The Florida History and Culture Series

Often described as the savior of the Everglades, Marjory Stoneman Douglas is best known for having been Florida's most passionate environmentalist, but she was first, foremost, and always a writer. As the author of fiction and nonfiction books, most notably The Everglades: River of Grass, and scores of short stories, Douglas devoted over ninety years to her career as a writer. Her fascinating and little-known work as a journalist began as a columnist for the Miami Herald. 

The first environmental history of what is considered by many to be the most endangered ecosystem in North America. Begins with the Everglades’ geologic origins and covers the period of early habitation by Native Americans,

Tells the story of the south's oldest spirtualist community, Cassadaga, founded in central Florida over a century ago on the principle of continuous life, the idea that spirits of the dead commune with the living. This is the first serious work to examine

Tells the story of the power struggle between Claude Pepper and Ed Ball in the 1900s that largely determined the future of Florida. Trustee of the duPont empire, Ed Ball was Florida's most powerful businessman. Pepper, a US senator, was a powerful New Dea

The first complete edition of the complex, pro-black, pro-slavery writings of Zephaniah Kingsley (1765-1843). A slave trader & plantation owner in Spanish Florida, he married a slave & had children with others, all of whom he emancipated. Influenced by ex

Tells the story of Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin), her brother Charles, and a small group of Yankee reformers who arrived in Reconstruction Florida

A concise and accessible history of the state’s unique political system, its development over the last 150 years, and the most important issues facing it today. Explores the shaping influences of: the state’s early ties to Spain and Great Britain,