later she joined the Bending Toward Justice team in creating the “Voting Rights & Voter Suppression” interactive digital exhibit.
- Dr. Fon Gordon, Director of Africana Studies, was a partner in creating the “Voting Rights & Voter Suppression” interactive digital exhibit.
- Dr. Robert Cassanello, Associate Professor of History, introduced RICHES to podcasting and produced several documentary films on Central Florida history with Dr. Lisa Mills.
- Dr. Barbara Gannon, Director of Veterans History Project (VHP), and her students collected oral histories that were archived in RICHES, the UCF Library, and the National Archive.
- Dr. Amelia Lyons, Director of the Veterans Legacy Project, and her students established a collection titled “Florida Soldiers in France,” which was archived in RICHES.
From its modest beginnings, RICHES has developed into a robust site that includes the collections from multiple towns and communities, social organizations, and cultural institutions.