“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”

Hello, reader! Earlier this week, my supervisors informed us of the next stage of our projects and the reorganization this endeavor entails. I learned that I would also be leading two of Jayden’s students as the lead of “team metadata,” where we will progress past metadata sheets to entering the collected information into the Dublin Core format. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to become more familiar with the Dublin Core format ahead of the announcement of the leadership changes to the students. Learning the ropes of Dublin Core was difficult at first; the various categories appeared overwhelming and numerous. However, I approached my first entry cautiously after reading the RICHES Metadata Guidebook thoroughly. I ended up finding it quite interesting after I started to get the hang of it! By the time I am writing this, I have finished 9/27 entries.

I visited the Museum of the Apopkans on Thursday, where I planned only to spend a couple of hours working on more of the Gladden Collection. To my surprise, I had the chance to meet Judy Ustler Babb, the donor of the Ustler family collection I was assigned. I introduced myself to Judy and told her that I was working on the materials she brought to the Fall 2024 Apopkans History Harvest. Upon hearing this, she burst into tears! She offered her time to sit with me and go through her family binder, and I immediately accepted. Finding public information on the Ustler family has been difficult for the younger generations, so I was grateful for any verified biographical data I could find, as well as having the ability to speak with Judy herself. 

Judy and I sat down in the library and spent hours flipping through the beautifully detailed family binder she has been working on for 30 years. Included in the binder were photographs, newspaper clippings, invitations, obituaries, and comprehensive family trees that Judy had created entirely from scratch. I was in awe of the collection she had amassed over the years concerning her and her family history.

From this meeting, I learned that James Phillip Ustler Sr. (January 4, 1931 - September 2, 1993) and Martha Louise Herndon (April 3, 1934-) were her parents, and that she had five other siblings. Judy and I explored the various branches of the Ustler family, focusing on her grandfather, Harry John Ustler, her grandmother, Dorothy Mae Skipworth, and their seven children. Additionally, I was overjoyed to be able to handle a physical photograph included in the Ustler folder! The subjects are Donald Shelton Ustler, Emma Ustler, Michael William Ustler, and Emma Ustler’s mother. 

Judy even considered working with UCF to preserve her family’s past, as she is the last Ustler in Apopka actively documenting their family history. I hope that once I complete my digitization work on the Gladden Collection that I may help preserve Judy’s three decades of dedication to her past. See you next week, reader, with more exciting Gladden finds from the first binder!