Documentation
of National History Day Project
The
Great Freeze of 1913
Over the course of the past two months we (Aleyx
Chew and Jarid Michael Borja) have prepared, researched, and completed the National History Day project on the Great Freeze
of 1913. We both wanted to do a local topic, because we’re interested in the history of our city. We decided to choose
the Great Freeze of 1913, because it seemed like an interesting topic. Considering that oranges are a huge part of Riverside,
we figured that it would be a beneficial project in learning about our city.
The next major decision was to choose the type
of project we were going to complete. We both decided on doing a web site because we wanted to be original. We are both taking
Web Design this year, and wanted to show off what we had learned. A friend had suggested that we use Tripod.com as a host
for our project. Tripod.com made it very simple to create a web page.
Finding research on the topic was not easy at
all. The internet offered very few pieces of information. Pictures were extremely difficult to find as well. The sites had
mentions of the Great Freeze of 1913, but not many details about it. We both felt that we were not going to have enough resources
to complete a great project. With the little bit of information that we did receive on the internet, we decided to get more
accurate information by visiting the UCR libraries. The libraries helped a great amount, and also offered several books that
we could photocopy. Finding the resources for this project was tough. For this topic, research had to be taken beyond the
internet and local libraries, and to the University level.
When doing the website we felt that it was necessary
to separate the website into five different categories. By doing this it gave our website depth and organization. We
wrote the information in paragraph form and had photos that went along with the text. The web site has a great color scheme
and the words are easy to see and read. This site by far has more information about the Great Freeze of 1913 than any other
site on the web.
Learning about the Great Freeze of 1913 helped broaden our prospective on the history of Riverside and how important citrus
was at the time. Also, how many lives were effected by the freeze.
We both realize that Mother Nature can destroy an empire of citrus goods and that with hard work and determination you can
overcome a tragedy as big as this one. We both feel that the Great Freeze of 1913 should be talked about more in the city
of Riverside. Most growers during our time have no clue that this event took place, even though it was such a disaster, and
had a great effect on the crops for several years to follow.
