After the death of her stepfather in 1987, she and her husband left their home in California to be close to her mother Dorothy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

[7] At the time, Dorothy Porter was working on organizing her sources on William Cooper Nell in order to write a comprehensive biography on him.

The collection that Uzelac curated included not only manuscripts and cookbooks from African-American slaves and servants, but also non-literary materials such as paintings, sculptures, carvings, and quilts.

The vast majority of her collection is at the Broward County Main Library titled The Archives of Dorothy Porter Wesley.

[10] In addition to her curation work, she also served on the board of the Greater Fort Lauderdale branch of Sister Cities International.