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Impossible Returns: Narratives of the Cuban Diaspora
by Iraida H. LopezIn this one-of-a-kind volume, Iraida López explores various narratives of return by those who left Cuba as children or adolescents. Including memoirs, semi-autobiographical fiction, and visual arts, many of these accounts feature a physical arrival on the island while others depict a metaphorical or vicarious experience by means of fictional characters or childhood reminiscences. As two-way migration increases in the post-Cold War period, many of these narratives put to the test the boundaries of national identity. Through a critical reading of works by Cuban American artists and writers like María Brito, Ruth Behar, Carlos Eire, Cristina García, Ana Mendieta, Gustavo Pérez Firmat, Ernesto Pujol, Achy Obejas, and Ana Menéndez, López highlights the affective ties as well as the tensions underlying the relationship between returning subjects and their native country. Impossible Returns also looks at how Cubans still living on the island depict returning émigrés in their own narratives, addressing works by Jesús Díaz, Humberto Solás, Carlos Acosta, Nancy Alonso, Leonardo Padura, and others. Blurring the lines between disciplines and geographic borders, this book underscores the centrality of Cuba for its diaspora and bears implications for other countries with widespread populations in exile.
Jacksonville After the Fire, 1901–1919: A New South City (Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series)
by James B. CrooksThe books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on the environment, culture, urban development, and the movement of peoples, both forced and voluntary. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series gathers the rich data available in these architectural, archaeological, cultural, and historical works, as well as the travelogues and naturalists’ sketches of the area in prior to the twentieth century, making it accessible for scholars and the general public alike. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, under the Humanities Open Books program.
The Quotable Edison
by Michele Wehrwein Albion & Paul IsraelThomas Edison was the "Wizard of Menlo Park." A prolific inventor and holder of numerous patents, he was also called a "magician," "the Napoleon of Science," and the "Inventor of the Age." But he was also a practical joker, a self-made man with a certain disdain for polite society, an ambitious explorer, and a public intellectual. The Quotable Edison offers a wealth of his insightful, enlightening, and sometimes humorous comments and witticisms on a wide range of subjects, from business to politics, from religion to nutrition, from advice to boys to opinions on women’s clothing.
Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies
by Susan J. Fernandez Robert P. IngallsFlorida has been the location and subject of hundreds of feature films, from Cocoanuts (1929) to Monster (2004). Portraying the state and its people from the silent era to the present, these films have explored the multitude of Florida images and cliches that have captured the public's imagination--a nature lover's paradise, a wildlife refuge, a tourist destination, home to the "cracker," and a haven for the retired, the rich, the immigrant, and the criminal. Sunshine in the Dark is the first complete study of how the movie industry has immortalized Florida’s extraordinary scenery, characters, and history on celluloid.Historians Fernández and Ingalls have identified more than 300 films about Florida--many of them shot on location in the state--to analyze how filmmakers from the Marx Brothers and John Huston to Oliver Stone and Francis Ford Coppola have portrayed the state and its people. Prior to the 1960s, cinematic trips to Florida usually brought happy endings in movies like Moon Over Miami (1942), but since the 1970s, films like Scarface (1982) have emphasized the state's menacing aspects.In the authors' analysis of the films, which examines location settings, plotlines, and characters, they find a bevy of Florida stereotypes among the leading characters--from the struggling crackers in The Yearling (1946) to the drug-addicted con man in Adaptation (2002). Featuring more than 100 still photographs from movies, as well as filmographies by year and genre, the book is an encyclopedic resource for movie fans and anyone interested in Florida popular culture.
Ditch of Dreams: The Cross Florida Barge Canal and the Struggle for Florida's Future (Florida History and Culture)
by Steven Noll David TegederFor centuries, men dreamed of cutting a canal across the Florida peninsula. Intended to reduce shipping times, it was championed in the early twentieth century as a way to make the mostly rural state a center of national commerce and trade.Rejected by the Army Corps of Engineers as "not worthy," the project received continued support from Florida legislators. Federal funding was eventually allocated and work began in the 1930s, but the canal quickly became a lightning rod for controversy.Steven Noll and David Tegeder trace the twists and turns of the project through the years, drawing on a wealth of archival and primary sources. Far from being a simplistic morality tale of good environmentalists versus evil canal developers, the story of the Cross Florida Barge Canal is a complex one of competing interests amid the changing political landscape of modern Florida.Thanks to the unprecedented success of environmental citizen activists, construction was halted in 1971, though it took another twenty years for the project to be canceled. Though the land intended for the canal was deeded to the state and converted into the Cross Florida Greenway, certain aspects of the dispute--including the fate of Rodman Reservoir--have yet to be resolved.
Adventures of a Transplanted Gardener: Advice for New Florida Gardeners
by Ginny StiboltA starter guide to cultivating plants that flourish in Florida Ideal for gardeners new to Florida and residents who want to try their hands at gardening for the first time, this starter guide helps readers learn to grow plants in the state’s unique natural environment. Botanist and lifelong gardener Ginny Stibolt shares helpful stories, advice, and tips from her own experience moving to Florida, where she discovered that the rules she had followed did not apply.Stibolt tells readers what they can do to avoid the beginner mistakes she made and dispels common misconceptions about which plants to grow and how to grow them in Florida. Introducing Florida’s water features, natural areas, and native plant communities, Stibolt shows what a “Real Florida” landscape looks like and explains how working with this knowledge makes gardening easier and more successful. She explores useful topics including gardening for birds and butterflies, growing food, composting, and stormwater management. Stibolt also points to resources for digging deeper into these and related subjects based on the reader’s needs and location within the state.Full of friendly, reliable, and commonsense expertise, Adventures of a Transplanted Gardener sets aspiring growers on the fast track to cultivating plants that flourish in Florida. This book is the perfect resource for anyone interested in the challenges, rewards, and beauty of gardening in the Sunshine State.
Going Ape: Florida's Battles over Evolution in the Classroom
by Brandon HaughtBefore William Jennings Bryan successfully prosecuted John Scopes in the infamous “Scopes Monkey Trial,” he was a prominent antievolution agitator in Florida.In Going Ape, Brandon Haught tells the riveting story of how the war over teaching evolution began and unfolded in Florida, one of the nation’s bellwether states. It still simmers just below the surface, waiting for the right moment to engulf the state.The saga opens with the first shouts of religious persecution and child endangerment in 1923 Tallahassee and continues today with forced delays and extra public hearings in state-level textbook adoptions. These ceaseless battles feature some of the most colorful culture warriors imaginable: a real estate tycoon throwing his fortune into campaigns in Miami; lawmakers attempting to insert the mandatory teaching of creationism into bills; and pastors and school board members squabbling in front of the national media that descends into their small town. The majority of participants, however, have been, and still are, average people, and Haught expertly portrays these passionate citizens and the sense of moral duty that drives each of them.Given a social climate where the teaching of evolution continues to sharply divide neighbors and communities, Going Ape is a must-read for anyone concerned with the future of public education.
Miami: City of the Future, Revised Edition
by T. D. AllmanWith trenchant observations and witty prose, T. D. Allman takes readers on a tour of Miami's people, cultures, politics, and neighborhoods. In doing so he lays out a portrait of the profound changes overtaking American life everywhere. This twenty-fifth-anniversary edition remains a classic guide to a city teeming with money, exotic cargo, illegal drugs, and immigrants from all corners of the globe. As readers of this long-time bestseller have always appreciated, this also is a prophetic book--describing an emerging new America that, today, is all around us, whatever city or suburb or gated community we call home.
New Directions in the Study of African American Recolonization (Southern Dissent)
by Beverly C. Tomek and Matthew J. HetrickThis volume closely examines the movement to resettle black Americans in Africa, an effort led by the American Colonization Society during the nineteenth century and a heavily debated part of American history. Some believe it was inspired by antislavery principles, but others think it was a proslavery reaction against the presence of free blacks in society. Moving beyond this simplistic debate, contributors link the movement to other historical developments of the time, revealing a complex web of different schemes, ideologies, and activities behind the relocation of African Americans to Liberia. They explain what colonization, emigration, immigration, abolition, and emancipation meant within nuanced nineteenth-century contexts, looking through many lenses to more accurately reflect the past. Contributors: Eric Burin | Andrew Diemer | David F. Ericson | Bronwen Everill | Nicholas Guyatt | Debra Newman Ham | Matthew J. Hetrick | Gale Kenny | Phillip W. Magness | Brandon Mills | Robert Murray | Sebastian N. Page | Daniel Preston | Beverly Tomek | Andrew N. Wegmann | Ben Wright | Nicholas P. Wood A volume in the series Southern Dissent, edited by Stanley Harrold and Randall M. Miller
Thatched Roofs and Open Sides: The Architecture of Chickees and Their Changing Role in Seminole Society
by Carrie DilleySoutheast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians Award of Excellence for a Book In Thatched Roofs and Open Sides, Carrie Dilley reveals the design, construction, history, and cultural significance of the chickee, the unique Seminole structure made of palmetto and cypress. Dilley illustrates how the multipurpose structure has developed over time to meet the changing needs of the Seminole Tribe.
Velvet Jihad: Muslim Women's Quiet Resistance to Islamic Fundamentalism
by Faegheh ShiraziThere are numerous conflicts ensuing in the Middle East, but not all are being fought with rockets and rifles. While the Internet has proven invaluable to those who wish to uphold a patriarchal society and spread the message of Islamic fundamentalism, Muslim women have used the Web to build a transnational community intent on growing women’s rights in the Middle East.There is a large disparity between a Muslim woman's role according to the Qur'an and her role as some corners of Muslim society have interpreted it. In Velvet Jihad Faegheh Shirazi reveals the creative strategies Muslim women have adopted to quietly fight against those who would limit their growing rights.Shirazi examines issues that are important to all women, from routine matters such as daily hygiene and clothing to controversial subjects like abortion, birth control, and virginity. As a woman with linguistic expertise and extensive life experience in both Western and Middle Eastern cultures, she is uniquely positioned as an objective observer and reporter of changes and challenges facing Muslim women globally.
Monumental Dreams: The Life and Sculpture of Ann Norton
by Caroline SeebohmIn 1929, the Museum of Modern Art opened its doors, showing the astonishing paintings of Picasso, Matisse, and other avant garde artists. Young American artists quickly responded by experimenting with impressionism, cubism, and abstraction.In Monumental Dreams, author Caroline Seebohm tells the riveting story of how Ann Norton (1905–1982)—a child of the South who had eschewed her Alabama roots to become a sculptor in New York City—joined this new guard. She studied with John Hovannes and Jose de Creeft and was studio assistant to Alexander Archipenko. Her work was well received, and by age 35, she had already participated in group shows at MOMA and the Whitney Museum of American Art.Despite her burgeoning career, Norton found New York a difficult place to live. In search of paying work, she moved to Florida, where she became a teacher at the Norton Gallery and School of Art, founded by retired Acme Steel president Ralph Hubbard Norton. The two built a relationship based on love as well as common aesthetic values, and after his death, she built her finest and lasting work. Today, her monolithic sculptures—in the spirit of Stonehenge, Henry Moore, and Buddhist temple art—can be admired in the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens.
Urban Ecology for Citizens and Planners
by Gail Hansen Joseli MacedoIdeal for city residents, developers, designers, and officials looking for ways to bring urban environments into harmony with the natural world and make cities more sustainable, Urban Ecology for Citizens and Planners offers a wealth of information and examples that will answer fundamental scientific questions, guide green initiatives, and inform environmental policies and decision-making processes. This book provides an overview of the synergistic relationships between humans and nature that shape the ecology of urban green spaces. It also emphasizes the social and cultural value of nature in cities for human health and well-being. Chapters describe the basic science of natural components and ecosystems in urban areas and explore the idea of biophilic urbanism, the philosophy of building nature into the framework of cities. To illustrate these topics, chapters include projects, case studies, expert insights, and successful citizen science programs from urban areas around the world. Authors Gail Hansen and Joseli Macedo argue that citizens have increasingly important roles to play in the environmental future of the cities they live in. A valuable resource for real-world solutions, this volume encourages citizens and planners to actively engage and collaborate in improving their communities and quality of life.
Voices of Civil Rights Lawyers: Reflections from the Deep South, 1964–1980
by Kent Spriggs“Fascinating. . . . The kind of book you can open anywhere, maybe thumb back or forth a few pages, and settle into a good story.”—USA Today "One of the great, largely unknown stories of American history. This volume is a wonderfully evocative demonstration of something often discounted--how important law and lawyers were, and remain, in realizing the promise of full equality for all citizens."--Kenneth W. Mack, author of Representing the Race "Filled with tales of ordinary people exhibiting extraordinary courage, Voices of Civil Rights Lawyers provides a penetrating and vital new perspective on one of the most turbulent and important periods in American history."--Lawrence Goldstone, author of Inherently Unequal "Spriggs has performed a great service for future historians and for all of us by collecting the personal memories of lawyers who put their boots on the ground and their lives on the line in the Deep South during the tumultuous civil rights movement."--James Blacksher, civil rights attorney, Birmingham, Alabama "The different voices are incredibly effective at both describing a harrowing series of events for the lawyers and allowing readers to hear how they interpreted those events in their own individual ways. A powerful work."--Thomas Aiello, author of Jim Crow's Last Stand While bus boycotts, sit-ins, and other acts of civil disobedience were the engine of the civil rights movement, the law provided context for these events. Lawyers played a key role amid profound political and social upheavals, vindicating clients and together challenging white supremacy. Here, in their own voices, twenty-six lawyers reveal the abuses they endured and the barriers they broke as they fought for civil rights. These eyewitness accounts provide unique windows into some of the most dramatic moments in civil rights history--the 1965 Selma March, the first civil judgment against the Ku Klux Klan, the creation of ballot access for African Americans in Alabama, and the 1968 Democratic Convention. The narratives depict attorney-client relationships extraordinary in their mutual trust and commitment to risk-taking. White and black, male and female, northern- and southern-born, these recruits in the battle for freedom helped shape a critical chapter of American history. Kent Spriggs, author of the two-volume Representing Plaintiffs in Title VII Actions, has been a civil rights lawyer for over fifty years. He practices in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was a city commissioner and mayor.
Dancing with Merce Cunningham
by Marianne Preger-SimonDancing with Merce Cunningham is a buoyant, captivating memoir of a talented dancer’s lifelong friendship with one of the choreographic geniuses of our time. Dancing with Merce Cunningham is a buoyant, captivating memoir of a talented dancer’s lifelong friendship with one of the choreographic geniuses of our time. Marianne Preger-Simon’s story opens amid the explosion of artistic creativity that followed World War II. While immersed in the vibrant arts scene of postwar Paris during a college year abroad, Preger-Simon was so struck by Merce Cunningham’s unconventional dance style that she joined his classes in New York. She soon became an important member of his brand new dance troupe—and a constant friend. Through her experiences in the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Preger-Simon offers a rare account of exactly how Cunningham taught and interacted with his students. She describes the puzzled reactions of audiences to the novel non-narrative choreography of the company’s debut performances. She touches on Cunningham’s quicksilver temperament—lamenting his early frustrations with obscurity and the discomfort she suspects he endured in concealing his homosexuality and partnership with composer John Cage—yet she celebrates above all his dependable charm, kindness, and engagement. She also portrays the comradery among the company’s dancers, designers, and musicians, many of whom—including Cage, David Tudor, and Carolyn Brown—would become integral to the avant-garde arts movement, as she tells tales of their adventures touring in a VW Microbus across the United States. Finally, reflecting on her connection with Cunningham throughout the latter part of his career, Preger-Simon recalls warm moments that nurtured their enduring bond after she left the dance company and, later, New York. Interspersed with her letters to friends and family, journal entries, and correspondence from Cunningham himself, Preger-Simon’s memoir is an intimate look at one of the most influential companies in modern American dance and the brilliance of its visionary leader.
Elvis Ignited: The Rise of an Icon in Florida
by Bob Kealing“A persuasive argument that Presley’s “moonshot” to fame could not have happened without Florida. . . . Deftly captures a pre-Interstate Florida where an anonymous Presley would be traveling for grueling hours down every two-laner in the state in his signature automobile.”—Palm Beach Post “I don’t think there was a better time and place to be a teenager than in Florida in the 1950s. It was such a magical place. Elvis is part of what contributed to that excitement.”—Bob Graham, former Florida governor and United States senator “Kealing tells us the story of what happened when Elvis arrived in Florida and what role the Sunshine State played in his life and musical career. This is a critical era in the Elvis Saga.”—William McKeen, editor of Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay: An Anthology “A Florida-centric look at his 1956 breakout state for people who thought they knew everything about Elvis.”—Joel Selvin, author of Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day “Presents a great picture of what it was like to be a touring musician in the 1950s and also of Florida at the time and how the culture was changed by the shock of Elvis.”—Joy Wallace Dickinson, author of Remembering Orlando: Tales from Elvis to Disney It was his most electric and influential time as a live performer. The young and hungry Elvis burst onto stages large and small—sexy, controversial, brimming with talent and ambition. One lightning-hot year in Florida fueled his rise from novelty act to headlining megastar. Elvis Ignited tracks the rising star through his tours of Florida, from 1955 when Presley was an unknown to 1956 when Presley played more concerts in Florida than in any other state. In only fifteen months, Presley toured Florida four times, becoming the object of worship, scorn, and controversy. Struck by a new kind of music and performances so different from anything they had known before, Floridians saw how special Elvis was before the rest of the world caught on. Before their very eyes, he transformed from Hillbilly Cat to the King of Rock and Roll. Bob Kealing interviews people who saw the King up close, recalling the time-stands-still memories of hearing his iconic songs for the first time. He speaks with Floridians who helped Elvis along the way: the late Jim Kirk from Ocala, who offered Presley his first headlining opportunity; former governor and U.S. senator Bob Graham, who saw the young rockabilly god at the dawning of Elvis mania; Steve Binder, who produced Presley’s ’68 Comeback Special; and Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin, who opened for Presley in Florida. Kealing follows Elvis after his return from the Army to his homecoming TV special in Miami with Frank Sinatra and through the filming of Follow That Dream in Florida in 1961, offering unique insights into the singer’s relationship with co-star Anne Helm, his controversial manager Tom Parker, and the beginnings of his melancholy as a prisoner of fame. This book is a roadmap to Elvis’s time in the Sunshine State, a guide to the many small and large venues he played up and down the peninsula, and a spotlight on the people who witnessed, supported, and even opposed his meteoric rise to fame. It was a turning point in American music history; it was the arrival of rock and roll.
Convent Life in Colonial Mexico: A Tale of Two Communities
by Stephanie Kirk"A valuable and logical step in the progression of critical studies on convent writing. . . . We have moved from seeing women writers as working at the margins to seeing them as writing subjects."—Latin American Research Review "Consider[s] nuns not as merely secular or religious writers, but through the lens of interdisciplinary study, as multifaceted historical agents. . . . The importance of the kind of innovative theoretical work undertaken by this text . . . cannot be over-emphasized, and will offer a both provocative and illuminating read to scholars in a broad range of disciplines."—Journal of International Women’s Studies "Kirk reconstructs aspects of the lives of colonial nuns through close-up readings of select manuscripts and, additionally, of published primary sources. . . . A lively and provocative addition to the literature on colonial Mexico that offers new insights into the dynamics of religious community."—Bulletin of Latin American Research "A thought-provoking contribution to our understanding of community-building among colonial Latin American women."—A Contracorriente "A timely scholarly contribution to the field of gender and religion. . . . Presents a fresh look at convent literature by specifically analyzing alliances, friendships, and communities."—Colonial Latin American Historical Review "An interesting and ambitious study of the discourses associated with convent life in Mexico."—Catholic Historical Review
Black Miami in the Twentieth Century (Florida History and Culture)
by Marvin DunnThe first book devoted to the history of African Americans in south Florida and their pivotal role in the growth and development of Miami, Black Miami in the Twentieth Century traces their triumphs, drudgery, horrors, and courage during the first 100 years of the city's history. Firsthand accounts and over 130 photographs, many of them never published before, bring to life the proud heritage of Miami's black community.Beginning with the legendary presence of black pirates on Biscayne Bay, Marvin Dunn sketches the streams of migration by which blacks came to account for nearly half the city’s voters at the turn of the century. From the birth of a new neighborhood known as "Colored Town," Dunn traces the blossoming of black businesses, churches, civic groups, and fraternal societies that made up the black community. He recounts the heyday of "Little Broadway" along Second Avenue, with photos and individual recollections that capture the richness and vitality of black Miami's golden age between the wars.A substantial portion of the book is devoted to the Miami civil rights movement, and Dunn traces the evolution of Colored Town to Overtown and the subsequent growth of Liberty City. He profiles voting rights, housing and school desegregation, and civil disturbances like the McDuffie and Lozano incidents, and analyzes the issues and leadership that molded an increasingly diverse community through decades of strife and violence. In concluding chapters, he assesses the current position of the community--its socioeconomic status, education issues, residential patterns, and business development--and considers the effect of recent waves of immigration from Latin America and the Caribbean.Dunn combines exhaustive research in regional media and archives with personal interviews of pioneer citizens and longtime residents in a work that documents as never before the life of one of the most important black communities in the United States.
White Sand Black Beach: Civil Rights, Public Space, and Miamis Virginia Key
by Gregory W Bush"Provides new insights into the torturous legacy of race in Miami through the vantage point of Virginia Beach."--Paul S. George, author of Along the Miami River "With ample measures of passion and research, Bush has written a remarkable book about a special place: Virginia Key, a reminder of the possibilities of protest and change."--Gary R. Mormino, author of Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida "Illuminates the African American contribution to the ways in which we understand and attach meaning to the notion of public spaces."--Robert Cassanello, author of To Render Invisible: Jim Crow and Public Life in New South Jacksonville In May 1945, activists staged a "wade-in" at a whites-only beach in Miami, protesting the Jim Crow-era laws that denied blacks access to recreational waterfront areas. Pressured by protestors in this first postwar civil rights demonstration, the Dade County Commission ultimately designated the difficult-to-access Virginia Key as a beach for African Americans. The beach became vitally important to the community, offering a place to congregate with family and friends and to enjoy the natural wonders of the area. It was also a tangible victory in the continuing struggle for civil rights in public space. As Florida beaches were later desegregated, many viewed Virginia Key as symbolic of an oppressive past and ceased to patronize it. At the same time, white leaders responded to desegregation by decreasing attention to and funding for public spaces in general. The beach was largely ignored and eventually shut down. In White Sand Black Beach, historian and longtime Miami activist Gregory Bush recounts this unique story and the current state of the public waterfront in Miami. Recently environmentalists, community leaders, and civil rights activists have come together to revitalize the beach, and Bush highlights the potential to stimulate civic engagement in public planning processes. While local governments defer to booster and lobbying interests pushing for destination casinos and boat shows, Bush calls for a land ethic that connects people to the local environment. He seeks to shift the local political divisions beyond established interest groups and neoliberalism to a broader vision that simplifies human needs, and reconnects people to fundamental values such as health. A place of fellowship, relaxation, and interaction with nature, this beach, Bush argues, offers a common ground of hope for a better future.
Hell Without Fires: Slavery, Christianity, and the Antebellum Spiritual Narrative (History of African-American Religions)
by Yolanda PierceHell Without Fires examines the spiritual and earthly results of conversion to Christianity for African-American antebellum writers. Using autobiographical narratives, the book shows how black writers transformed the earthly hell of slavery into a "New Jerusalem," a place they could call home. Yolanda Pierce insists that for African Americans, accounts of spiritual conversion revealed "personal transformations with far-reaching community effects. A personal experience of an individual's relationship with God is transformed into the possibility of liberating an entire community." The process of conversion could result in miraculous literacy, "callings" to preach, a renewed resistance to the slave condition, defiance of racist and sexist conventions, and communal uplift. These stories by five of the earliest antebellum spiritual writers--George White, John Jea, David Smith, Solomon Bayley, and Zilpha Elaw--create a new religious language that merges Christian scripture with distinct retellings of biblical stories, with enslaved people of African descent at their center. Showing the ways their language exploits the levels of meaning of words like master, slavery, sin, and flesh, Pierce argues that the narratives address the needs of those who attempted to transform a foreign god and religion into a personal and collective system of beliefs. The earthly "hell without fires"--one of the writer's characterizations of everyday life for those living in slavery--could become a place where an individual could be both black and Christian, and religion could offer bodily and psychological healing. Pierce presents a complex and subtle assessment of the language of conversion in the context of slavery. Her work will be important to those interested in the topics of slave religion and spiritual autobiography and to scholars of African American and early American literature and religion.
Early Human Life on the Southeastern Coastal Plain (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series)
by Albert C. Goodyear and Christopher R. MooreBringing together major archaeological research projects from Virginia to Alabama, this volume explores the rich prehistory of the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Contributors consider how the region’s warm weather, abundant water, and geography have long been optimal for the habitation of people beginning 50,000 years ago. They highlight demographic changes and cultural connections across this wide span of time and space. New data are provided here for many sites, including evidence for human settlement before the Clovis period at the famous Topper site in South Carolina. Contributors track the progression of sea level rise that gradually submerged shorelines and landscapes, and they discuss the possibility of a comet collision that triggered the Younger Dryas cold reversion and contributed to the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna like mastodons and mammoths. Essays also examine the various stone materials used by prehistoric foragers, the location of chert quarries, and the details stone tools reveal about social interaction and mobility. This volume synthesizes more than fifty years of research and addresses many of today’s controversial questions in the archaeology of the early Southeast, such as the sudden demise of the Clovis technoculture and the recognition of the mysterious "Middle Paleoindian" period. Contributors: Robert J. Austin | Mark J. Brooks |Christopher R. Moore | I. Randolph Daniel, Jr. | Joseph E. Wilkinson | Joseph Schuldenrein | Allen West | David K. Thulman | James K. Feathers | Terry E. Barbour II | Douglas Sain | Thomas A. Jennings | Albert C. Goodyear | Andrew H. Ivester | Dr. Malcolm A. LeCompte | Adam M. Burke | James S. Dunbar | Jon Endonino | Richard Estabrook | H. Blaine Ensor | A. Victor Adedeji | Douglas J. Kennett | Ashley M. Smallwood | Kara Bridgman Sweeney | Sam Upchurch | James P. Kennett | Wendy S. Wolbach | M. Scott Harris | Ted Bunch | David G. Anderson | C. Andrew Hemmings | James. M. Adovasio | Dr. Frank J. Vento | Dr. Anthony J. Vega
Archaeology of Domestic Landscapes of the Enslaved in the Caribbean (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series)
by James A. Delle and Elizabeth C. ClayWhile previous research on household archaeology in the colonial Caribbean has drawn heavily on artifact analysis, this volume provides the first in-depth examination of the architecture of slave housing during this period. It examines the considerations that went into constructing and inhabiting living spaces for the enslaved and reveals the diversity of people and practices in these settings. Contributors present case studies using written descriptions, period illustrations, and standing architecture, in addition to archaeological evidence to illustrate the wide variety of built environments for enslaved populations in places including Jamaica, the Bahamas, and the islands of the Lesser Antilles. They investigate how the enslaved defined their social positions and identities through house, yard, and garden space; they explore what daily life was like for slaves on military compounds; they compare the spatial arrangements of slave villages on plantations based on type of labor; and they show how the style of traditional laborer houses became a form of vernacular architecture still in use today. This volume expands our understanding of the wide range of enslaved experiences across British, French, Dutch, and Danish colonies. Contributors: Elizabeth C. Clay | James A. Delle | Todd M. Ahlman | Marco Meniketti | Kenneth Kelly | Hayden Bassett | James A. Delle | Kristen R. Fellows | Allan D. Meyers | Elizabeth C. Clay | Alicia Odewale | Meredith D. Hardy | Zachary J. M. Beier | Mark W. Hauser A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Mr. Flagler’s St. Augustine
by Thomas GrahamFlorida Book Awards, Bronze Medal for Florida Nonfiction Florida Historical Society Charlton Tebeau Book AwardArguably no man did more to make over a city—or a state—than Henry Morrison Flagler. Almost single-handedly, he transformed the east coast of Florida from a remote frontier into the winter playground of America’s elite.Mr. Flagler’s St. Augustine tells the story of how one of the wealthiest men in America spared no expense in transforming the country’s “Oldest City” into the “Newport of the South.” He built railroads into remote areas where men feared to tread and erected palatial hotels on swampland. He funded hospitals and churches and improved streets and parks. The rich and famous flocked to his invented paradise.In tracing Flagler’s life and second career, Thomas Graham reveals much about the inner life of the former oil magnate and the demons that drove him to expand a coastal empire southward to Palm Beach, Miami, Key West, and finally Nassau. Graham also gives voice to the individuals history has forgotten: the women who wrote tourist books, the artists who decorated the hotels, the black servants who waited tables, and the journalists who filed society columns in the newspapers.Filled with fascinating details that bring the Gilded Age to life, this book will stand as the definitive history of Henry Flagler and his time in Florida.
Silent Films in St. Augustine
by Thomas Graham“This absorbing tale, documenting the forgotten history of early moviemaking in St. Augustine, is a must-read for film enthusiasts.”—Janelle Blankenship , coeditor of European Visions: Small Cinemas in Transition “Very few people have any idea that St. Augustine played any role in early film history. This book brings St. Augustine into a much larger film conversation.”—Christina Lane, author of Magnolia “This richly detailed book tells the story of early filmmakers’ adventures in St. Augustine and captures the excitement of their moviemaking escapades.”—Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, coauthor of One Thousand Nights at the Movies: An Illustrated History of Motion Pictures, 1895–1915 “Given that the great majority of these early films are now lost, Graham makes an important contribution to the study of Florida’s image on film.”—Jan-Christopher Horak, author of Saul Bass: Anatomy of Film Design “The ‘reel’ history of Florida and its contribution to the development of American film history has been left out of mainstream textbooks and accounts. Thomas Graham’s book is a link in the chain of that history and an important addition to film scholarship.”—Susan Doll, coauthor of Florida on Film: The Essential Guide to Sunshine State Cinema and Locations “Through entertaining stories of how St. Augustine lured studios and enriched filmmaking with Henry Flagler’s railroad and architecture, Graham adds new detail to our understanding of the silent film era.”—Rita Reagan, Norman Studios Silent Film Museum Before Hollywood, when America’s rising motion picture industry was based on the East Coast, early film stars like Rudolph Valentino, Thomas Meighan, Ethel Barrymore, and Oliver Hardy made movies in St. Augustine, Florida. Silent Films in St. Augustine tells stories of the leading film producers and actors who escaped New York winters—and kept the studio doors open—in St. Augustine’s sunshine and warm weather. Scenes for more than 120 films were made in St. Augustine from 1906 to 1926 by film companies including Thanhouser, Lubin, Éclair, Pathé, Edison, Vitagraph, and Paramount. The first feature-length Frankenstein movie, Life Without Soul, was partly shot in St. Augustine. Theda Bara became a “vamp” sensation for her role in A Fool There Was. Sidney Drew acted in the genderbending A Florida Enchantment. Noted directors Edwin S. Porter, Maurice Tourneur, and George Fitzmaurice also set up shop in the beach town. Filmmakers used St. Augustine’s striking architecture to create backdrops for movies set in exotic foreign locales. The famous Castillo de San Marcos, the stone houses on the narrow streets, and Henry Flagler’s Spanish Renaissance palace hotels were reimagined as Spain, Italy, France, Egypt, Arabia, South Africa, Brazil, and Hawaii. Residents of St. Augustine loved seeing film teams in action on their streets and would gather around the camera to watch the actors and marvel at the outlandish costumes. Cast as extras in larger productions, locals packed theater houses to catch a glimpse of themselves and their neighbors on the screen. Describing the lavish sets, theatrical action, and New York movie personalities that filled St. Augustine, Thomas Graham evokes an intensely creative time and place in the history of American moviemaking.
The Changing South of Gene Patterson: Journalism and Civil Rights, 1960-1968 (Southern Dissent)
by Roy Peter Clark and Raymond Arsenault"In pointing us toward how to be 'better than we are,' Gene Patterson--passionate, funny, sound of mind and full of heart--coincidentally reminds us just how fine journalism can be. This is a wonderful, inspiring book."--Geneva Overholser, syndicated columnist, Washington Post Writers Group, and Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting, University of Missouri"Proves that journalism at its best can endure as literature. A compelling portrait of the 1960s and the American South by an engaged participant and acute observer."--Robert Schmuhl, University of Notre DameThe Changing South of Gene Patterson celebrates the work of one of America's most influential journalists who wrote in a time and place of dramatic social and political upheaval. The editor of the Atlanta Constitution from 1960 through 1968, Patterson wrote directly to his fellow white southerners every day, working to persuade them to change their ways. His words were so inspirational that he was asked by Walter Cronkite to read his most famous column, about the Birmingham church bombing, live on the CBS Evening News.This volume includes over 120 of Patterson's best pieces, selected from some 3,200 columns. These columns offer probing commentary on the crucial issues of race, civil rights, social justice, and desegregation; some reveal examples of political and moral leadership, drawn from every corner of southern culture. Introductory essays, framing Patterson's work as journalism and literature, place it in the context of southern history and the evolution of white southern liberalism. Patterson himself contributes a new essay, reflecting on his life, work, and times. At a time when protest, violence, and confrontation defined race relations and even the South itself, Patterson's wise, sane, humorous, passionate column appeared daily on the Constitution's editorial page, urging white southerners to become "better than we are." Speaking as one who "grew up hard" in small-town Georgia, Patterson could urge change with a conviction and credibility matched by few others. With enlightened leadership and adherence to the rule of law, the sky would not fall, Patterson assured his readers. While black leaders led America toward civil rights and social justice, writers such as Patterson had the courage to appeal to the white southern conscience. Unmistakably engaged with his time and place, Patterson's columns provide a compelling day-to-day look at the civil rights era as it unfolded. Roy Peter Clark is a senior scholar at The Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Florida. Raymond Arsenault, winner of the Florida Humanities Council 2019 Florida Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing, is the John Hope Franklin Professor of History at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg.