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About
The Lone Sailor Project is an ongoing collaborative effort between the UCF History Department and the Central Florida Council of the United States Navy to enhance the informational exhibit around the Lone Sailor sculpture in Blue Jacket Park. The Sculpture and the Park were built to memorialize the Naval Training center that operated between 1968 and 1995. Between 1973 and 1995, any woman enlisted into the Navy was brought to the training Center in Orlando for Basic Training. UCF’s Lone Sailor project looks to enhance the educational materials surrounding and influence the construction and commission of a second statue that memorializes the women who trained in Orlando.

The Project started when Carla Hoskins of the Central Florida branch of the Navy League of the United States (NLUS) reached out to Dr. Gannon after Dr. Beiler’s class did research on Blue Jacket Park. Dr. Gannon’s Undergraduate students and the Veterans History Project helped lead the charge on this project by conducting oral history interviews of Orlando Navy Veterans. After collecting the oral histories and the commissioning of the first Lone Sailor sculpture, the project looked to enhance the memorialization experience by adding educational materials to surround the statue. Two UCF Graduate Students in the History Department, Zach Barnes and Danyel LaFear, began working on ten educational panels surrounding the sculpture that provide context for patrons of the Park. The educational panels will feature audio components that use the oral history interviews available on RICHES, as well as QR codes provide a digital component to the panels.

Principle Investigators
Dr. Gannon, Project Lead
Carla Hoskins, Secretary of Central Florida NLUS

Student Involvement
Dr. Gannon’s Undergraduate Students
Zac Barnes, Graduate Student, History
Danyel LaFear, Graduate Student, History
Mark Barnes, Graduate Student, History

Partners
Central Florida Navy League of the United States
RICHES
UCF Community Veterans History Project