University of South Florida University of South Florida Scholar Commons Scholar Commons FORUM : the Magazine of the Florida Humanities Florida Humanities 9-1-1990 Forum : Vol. 13, No. 03 (Fall : 1990) Forum : Vol. 13, No. 03 (Fall : 1990) Florida Humanities Council. Samuel S. Hill Dean DeBolt Sidney. Homan Richard P. Janaro Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/forum_magazine Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Florida Humanities Council.; Hill, Samuel S.; DeBolt, Dean; Homan, Sidney.; and Janaro, Richard P., "Forum : Vol. 13, No. 03 (Fall : 1990)" (1990). FORUM : the Magazine of the Florida Humanities. 8. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/forum_magazine/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Florida Humanities at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FORUM : the Magazine of the Florida Humanities by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Transcript
University of South Florida University of South Florida
Scholar Commons Scholar Commons
FORUM : the Magazine of the Florida Humanities Florida Humanities
9-1-1990
Forum : Vol. 13, No. 03 (Fall : 1990) Forum : Vol. 13, No. 03 (Fall : 1990)
Florida Humanities Council.
Samuel S. Hill
Dean DeBolt
Sidney. Homan
Richard P. Janaro
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/forum_magazine
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Florida Humanities Council.; Hill, Samuel S.; DeBolt, Dean; Homan, Sidney.; and Janaro, Richard P., "Forum : Vol. 13, No. 03 (Fall : 1990)" (1990). FORUM : the Magazine of the Florida Humanities. 8. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/forum_magazine/8
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Florida Humanities at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FORUM : the Magazine of the Florida Humanities by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].
are all about us.They tell us aboutour lives, our cultures,and oursocieties.
They providethe traditions, interpretations,andvisionswhich defineour existence.
The Florida Endowment for the Humanities, a non-profitorganization- funded by the National Endowment for theHumanities,the Stateof Florida, andprivatecontributions-supportspublic humanitiesactivities in Florida. Viewsexpressedby contributorsare not necessarilythoseof theFlorida Endowment for the Humanitiesor the NationalEndowmentfor theHumanities.F * E *H Forum is distributedfree of chargeto the friendsof the FloridaEndowmentforthe HumanitiesandinterestedFloridians.If you wish to beaddedto the mailing list, pleaseso request inwriting.
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RELIGION IN FLORIDAHOW SOUTHERN IS IT?
by SamuelS. Hill
Is Florida in the South? Or is itpractically a region in its own right?Or is it future American society inminiature?
And what about Florida’s religious life?Do southern styles and patterns prevailat all; or strongly in some parts of the stateand not so much in others? And whatcomes to mind as characteristic of southern religion? Millions of Baptists, expressive black worship, H.L. Menckenridiculing, Jerry Falwell raising money,Jimmy Swaggart praying, and a ferventpassion for the prohibitionist causesometimes with glass in hand?
Recently a small circle of major Florida leaders were talking about thesequestions. A prominent political figurecommented, "Florida is hedonistic but
far from secular." Did he mean that Floridians think they are, and mean to be,religious, in spite of apparent evidenceto the contrary?
Think of the items in Florida’s religiana: many Jews and many Catholics,plus Rosicrucians and Santeriafollowers,in the southeast; a multitude of SouthernBaptists in the panhandle; all manner ofPentecostals, Metaphysicals, mainlineProtestants, and "Catholics" of one sortand another in St. Petersburg.
Think also of people. William Jennings Bryan wintered here, as do Presbyterian novelist Frederick Buechner andHoliness historian Timothy Smith today.Billy Graham went to Bible Institute inDunedin and was baptized in a lakenear Palatka. Southern Baptist renewalistFindley Edge lives in Winter Park. So did
Yale biblicist Millar Burrows and Methodist theologian Harold de Wolf. But aneffort to produce a list of nationallyprominent religious leaders who are orwere Floridians would be mostly fruitless. This still young state has served thenation better in other areas of leadershipthan in religion.
Compare the three largest religiousbodies in Florida with the three largest inthe United States as a whole. They arethe same. The Roman Catholic Church isFlorida’s and America’s largest. Thenation’s largest Protestant denominationis the Southern Baptist Convention. Soalso in Florida. Methodism is third in thenation, and in this state.
What are we to make of this? Religiously, is Florida America in miniature? i+
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Religion in Florida showsvariety and innovation, and can beeccentric, not unlikethis sign in a field south of Venice.
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That claim would be difficult to defendbut not meaningless. When we look atFlorida we do see a reflection of the entireUSA, not just its southern region.
Florida is a mirror which shows thatmembers of the nation’s largest religiousbody have moved to Florida in greatnumbers. A sizable proportion of the citizens of Michigan, Maine, New Jersey,and Ohio among other states who comesouth to Florida are Catholic. In additionCatholics move "north" to Florida fromCaribbean and Latin American societies.
The Baptist and Methodist cases arecomparable, yet quite distinct. Baptists,both black and white, "in-migrated" heretoo, just from less distant places. Beginning in the early nineteenth century,Anglo-Saxon residents of Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas moved into thenorthern portion of what was the thenSpanish colony which became an American territory in 1821, a state in 1845, andjoined the Confederate secession in 1861.
Coming from the southern states, thesepeople were Baptists in greatest proportion, but for the same reason some of themwere also Methodist and Presbyterian. Infact, the more adventurous Methodistsand Presbyterians were a bit more prominent in the earliest years. Still, the South’srepresentative religious bodies were also
Florida’s. Florida was in and of the Southuntil the end of the nineteenth century.
Whether new Floridians came northfrom the Caribbean or south from the"Southern" states, Florida’s religiouspatterns have mirrored wider and largerconditions. Once here, Floridians weredefined by denominations who fosteredtheir own growth, raised their ownfamilies, and most notably among theBaptists promoted effective recruitingenterprises.
Since the 1 920s, people coming fromthe islands and rim countries of the Caribbean, not to mention those arriving fromthe Northeast and Middle West, havemultiplied the numbers of religious bodies. Beginning in the 1920s, with a hugeboost during the 1940s, Jews, Lutherans,Pentecostals, Congregationalists, Fundamentalists, Christian Scientists, andothers planted strong presences here. Thisdoes not mean that Florida is the nationin miniature. It does mean that religiouspatterns prevailing elsewhere have madetheir mark on Florida.
The influence of a large Jewish population on the state is widely recognized.Though scattered throughout the citiesof peninsular Florida-by last count,6,000 in Jacksonville, 6,200 in Sarasota,17,500 in metropolitan Tampa/St. Petersburg, 12,000 in Orlando-Jews are primarily concentrated in the "Gold Coast."North Miami Beach, with more than85,000 Jewish residents, is now the mostdensely populated Jewish community intheworld. Over a half million permanentJewish residents live in Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade counties. Almost all ofthis in-migration of Jews has happenedsince World War II, the bulk of it since1970.
Florida’s Catholicism is often associated with Cubans seeking refuge afterCastro’s coming to power in 1959. True,some 768,000 Spanish speaking peoplelived in Dade county by 1985, most ofthem Cuban-Americans. But Italian-Americans are a major slice of Florida’sCatholic population. In 1985, over 50,000Italians lived in Miami and St. Petersburg
combined; another 106,000 resided inFort Lauderdale. The force of this Italian-Catholic strength is driven home by theobservation that in 1990 there is a higherpercentage of Italian-Americans in FortLauderdale than in New Haven, NewOrleans, Baltimore, Albany, St. Louis,Syracuse, or Youngstown.
Diversity, variety, innovation,change-these terms fit the Florida of1990. These features are everywhere inFlorida’s religious sectors.
Travel to St. Augustine. See the GreatCross, a 208 foot high stainless steelstructureplanted in 1965 at water’s edgenear the Castillo de San Marcos. Here thefirst Mass Catholic in what was tobecome a permanent settlement was celebrated in the territories that became theUnited States of America. Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales did thehonors on Sept. 8, 1565. The bountifulCatholic heritage of Spanish Florida continues to shape Florida.
A few blocks south, Trinity ChurchEpiscopal, 1824 looms on a major corner. It reminds us that the Church of England was the state church in British Floridafrom 1763 to 1783. Here people of English descent have made sure their heritage was preserved - and incarnated - inFlorida’s oldest permanent settlement.
Northwestward a few blocks stands aunique and quite elegant church build-
The GreatCross of Nombrede Dios, St.Augustine, marks the place where themasswas held that blest the beginnings ofthisoldestEuropeancity in the UnitedStates. 0
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When the Spirit movesyou, you move.This time in Sanford, Florida. Nexttime at God’s throne.
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ing, Memorial Presbyterian. Oil tycoonand Rockefeller associate Henry Morrison Flagler had this splendid structurebuilt. Completed in 1889, it houses hisremains. Outwardly it gives the impression of being more Episcopal than Presbyterian, but inwardly the central pulpitof Memorial Presbyterian bespeaks aCalvinist concern to make preaching thefocal act of worship. An ornate edifice,certainly, it is not so much ostentatious asgrand and eye catching.
St. Augustine highlights the state’soldest and most splendid traditions. Otherforms of religious architecture, rangingfrom nondescript and conventional tonotable and distinctive, are found allacross the state. The MediterraneanRevival style is common in thecentral andsouthern parts of the state-and not alonefor Catholic Churches. Stucco exteriorsand red tile roofs may encase Baptist andPresbyterian buildings. Episcopalchurches are quite frequently batten-and-board, particularly for structures at least75 years old. The places of worship forblack Protestants often resemble stylescommon in Atlantic coast states as farnorth as Philadelphia and even New YorkCity. Among the most surprising examples of church architecture are the newand large "tabernacle churches" put upby Pentecostal and independent congregations-some of them reflecting a visual creativity disconnected from theirtheology or programmatic emphasis.
The variety of the state’s religiousexpressions bombards even the casualobserver. Take a single street in a middle-size Florida city Gainesville, the one Iknow best. Examine the phenomenaldiversity. Serving a compact middle classneighborhood are "people’s churches."
Two are independent Baptist: one withBob Jones University connections, theother espousing the goals of Jerry Falwell. Predictably both operate private"Christian academies."
Between them stands a congregationbelonging to the Presbyterian Church inAmerica, a body organized in 1973 bysouthern conservatives dedicated toarresting the erosion of doctrinalorthodoxy.
Proceeding eastward, one sees theEvangelical Free building. This is anorthern denomination, rooted in Swedish free-church pietism. By being classically Evangelical, it is too authority-minded and theology-concerned to fit
snugly in a southern religious setting.Neighboring buildings house an
Assemblies of God congregation and aChurch of Christ. The former is Pentecostal. The latter is Restorationist. Bothare decidedly conservative in dramatically different ways and enjoy large andimpressive new structures.
There is another Pentecostal congregation on this street, but this time of the"oneness" or "Jesus only" type. And, ifyou look hard, you will notice a buildingindistinguishable from a school or business office that houses an independentcharismatic congregation.
This "church street" may seem sounusual as to be unrepresentative. Notreally. What we are noting is the plantingof congregations in a fairly new middleclass neighborhood from "working" to"upper" by missions-dedicated groups,some heavily organized, others onlyconfederated.
"First churches" these are not. Theylean toward being alternative culturechurches: fundamentalist, pentecostal,charismatic, and hyperorthodox. Only inFlorida? Probably not, but this samplingdoes portray accurately the fascinatingmedley of religious bodies found in aFlorida that is both southern and notsouthern while being a fertile garden forpractically any religious flower.
The Florida scene provides a wonderful display of religious festivals. For dec
ades, the port cities of St. Augustine andJacksonville have witnessed "blessing thefleet"-with shrimp boats massed for arun during the spring season. Turning sucha secular occurrence into a religiousoccasion is the heritage of sacramentalchurches: Catholic, Episcopal, andOrthodox. It comes from a time in whicheconomic dependence on the fruits of thesea was a community’s lifeline. Recessive in a secularized Florida, the eventstill inspires the sacerdotal sense in truebelievers. For others it remains colorfuland intriguing.
Three hundred miles down the Atlantic coast, Lantana near Lake Worthenjoys an old and large Finnish presence. Being blest with Finns, they find itnatural, not to mention economicallyproductive, to set up a skyscraper Christmas tree. Lighted and ornamented inScandinavian fashion, the yuletide beacon stands, shining over miles of flat seaside terrain, as a lure to tourists. A fairnumber of those tourists fly 4,000 milesfrom Helsinki to view the Christmas sight,and to capture the warm breezes of subtropical Florida.
Swinging to the other end of the Christian spectrum, one can enjoy "OrlandoJesus ‘90" or a comparable Evangelicalfestival. Located on a fairground or similar large area, this kind of event bringstogether preachers, lay witnesses, andgospel musicians. It is a weekend whichsatisfies spiritual longings. All day and into ,-
Blessing thefleeton Palm Sunday,1946, in St.Augus tine-but it could havebeen almostany yearbefore or since.
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the evening the spiritually vital, moreoften young than older, can listen to andparticipate in the gospel message. Thosewho want more, and can never quite gettheir fill, come to pray, testify, dance,strum, sing, and respond to musicians andheralds of Christ.
Fine examples of the rite of intensification, these festivals are up-to-the-minute versions of the old Methodist andHoliness camp meetings of the nineteenth century frontier and urban revivals. Incidentally, the older versions stilltake place in some Florida locations,sponsored by Holiness and Pentecostalbodies in connection with summer campsor assemblies.
Florida is the home of a large religiouscommunications industry. Jack van ImpeMinistries moved from Michigan toWinter Haven a decade ago. It beams asyndicated television ministry to a couple of hundred stations around the country. Hailing from the Dutch Reformedtradition of orthodox Calvinism, it usesan attractive promotional style withoutbeing flamboyant.
More intensively developed is the D.James Kennedy complex in Fort Lauderdale. The "Coral Ridge Ministries" isbased in the 7,500 member PresbyterianChurch that gives the "Ministries" itsname. It produces the country’s third mostwatched television broadcast, operates aradio station, maintains a Christianacademy, and sustains a film production
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company. It is launching two new Christian "think tanks" to wrestle with themoral problems of our society. In the faIlof 1990, it opened John Knox Seminary,a theological school to train ministriesalong conservative Protestant lines,reflecting Kennedy’s membership in thePresbyterian Church in America PCA.
The Presbyterian Church in America,incidentally, has been a guiding light forthe Reformed Theological Seminarybased in Jackson, Mississippi, whichrecently opened a branch campus inOrlando. Started in 1988, it is the firstaccredited Protestant seminary located
in Florida, ever. The Roman CatholicSeminary of St. Vincent de Paul wasestablished in Boynton Beach in 1963,the only Christian venture of its kind untilthe planting of the Reformed TheologicalSeminary branch in Orlando.
For a long time, conservative denominations have operated Bible institutes andcolleges in such places as Pensacola,Graceville, Zellwood, Lakeland, Tampa,Dunedin, and Melbourne. The larger"mainline Protestant" bodies moved intoFlorida early, just before and after 1900,to found Rollins College Congregational in Winter Park, Stetson UniversitySouthern Baptist in DeLand, and Florida Southern United Methodist in Lake-land. Presbyterians planted FloridaPresbyterian, now Eckerd College, in St.Petersburg in 1958. The Roman CatholicChurch sponsors St. Thomas Universityand Barry College in Miami, and St. LeoCollege in Pasco County. Black denominations operate Florida Memorial College Baptist in Miami, and EdwardWaters College Methodist in Jacksonville. Churches of Christ congregationssupport Florida College in Temple Terrace.
These schools, institutes, and collegesafford clues to the state’s religiousdemography, because religious bodiesnormally establish their educationalinstitutions in areas where they arestrong-not on a mission frontier. Thus,by noting the affiliation of church-basedschools we ascertain, with impressiveaccuracy, which denominations andministries have strength. Generalizing,we infer that, early on, the principal Protestant denominations of the South andthe Northeast planted their colleges.Where Roman Catholic populations hadattained to size, that church followed withcolleges like St. Leo. More recently, Florida has become a fertile ground for conservative movements, religious even morethan political.
Is Florida’s religion the South’s religion, slightly in the shadows? Not in theshadows surely, owing to the consistentimpact of the nearby southern states uponthe Panhandle and the peninsula. Beforethe 1 920s, the majority of the populationreflected the culture from which they, ortheir parents or grandparents, had come:such as Catholic St. Augustine and Baptist Jacksonville. Only when transportation facilities enabled residents of colderclimates to visit or move to the SunshineState, and political unrest moved the
St. Augustine’sTrinity EpiscopalChurch was Florida’s statechurch-Church of England-from 1763 to 1783.
Memorial PresbyterianChurch. Built byHenry Flagler, it houseshis remains.
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Practicallyeveryold andnew
recent Caribbean migrants north, didcultural demographics change. Still, religiously Florida has more in common withthe southern region that with any other.
Any description of the South as a distinctive religious region must take noteof four factors.
First, the South is and has been abiracial society. This means that there arechurches for black people and for whitepeople. More significantly, it means thatboth races have contributed to making"southern religion" what it is. "Gospel"in Florida does not sound a midwesternor northeastern note. Congregationalistsand Unitarians came from those places.Here we know "Amazing Grace."
Second, religious developments on thefrontier, especially between 1790 and1830, helped make southern religionwhat it is. The heritage of high-intensitypreaching for an immediate conversionexperience descended from frontierrevivals and camp meetings to becomethe standard for popular southern religion, except for upper crust Episcopalians and proper Scotch Presbyterians.
Third, immigration has been a minorfactor and in-migrating people a minorforce in southern society and culture since1 800. From the time the region’s settlement season ended, in the 1750s east ofthe Appalachians and 1810 on the westside, few new arrivals took place. Thewave upon wave of immigrants thataltered "the North" from New Englandto the Great Plains scarcely broke on thesouthern shore. Translated into peoplecategories, that means the South has
received few Catholics, Jews, and German and Scandinavian Lutherans; hardlyany Italians, Poles, Russian, Greeks, andPortuguese. Here, let it be noted, Floridadoes not follow the southern norm.
A fourth factor contributes to theSouth’s religious distinctiveness. Southern peoples have had a limited culturalexposure and a limited range of options.In religion, the choices have been Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian; in politics, the Democratic Party for whites andthe Republican Party for blacks until theswitches and shiftings of recent decades. In work patterns, we find muchmore the trades and farming than industry and the professions. In culinary styles,more fried chicken and sweet potatoesthan spaghetti, baked beans, or bagels.Southerners have rejected exposure toother peoples and folkways both bychoice and through regional isolation.Southern insularity is as much an attitude as a geographical condition.
Truly southern popular piety requiresthat:1 the Bible be the only religious authority2 access to God be direct and intimateThe Bible is seen not as a mediating agentbut as a virtual extension of divinity.3 morality be understood as personalpurity and interpersonal neighborliness4 worship be informal and spontaneous, not liturgical and sacerdotal.
Measured by these southern criteria,Baptists triumph-indeed they generated the list. The Catholic Church flunks.Presbyterians are on the right track but
religious movementmaybefoundhere,not to mentioninnovative,experimental,eccentric,and esotericforms ofreligion and quasi-religion.
are too cool and restrained. The hold ofthis checklist, to be sure, has beendiminished by the new religious diversity of the state and the attendant spirit ofpluralism, but this southern way ofassessing real religion, true religion,persists.
Now, what are we to say? Religiously,is Florida in the South? It used to be. It isnow in some places and in measureeverywhere. But the truth be known, "notreally" anymore.
Is Florida a region in its own right,somewhat Southern, mostly post-Southern? The qualified answer is "yes."
Is Florida the future American societyin miniature? Probably yes, in importantways, in that no single tradition, regionalor theological, will set the pace. It maybe more distinctive than most, however,in that practically every old and new religious movement may be found here, notto mention innovative, experimental,eccentric, and esoteric forms of religionand quasi-religion.
In religion as in all other dimensions,Florida begs for study. Florida consistently thwarts generalization and defiespredictability. We can hardly escapebeing fascinated by it. =
Samuel S. Hill, Professor of Religion atthe University of Florida, is the font ofinformation on religion in the South. Aprolific author, Hill edited the Encyclopedia of Religion in the South and wasconsultant for the religion section of thewidely acclaimed Encyclopedia ofSouthern Culture. He is a former member of the FEH Board and was also amember of the FEH Speakers Bureau lastyear.
The Church of Christ, Clearwater,photographedhere in 1965, reflectsa visual creativitydisconnectedfrom any specifictheological or programmaticemphasis.
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THE FLORIDA CHAUTAUQUA
by DeanDeBolt
August 1884: the FloridaTimes-Union reports that"Dr. A. H. Gillet with a partyare touring in Florida look
ing for a suitable locality for a winterChautauqua."
The New York Chautauqua had provedenormously popular. But it was only possible during the summer months, whenthe weather was good and the breezesfrom Lake Chautauqua provided comfort from the summer heat. Rev. Gillet wasseeking a site for a national Chautauquathat could meet sometime during theremainder of the year, and where the climate would be equally suitable and provide relief from New York winters.
The notice caught the attention of citizens in the town of Lake de Funiak. Theydispatched C. C. Banfill to Jacksonvilleto induce Dr. Gilletto consider their city.
Lake de Funiak was a placid circularlake surrounded by pine forests amidrolling lands. It was located halfwaybetween Pensacola and Chattahootchee, on the newly built Louisvilleand Nashville Railroad. This railroad lineprovided a trans-panhandle route acrossupper Florida, connecting Pensacola,Mobile, and New Orleans with theeastern cities of Jacksonville andSt. Augustine.
The original surveyingpartiesthoughtLake deFuniakcould becomea huntingresortor site for a college
The town was initially designated asupply depot for railroad constructioncrews, but even the original surveyingparties thought Lake de Funiak couldbecome a hunting resort or site for a college. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad began selling lots there. By 1884there were about 200 people in the smallvillage.
Banfill brought the selection committee to Lake de Funiak. Despite severaldays of rain, Dr. A. H. Gillet of Cincinnati, Ohio and Rev. C. C. McLean ofJacksonville, Florida decided that the first
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meeting of the Florida Chautauqua wouldbe here. To be held in February 1885, itwould be "a winter Assembly in the landof summer."
Like the "Mother Chautauqua" in NewYork, the Florida Chautauqua would bean educational institution known as anassembly "with courses of lectures andclass instruction in art, science, philosophy, history, literature, theology, andmorals, and other branches of study."
From SundaySchool toChautauqua
The average education of Americansafter the Civil War was sadly deficient.Only a few could afford the luxury of private schools. The quality of instructionin public schools was low. Teachers wereuntrained and poorly paid; facilities weresubstandard; attendance was notmandatory.
Proper education required regular andconsistent attendance, adequate faci Ii-ties, and teachers trained both in edu
cational methods and in the subjects tobe taught. In most communities after theCivil War only one organization met thesestandards-the church. In addition tobeing a place of regular attendance byall ages, and a source of scriptural andmoral education, most churches offereda Sunday School.
In the 1870s, Lewis Miller, an Akron,Ohio inventor and layman, grasped thesefacts and began making the SundaySchool the means of educating youngpeople in basic literacy. He upgraded theinstructional quality, introducing grading, held weekly conferences with theteaching staff, and broadened the curriculum to include science and nature.
About the same time, John Heyl Vincent, a Methodist preacher, organized atraining institute for Sunday Schoolteachers in joliet, Illinois. Training teachers was his key to creating Sunday Schoolswhich could educate the young whoworked all week. Vincent shortly foundhimself appointed the first General Agentof the Methodist Sunday School Union.His charge was to organize Sunday Schoolinstitutes on a national basis.
Vincent soon discovered Lewis Miller.The two, sharing the same goals of making Sunday Schools educational centers,became fast friends. They wanted to take
Training teachers washis keyto creatingSundaySchoolswhich could educatetheyoungwho workedall week.
the institute into the woods, away fromthe distractions of the city. Looking for asite, they located a Methodist ownedcamp-meeting place on the shores of LakeChautauqua, New York.
On August 4, 1874, the Sunday SchoolNormal Assembly of the Methodist Episcopal Church opened for two weeks ofaddresses, conferences, sermons, crayon sketches, and speeches by lecturersand authors, all followed by an examination at the end. Thus the Sunday Schoolmovement gave birth to "Chautauqua,"and the New York Chautauqua became
An advertisenwntin W D. Chipley’s FactsAbout Florida, 1885.
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coartesy Special collections, lohn C. Pace Library, University of West Florida
sanctified in terms like ‘‘MotherChautauqua."
The Chautauqua organizers soon recognized the need to offer education andintellectual stimulation for the familiesand friends of those attending. At the sametime, the curriculum was broadened intoan "intellectual summer camp."
The idea caught the popular spirit.President Grant visited the New YorkChautauqua in 1875. With this presidential blessing, Chautauqua was on themap! Chautauqua quickly became thereligious, educational, and recreationalstandard for America. "Chautauquas"spread across the land.
All that was left was to find some wayto sustain the summer excitement ofChautauqua during the dormant months.So, in 1878, the Chautauqua Literary andScientific Circle CLSC was formed.Established as a correspondence course,CLSC selected an outstanding array ofclassic, contemporary, and religiousbooks for reading during the year. Communities across the country formed CLSCsocieties to read, review, and debate thegreat books selected for that year. -
But this was not enough. "MotherChautauqua" began looking for anothersite, a place similar to Lake Chautauqua,where permanent buildings and groundscould be erected, and where the winterclimate and atmosphere were conducive to the outdoor living and fresh air soimportant to creative learning. And so,Gillet came to Lake de Fun iak.
The Birth of the FloridaChautauqua
To bring the Florida Chautauqua intoexistence required the work of two groupsof people.
Chautauqua Speakers’ Bureau and apublishing house, Cranston and Stowe-which provided programs, books, lecture notes, and related Chautauqua literature-were in Cincinnati. Accordingly,The Rev. Dr. August H. Gillet of Cincinnati was named Superintendent ofInstructIon. Working with a de FuniakBoard of Directors, he devised the
In Florida, the Board of Directors wasbusy acquiring lands, building facilities,insuring special railroad fares, and getting Lake de Funiak prepared for theAssembly visitors. A key member of thisBoard was William D. Chipley of Pensacola. Chipley came to Pensacola in1880 to build the trans-panhandle Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad. ElectedPresident of the Florida Chautauqua, hesecured special railroad rates and landconcessions. Because of earlier planningfor a resort, Lake de Funiak’s new HotelChautauqua was ready for business anda large one story Assembly building hadalready been constructed by February1885.
The charter of the Florida ChautauquaAssociation was approved by the Floridalegislature in time to open in February1885. Officers of the Florida Chautauquawere:Rev. A. H. GiIIet, Cincinnati, Ohio,
Superintendent of InstructionColonel J. W. Sloss, Birmingham, Ala
bama, PresidentC. C. Banfill, Lake de Funiak, SecretaryR. N. Cary, Jr., Pensacola, Treasurer.
Management laid in a stock of tents forrental, along with chairs, tables, and otherfurniture. Visitors wishing to reduceexpenses were encouraged to bring theirown camping equipment, tents, andsupplies. Lumber could be purchased forthe erection of temporary cottages. Tentsites could be obtained without charge.Food supplies were available for purchase or visitors could use the restaurant
at the Hotel Chautauqua. The bakedgoods store of the to-be-opened Schoolof Cookery would also be available.
Some 200 acres encompassing theround lake were set aside for Chautauqua grounds. Visitors could purchaseseason passes allowing them access tothe grounds and all public events for$3.00 for the entire three weeks. Five-daytickets could be had for $1 .00. Single dayadmissions went for twenty-five cents.
The Florida Chautauqua opened onFebruary 10, 1885. The format of thisChautauqua remained basically unaltered for almost forty years. Emphasis wasplaced on religious training and educational activities in such areas as "philosophy, theology, art, music, elocution, andcookery." Concerts, impersonations, lectures, travelogues, and stereopticon slideshows provided imaginative and educational entertainment..
Chautauquans chose from severaldepartments of instruction:An Art School offered instruction in figure, portrait, tapestry, and decorativepainting; landscape drawing, etching,china painting, underglaze pottery; artneedlework, wood carving, clay modeling, and taxidermy
The FloridaChautauquaopenedon February10, 1885.Theformat. . . remainedbasicallyunalteredfor almost forty years.
Economy minded Florida Chautauquans,here seenca. 1895, could rent tentsfrom thebeginning.
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A School of Cookery offered lessons inthe making of breads, soups, and salads;the art of cooking meat, poultry oysters,game, eggs, desserts, cakes, candies; andthe refined art of broiling, frying, roasting, stewing, and boiling.The School of Elocution offered vocal drilland was highly recommended for teachers, preachers, and lawyers.The Sunday School Normal Departmentoffered a Biblical sequence and a Teaching series. The Biblical series covered suchtopics as Bible lands, geography historyof the Bible, and interpretation. Theteaching sequence focused on SundaySchool management including the principles of teaching, such as how to retainstudents’ attention and develop gradingsystems. In the Primary Teachers’ Classtopics ranged from the use of blackboards to student expectations, theteaching of singing, how to encourageattendance, and related matters.The Music Department offered lessons inpiano and voice. A Chorus Class mettwice daily except Sunday The ChorusClass was similar to an open choir andprovided the Chautauqua v’ith concerts,background tabernacle music, and Sunday church music.A Kindergarten was conducted daily forthe children of parents attending theChautauqua. Each day from nine untiltwelve, children were entertained by lectures and illustrated stories.The School of Theology, which providedcontinuing education for preachers, wasan integral part of the New York Chau
tauqua School of TheologyAnd for everyone there were three tab
ernacle lectures a day the last being theevening entertainment. 1885 tabernaclelectures described life in Burma, illustrated with costumes; presented prehistoric America and its mound builders; andintroduced Mohammed and the Wars ofIslam. There were also stereopticon slideprograms on Palestine, English Cathedrals, Scotch Abbeys, beautiful Paris, andthe land of Burns. A key speaker wasWallace Bruce, former U. S. Consul toEdinburgh, Scotland, and a frequentspeaker at the New York Chautauqua, tothe great pleasure of the many Scots inattendance.
Special days included Forestry DayChildren’s Day Chautauqua Day Temperance Day and Scots’ Day
On Saturday through the cooperationof the railroad, Chautauqua sponsoredexcursion trains. Chautauqua visitorscould take the train to Pensacola, thebeaches, the ruins of Fort Pickens, orMarianna. Similarly people along therailroad lines could take the train toChautauqua and spend the day touringthe grounds and attending lectures. Therewere special concerts on Saturday evenings, torchlight illuminations, stereopticon illustrated lectures, and fireworksover the lake.
Sundays were sacred. The AssemblySunday School met in the morning. Therewere usually two or three tabernacle sermons offered during the day There wereno classes or lectures on Sundays.
ImmediatePrecocitySetting up the 1885 Florida Chautau
qua cost its promoters $11,000. It took inonly $400. However, the literary festivalwas an economic boon to the railroad,generating ticket income and land sales,and a boost to the local merchants. TheDirectors immediately began planningfor 1886. As the May 1885, Chautauquaproclaimed:
The Florida Chautauqua is asuccess. Four months ago we hada dubious feeling that such anundertaking would fail of any realsupport in a clime which has alwaysbeen so averse to adopting progressive ideas. Our healthy Chautauqua tree, we feared, would beenervated by tropical sunshine; butit has taken root with surprisingreadiness.The town name was changed from Lake
de Funiak to DeFuniak Springs by early1 886. Several professors at the 1885Chautauqua had examined the waters ofthe lake and discovered its source was aspring. America was interested in therejuvenation provided at spas and mineral water springs. DeFuniak Springs, asa name, exuded health-both physicaland mental.
The 1886Florida Chautauquawasthe site ofthe firststatewideTeachers’Institute.
1886 also saw publication of a newspaper entitled The Florida Chautauqua.Based in Cincinnati, it circulated primarily throughout the northeast UnitedStates, promoting the speakers, events,personalities, news, and programs of theFlorida Chautauqua and DeFuniakSprings.
The Second Annual Florida Chautauqua opened on February 23, 1886, for afive week run, ending March 29th. The1886 season mirrored the 1885 format.A new Primary Teachers Class was established for mothers and primary schoolteachers and a Primary Departmentoffered kindergarten and primary teaching methods for preschoolers. A Ministers’ Institute was established and offeredclasses in New Testament, Hebrew,Greek, Practical and Doctrinal Theology and Pulpit Elocution. The courses andlodging were free to ordained ministers,with the only costs being transportation,
Hotel Chautauquawasfirst occupiedwhen the Florida Chautauquaopenedin 1885. TheMinisters’ Institute on the right was addedlater. Postcardca. 1905
8 F.E.HForum
courtesy Special Collect,ons, lohn C. Pace Library University of West Flor,da
food, and a season ticket at $3.00.Visitors in 1886 could hear Leon H.
Vincent’s lecture series on Rome andHannibal, Marius and Sulla, Julius Caesar, Cicero and His Writings, Virgil, andHorace. Marcus P. Hatfield, M.D., ofChicago, presented a series of illustratedlectures on health care entitled "Care ofthe House in Which We Live," anddonated a museum of rocks and minerals to the Association. Tabernacle lectures covered such diverse topics asIreland, Astronomy Scotland, Greeceandthe Greeks, Florence and the de Med ici,the world of Switzerland, and Love andMarriage.
Musical entertainment was providedby the Rogers Goshen Band from Goshen,Indiana. As the official musical group,they presented concerts supplementedby the Chautauqua Chorus, guest singers, and evening concerts "on the Lake."
Professor Warren Clarke of Tallahassee gave stereopticon slide programs ontopics like ‘A Tour Around the World inEighty Minutes,’ ‘Four Years in Japan,’‘China and the Chinese,’ ‘A Tour Throughthe Tropics,’ ‘Three Thousand MilesThrough India,’ ‘From the Heights of theHimalayas to the Tops of the Great Pyramids,’ and ‘An Evening in the Holy Land.’Literary speaker Wallace Bruce was backwith talks on Robert Burns, WashingtonIrving, William Cullen Bryant, Tennyson,and ‘From the Hudson to the Yosemite.’
The 1886 Florida Chautauqua was thesite of the first statewide Teacher’s Institute. William D. Chipley convincedFlorida Superintendent for PublicInstruction, AlbertJ. Russell, of the valueof providing teacher education at Chautauqua. The railroad joined in by providing special rates to teachers and schoolsuperintendents. This gathering of teachers began organized education in Florida.
By 1887, teachers from EscambiaCounty had formed an Escambia CountyTeachers Association. A statewide groupfollowed, the Florida Education Association/United. Both organizations existtoday But after 1887 the teachers’ institutes began to move away from Chautauqua. Superintendent Russell, who
The FloridaChautauquaplantedthe seedsof teachercertificationand professionaldevelopment.
complained of the "distractions" ofChautauqua, probably wanted teacherinstitutes to be held in different sectionsof the state.
By inspiring the beginnings of teachereducation, the Florida Chautauquaplanted the seeds of teacher certificationand professional teacher development.These, in turn, led to the establishment ofthe State Normal College at DeFuniakSprings. The State Normal College wouldeventually change its name to Florida StateCollege for Women, move to Tallahassee, and finally become coeducationalas "The Florida State University"
A Florida FixtureThe 1887 session expanded to six
weeks, and although the School ofCookery disappeared, there were newclasses in stenography art exhibitions,and other activities. The Gulf Ice Company of Pensacola had an exhibit of Gulffish, each encased in a clear block of ice,two feet long by eighteen inches square.Hearing that the fish had been frozenwhile still alive, Music Professor C. C.Chase stated that if kept frozen for 1,000years, then thawed and released in clearspring water, the fish would rejuvenateand swim away The Florida Chautauquamonthly reported that this was the fishiest story told at the 1887 session.
As each session of the Florida Chautauqua got longer, busier, and bigger, sodid DeFuniak Springs. From a population of a few hundred in 1885, the towntripled to 672 by 1890, and to 800 citizens by 1893. A number of the officersof the Chautauqua Association constructed winter homes. Rooming houses
and visitor’s residences were built. By1887, the Chautauqua grounds contained a Tabernacle or assembly hall 100’x 100’,atwostorycollegebuildingwiththree recitation rooms on the first floorand a chapel on the second; a smallmuseum building; a building called theHall with rooms downstairs and ministers’ quarters upstairs; buildings for theSecretary and Superintendent’s Offices,and a bookstore, operated by Cranstonand Stowe of Cincinnati.
Wallace A. Bruce of Poughkeepsie,New York, became President of the Florida Chautauqua in 1893. A graduate ofYale and former editor of the Yale LiteraryReview, Dr. Bruce had been a speaker atthe Florida Chautauqua since its beginning. He faced one crucial problem: theFlorida Chautauqua had accumulated adeficit of nearly $19,000. At the sametime, it faced competition from educational improvements in schools and colleges. Bruce needed a new drawing card.He found it in entertainment.
The 1897 program featured quartets,the Rogers Goshen Band and Orchestra,instrumentalists, more lecturers, and moreentertainment acts. In 1899, the firstmoving pictures were shown at theDeFuniak Springs Chautauqua. The yearsfrom 1900 to 1917 were good ones for
WallaceBrucebeganconstructionof a newHall of Brotherhoodwith lecturehalls and a domereminiscentof the U.S. Capitol.
The Hall of Brotherhood, also knownas the Auditorium, wascompletedin 1909. For $100oneof the columns couldbe namedfor "a literary figure. "This photo ca. 1912
*1990 9
the Florida Chautauqua. Programs featured fun and entertainment, music, fireworks, and a return to nature. There werecontests, sports and exhibits. By 1906,the sessions had lengthened to nineweeks.
Convinced of continuing growth,Wallace Bruce began construction of anew Hall of Brotherhood with lecturehalls and a dome reminiscentofthe U.S.Capitol. The 150 columns in the buildingwere available by subscription and couldbe named for a literary figure through afee of$100. Cornelius Vanderbilt namedone for George Stephenson while Senator George Wetmore of Rhode Islandprocured one for General NathanielGreene. Though Bruce suffered a strokeduring the fund raising efforts, and notenough funds were secured to match hisdreams, the Hall of Brotherhood wascompleted in 1909. The building stillstands.
All GoodThings Come to...Though William Jennings Bryan and
U.S. Vice President Thomas R. Marshallwere speakers in 1916, and the movie"Civilization" was shown in 1919, theappeal of the Florida Chautauqua hadbegun to diminish. By 1920 newspapers,
telephones, telegrams, and magazinesbrought news of the world, debates onissues, and entertainment to every door.World War I had taken thousands ofAmerican men to England and Europe.The world was no longer as mysterious asit had once been. Stereopticon shows andmoving pictures could be seen in neighborhood movie houses. The picturesqueareas of America were becoming available by family car.
The 1920 Florida Chautauqua, the 36thseason, was the last. The Bruce familyattempted to revive the Chautauqua in1926 and 1927, but with no success. TheChautauqua grounds reverted to the cityWinter homes became permanent homes.The Florida Chautauqua was no more.
For 36 years the Florida Chautauquabrought to the Panhandle opportunitiesto learn about the world, discover thewonders of literature and the marvels ofscience, be exposed to cultures of otherpeople, and improve one’s domestic arts,cooking, care of children, and medicinalskills. If by culture we mean the education of people to appreciate the qualitiesof fine literature, art, and human expressions, and if by culture we also meaneducation which enriches lives throughtraining in personal development,
hygiene, and mental stimulation, then theFlorida Chautauqua was indeed the cultural center of Florida, fostering thehumanities in human expression, andbringing West Floridians from the nineteenth century into the twentieth.
That is the endearing legacy of theFlorida Chautauqua. =
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGSfor Christmas
A Marjorie Kinnin Rawlings Reader, edited bt Dorothy hbott,is an Ideal gift Any lover of Florida will delit,ht in thc sil tions
from the writings of Rawlings, essas aboul her, and personaltributes to her
How many copies of the Rawlings Reader do you ant?Enclose $21 .50 per copy postpaid.
Make the check out to the Florida Endot ment for theHumanities. Mail your request to:
Florida Endowment for the Humanities1718 E. Seventh Avenue, Suite 301
Tampa, FL 33605Allow three weeks for delivery.
Dean DeBolt, University Librarian forSpecial Collections of The University ofWest Florida, is completing a book on theFlorida Chautauqua. A former memberof the FEH Speakers Bureau, he is available for speaking engagements and consultations on the DeFuniak Chautauquaand the wider ramifications of the Chautauqua movement.
10 FFH Forum
EXHIBITS SCHEDULED
Pilots in the Sun, a photographicexhibit, commemorates World War II pilottraining schools in Lakeland and AvonPark. Sponsored by the Lakeland PublicLibrary the exhibit, directed by SpecialCollections Librarian Hal Hubener, waspartially funded by FEH.
Fifty years ago, Al Lodwick, best knownfor managing Howard Hughes’ round-the-world flight in 1938, moved his businessfrom Lincoln, Nebraska. One of the original Civilian-Army Air Force Pilot Training Schools, this operation becameLakeland’s Lodwick School of Aeronautics in 1941 when Lodwick bought outhis partner. At about the same time heopened the Lodwick Aviation MilitaryAcademy in Avon Park. The two schoolsgraduated 10,000 pilots, including 1,200British Royal Air Force cadets, beforeclosing down in 1945.
Lodwick’s collection of photographsand school records remained at the site,now the spring training headquarters forthe Detroit Tigers. Over the years firedestroyed some photographs and otherswere discarded; however, the LakelandPublic Library obtained what remains in1987. They provide a stunning recordof Florida pilot training during WorldWar II.
The exhibit opening on September 16was attended by 350 people. Formercadets, instructors, and employees of theaviation schools were there, as were a few
former "line girls," who cleaned andserviced the aircraft after training flights.Many of these people had not seen eachother for almost fifty years. One wore afacsimile of his pilot uniform. All had talesto tell.
Since the opening more Lodwick people have contacted the library. Morenames have been added to the roster ofsurvivors. Information and memorabiliacontinue to come in.
Should you desire a copy of the lovelyexhibit catalog, with more photos likethose reproduced in this Forum, it canbe obtained by written request from:
Lakeland Public Library100 Lake Morton Drive
Lakeland, Florida 33801Please include a donation of at least
$5.00 made payable to the Friends of theLakeland Public Library to help defray thecosts of printing and mailing.
Following its initial showing in Lake-land, "Pilots in the Sun" can be seen at:Avon Public Library
Nov. 20, 1990- Jan. 20, 1991University of West Florida, Pensacola
Feb. 1 - March 25, 1991Sun N’ Fun, Lakeland
April 1991Ocala Public Library
May 1 - June 25, 1991Museum of Florida History Tallahassee
Bread and Justice: The Sanford Documentary Project, an exhibit of stunningphotographs by Eric Breitenback, openedat the Seminole County Library in September. Partially funded by FEH, theexhibit documents family life in the African-American community of Sanford.The photos and accompanying text,including oral histories, invite viewers intothe daily life of their neighbors. In homes,on the street, at a gravesite, in a church,we see intimate scenes seldom capturedfor our reflection.
"Bread and Justice: The Sanford Documentary Project" exhibit continues at:Seminole County Student Museum
Oct. 5,1990-Jan. 15, 1991Orange County Historical Museum
Feb. 1 - March 1, 1991Seminole County Library/Casselberry
March 2-31, 1991Bethune-Cookman College Library
April 1-30, 1991Lectures will accompany some of the
exhibif’s showings.
lights! Camera! Florida!, the FEHexhibit highlighting ninety years of moviemaking in the Sunshine State continuesto travel around Florida. It can currentlybe seen at the St. Petersburg HistoricalMuseum. In April it will move to theMount Dora Center for the Arts.
ol
A window displayin dozvntownAvon Park sometimebetween1941 and 1943.
Photo from the Sanford DocumentaryProject exhibit.
Fall * 1990 11
SHAKESPEARE AND THECHILDREN OF THE MIDDLE EARTH
bySidneyHoman
1986: Halfway through a summer ofteaching at China’s Jilin University inChangchun city I had gone with my family for a three-day vacation to the city ofHarbin. Though Harbin is in the extremenortheast corner of the People’s Republicof China, Madame Wang, our ForeignTravel official, had assured us that therewould be no need to make reservations.
Just after the clerk at the last of the threehotels of Harbin had told us there wereno vacancies, two men approached us."Are they government agents?," I muttered to a Chinese journalist who hadaccompanied us. "Have I been too boldin speaking out on political issues?"
They introduced themselves as representatives of the local university theHarbin College of Shipbuilding and Electrical Engineering! Through the "underground railroad" Chinese academicsdeveloped during the worst days of theCultural Revolution, they had heard that"the western Shakespearean and hisfamily" were coming to Harbin. Fearing
"You know, Ho-man,you’re not badfor a westernbarbarian!"
that the hotels would be full, and notwanting usto suffer the slightestdiscomfort, the faculty and students had reservedrooms in the President’s guest house,rented a van and driver for our use, andprepared sumptuous dinners.
Yet, if there had been a vacancy thetwo men would never have materialized.All these preparations would have goneunannounced.
Early that evening, my wife and Istoodon the balcony of our room and lookeddown at the university’s sole courtyard.In the fading light we saw some fifty students, walking in pairs, reading books.The students had gathered up all available copies of Shakespeare from thelibrary and, as a way of honoring me andmy family were reading his plays in ourpresence.
One of China’s leading Shakespearean scholars, the father of one of my students, had invited me to the People’sRepublic. I arrived during the days ofyeasty optimism. Indeed, I was the firstwestern humanist to go to this area ofnorthern China since the CulturalRevolution.
Teachers and students seemed buoyant. There had been a Shakespeare festival in Beijing two months before we
arrived. As he impulsively hugged me ata banquet, one of Changchun’s leadingCommunist officials, a Shakespeare buffsince his own undergraduate days, confessed to his startled comrades that he hadbeen waiting for forty years to talk to an"American Shakespeare expert."
Later, in his cups, he whispered to me,"You know, Ho-man, you’re not bad fora western barbarian!"
My first two mornings of teaching Iwasdriven by cab to my classroom door. Onthe third day embarrassed by this specialtreatment, I asked the driver to drop meoff at the edge of the campus so that Icould walk along with everyone else.From that day onward, colleagues andstudents, who always addressed me as"Teacher Ho-man," would walk with me.Men and women held my hand, their armsaround me, in that non-sexual fashion bywhich the Chinese signal friendship andintimacy in public.
"Things are better with Deng," onestudent told me. "After all, he likes academics. That is why that peasant Maohated him so much." When I revealedthat, as a protestor during the 1960s, I hadowned a copy of the Chairman’s Little RedBook, and had even taken inspiration fromits aphorisms, they looked shocked.
Later, an aged schola after chattingwith me over tea for the better part of anhour, suddenly announced, "And now,Ho-man, I must show you something."In China, as in several other cultures, theimportant issue in a conversation isreserved until the end, for which the teaand polite conversation it engenders aremerely preludes.
From a high shelf he took what lookedlike a baseball bat wrapped in old news
"To the divine Shakespeare andthe newspirit of academicfreedomthat hasbroughtourbrotherHo-manto the childrenof the middleearth."
A studentposterfrom Tiananmen Square.
12 F*Et-l F
papers. His eyes glistened with tears.Inside was a dunce’s cap, bearing theinscription, "I AM ASHAMED OF BEINGA SCHOLAR." For two years he had hadto wear that cap eight hours a day whilehe paraded on command in one ofChangchun’s parks. Noticing that I wastrying to hold back my own tears, he tookmy hand and then, after refilling ourcups, proposed a toast. "To the divineShakespeare and the new spirit ofacademic freedom that has brought ourbrother Ho-man to the children of themiddle earth."
On the surface, then, things were goingwell at the universities. After all, fromConfucius onward the teacher had alwaysoccupied a high place in Chinese culture.
For example, in one prize-winningMarxist play we saw the allegorical figure of a teacher, his ever-present umbrellasymbolizing prudence, joined with aboyhood friend, now a high-ranking partyofficial. Together they rooted out corruptpoliticians. As a reward for his honestythe teacherwas appointed principal of anew school bearing his name.
"This is not just a dream," the playwright told me. After the performance heelaborated, "At last year’s meeting of thePeople’s Congress, Chairman Deng askeda famous scholar to sit beside him. Thushe rectified the crimes his predecessorhad committed against the universities."
Still, the Chinese continued to describethemselves as like thermoses: cool on theoutside but boiling inside. And, indeed,there was a dark underside to thesepromising times.
One evening Iwas invited to have dinner in the small room of five female graduate students. Never had a professor, letalone a western professor, entered thesepremises. Students milled about in thehall, taking furtive glances through thecurtain that served as a door. The tablewas spread with those foods the Chinesedisplay for ceremonial occasions.
My "Gang of Five", as I mischievouslycalled them, had bought a large bottle of"Great Wall Wine" for the dinner, butonly poured glasses for me and my maletranslator. I protested at once and proceeded to give them a quick, comic lectureon women’s liberation; then poureddrinks all around. In the background aJohn Denver tape played "Rocky Mountain High," their courteous way of offering us a reminder of home.
We talked about Shakespeare, the
theater, and American universities. Butas the evening wore on, the wine had itseffect.
The topic was suddenly changed. Oneof my students asked if I would describewhat the Vietnam and Civil Rights protests were like in the 1960s. "How didyou go about protesting? Did you usesymbols, or force-or both? What did youaccomplish?" I spoke as one who hadbeen both a participant and an observer.
As we left, my translator-a colleaguein the Foreign Language Department whohad quickly become a dear friend, our"Chinese Uncle" as our children calledhim-turned to me and cried passionately "Ho-man, all I want is somethingbetter than my cell his word for the one-room apartment in which he lived withhis wife and child." Then, making a fistaround the now-emptied bottle of wine,he said in anguish, "I don’t care aboutour glorious past. I sometimes wish theGreat Wall would crumble to the ground,vanish! That we could start over!"
A few months after I left, there werepeaceful student protests in Beijing andShanghai, harbingers of what would hap-
pen later in Tiananmen Square. But whileI was in China I never saw evidence ofdiscontent among the students or theirteachers. In part, of course, they wereputting on a good face for me. And, as acolleague later explained in letters weexchanged on the riots, "We did not wantto trouble you, Homan, with ourproblems."
When I reminded him that I had beenmade an official member of Jilin University-to this day I hold the title of VisitingProfessor-and that these were therefore"my problems" as well, his response was,"But, Homan, you people in the beautiful land a Chinese phrase for the UnitedStates don’t have as much patience withauthorities as we do. We’re used to it-as far back as the emperors."
I, unwittingly,hadquestionedthe authority
that the Chinese studentshadbeentaughtis vital to theirsystem.
Still, the discontent was there. Thechildren of the middle earth, as theseChinese proudly call themselves, werequestioning authority And I realize nowthat by our style of teaching I, unwittingly had questioned the authority thatthe Chinese students had been taught isvital to their system.
Early on, my hosts had requested copies of my lectures so that they could betranslated into Chinese. While neverworking from lecture notes at the University of Florida, let alone using a prepared text, I dutifully sent over twentylectures.
For my first two classes, I was contentto sit beside my translator and read to myclass a paragraph in English, followed byits Chinese translation. Then, one nightat dinner, I told my translator that Isimplycouldn’t do things this way I liked toimprovise. As an actor, I needed to "play"to my audience.
We decided on the spot to throw awaythe translations. The next morning Iannounced to the class that I would talkinformally to the students. Not only talkto them, but with them. In this fashion wecould consider Shakespeare together.
There was a stir in the room; I saw oneelderly faculty member in the corner shakehis head in disapproval. After a long -*
ProfessorHoman being welcomedtoChina.
Learning to interpret Shakespearewith theaid of a translator hand to mouth.
Fall * 1990 13
Thesechildrenof the middleearthwho marchedhadbeen,no, are mystudents,my colleagues-myfriends.
silence, a student timidly raised her hand.I instinctively walked over and sat on theedge of her desk, as if we were friendsmeeting on some park bench. More stirsfrom the class. "But, Ho-man, you are theforeign expert. Surely, you can provideus with the proper response to the plays."
I then told her the very thing I tell myown students in Florida. We only haveinterpretations. There is no absolute truth.The interpretation reveals more of theinterpreter than it does of the play
"Is it not possible that the most we cando is read ourselves into the text, seeingin the play what we need to see or wantto see, or are prepared to see? Is that notpossible, Han Feng?," I said, purposelyaddressing her by name.
Her smile had what we would call inthe theater a sub-text. Later that afternoon, one of her roommates clarified:"You are reminding her, Ho-man, that sheis the liberated woman you talked to whenwe drank the ‘Great Wall Wine’ together."
One of my American graduate students went to Jil in University the year afterI returned. He reported that there weremassive student demonstrations in thatcity although in this country reports ofthe riots were mostly confined to thoselater on in Beijing and Shanghai. By hiscount, some 50,000 students, teachers,and workers paraded down Changchun’s main boulevard.
These children of the middle earth whomarched had been, no, were and are mystudents, my colleagues-my friends.
Shortly after the riots were quelled,one of my students reported that his father,a teacher and administrator at one ofChangchun’s universities, had resignedin anger over the government’s policy Heknew that the precious, centuries-oldbond between teacher and student hadbeen broken. It could never be the sameagain.
In their letters to me my colleagues inChina continue to speak of "the tragedy" and "their shame," even of their"embarrassment" that "things mightnever be the same if, Homan, you honorus again with your presence."
Honor?-du ring our stay I had felt thereverse was true, for who was Ito bringa mere 450-year-old English playwrightto a country whose own theater existedfor 4,000 years before Shakespeare wasborn?
The Chinese are an intensely proudpeople, but the Chinese attitude towardsauthority is notalways like ours. We weredisturbed by the inconveniences, theindignities, the humiliations that ourChinese friends suffered in their dailylives. Yet frequently they spoke of themselves as "small potatoes." Nor did theymind getting in "through the back door.""We are a patient people," a hotel maidtold me.
While Shakespearewasmy immediatesubject,the ultimateissuewasthe obligationof thestudent,no lessthanthe teacher,to his or hergovernment
Since the riots in Tiananmen Squarethings will surely never be quite the same.Certainly not the same as they were whenmy family and I were in the People’sRepublic. The patience is wearing thin.Nevertheless, words like "change,""westernization," "democracy" even"freedom" are slippery, problematic,relative.
Teaching and directing plays in thePeople’s Republic of China only confirmed what I learned from being an FEHproject director. The FEH humanist is alsoa student, and should never forget that fact.In China, while Shakespeare was myimmediate subject, the ultimate issue wasthe obligation of the student, no less thanthe teacher, to his or her government.
learning is a political act. It was at theuniversities that the Chinese demand forchange was first made manifest. Theseprotests, while beginning on the campus, spread to the people, to the "workers," to the community which, whileoutside the campus, was at one with it.
I tease my Florida students by tellingthem, "I am not interested in Shakespeare. He’s dead. What interests me isthe world outside the theater, which hereflects."
Those students martyred in Tiananmen Square were not thinking of them-
selves, but of others. Their devotion toothers was just like that of the faculty andstudents in Harbin who made sure thatthe "western Shakespearean" and hisfamily would not suffer the slightestdiscomfort.
These Chinese virtues did not originate with Deng, nor with Mao. Theycome from ancient Chinese philosophyThose students, my students, martyred inTiananmen Square had a profound ideaof what our human obligations are.
Because of them, the People’s Republic will never be the same again. Norwill I.
N.B. Chen Yong Guo, Homan’s translator and his children’s "Chinese Uncle,"somehow made it from China to Florida.Until August 1991 he is a Visiting Scholarin the English Department of the University of Florida. =
Sidney Homan, a member of the FEHSpeakers Bureau, is Professor of Englishand Theatre at the University of Florida,continues as Visiting Professor of hImUniversity He is a five time FEH ProjectPartner. This account of his visit to Chinais based on his presentation during theFEH funded "Renaissance Dreams"which prepared the way for the 1989Orlando Shakespeare Festival. ProfessorHoman ‘s FEH supported experience inFlorida state prisons see the Fall/Winter,1989-90, Forum, pp. 5-6 may havehelped prepare him to enter anotherclosed society, contemporary China.
14 FEH Forum
Rarely have Iheard statements regarding Florida-its past, present, or future-that approach yours. They are essentially what I wanted to say in my inaugural addresses as Governor, because thisis the way I feel, but I am sure I fell shortof your standards.
leRoy CollinsTallahassee
Once again, the FEH Forum holdssomething which really grabs me. First,the Lincolnville photos in your AnnualReport. Then, in the latest issue, EdwardAlbee’s words: "Since I had decided Iwasa creative writer, which merely meant thatI didn’t have to worry about being able tothink in a straight line, the essay wasbeyond me."
Thank you for the new description ofmy thought process! It brought a smileand a sigh of relief-I’m not the only one.
Ann MacmillanTallahassee
I got my FEH Forum yesterday andimmediately marked it all up. I had noidea FEH had so many services/programs available to us.
Patti BartlettFort Myers
I loved Albee’s comments in theForum.Howard Carter
St. Petersburg
Iwas shaken to discover the names oftwo Shakespearean characters misspelled in the Forum of Spring/Summer1990. The errors appeared on page 7 inthe caption of a picture accompanyingthe otherwise excellent article, "BringingShakespeare to Orlando."
The correct spellings of the names ofthe two suitors of Bianca are Hortensioand Cremio. In addition to an apology tothe spirit of Shakespeare, the author ofthe article, Stuart Omans, is owed one.
Wilmina R. SmithSt. Petersburg
Oops! We goofed. Professor Omanshas forgiven us, but we have not heardfrom the spirit of Shakespeare. However,given his variable spelling? Ed.
I am still in a euphoric state from justthe mere idea that I-a former teacher,interior designer, poet?, mother, andpresently activities coordinator for folkswho are sr. citizens/emotionally & physically handicapped living in privatelyowned subsidized housing-was affordedthe opportunity to listen, view, and wonder with academical professionals in theart world at the "Culture and Democracy" conference in Jacksonville, March2 & 3. I was ecstatic to be there. It’s allstill soaking into my brain, heart, andbody!
billie joNeptune Beach
Iwould like to personally "thank you"for making the Boynton Beach Library"Florida Stories" series possible . . . I amthoroughly enjoying it as well as about40 other people!
Elizabeth Barret HardnerOcean Ridge
I have just completed ten public forumsessions on "Ethics in America" presented by the Apalachicola MunicipalLibrary in cooperation with FEH. Thesessions were most informative, stimulating and thought provoking. The moderators, Clark Holmes and Tom Weller,were extremely well qualified and performed a commendable service to theircommunity in directing the discussionsand maintaining focus on the subjectsunder review at each session.
Those of us that attended this serieshave gained from it and wish that thisprogram could be made available to othergroups within the community
Joe W. ButlerCarra belle
It is a tribute to FEH that it is not content with just collecting and documenting historical artifacts. FEH Forums areconsistently fresh, compelling andinvolving. Its projects reflect on how wehave been shaped by the forces of cultural life in Florida and provide us witha context for understanding present dayissues and making educated decisions.
In particular, the FEH writers seriesradio features have given tens of thousands of Floridians an opportunity toknow and appreciate the historical andongoing concerns of some of Florida’smost brilliant citizens. The series, witheach production looking at a differentauthor, has documented the intelligence,originality and courage of the writers. Ithas also explored the rich cultural andnatural environment of Florida whichinspired these authors.
FEH is important for the thread it provides connecting us to the past, examining the present and preparing for thefuture.
Patricia KempTampa
* 1990 15
GRANTS
AWARDED
from PERRY, STARKE and PALATKA toOKEECHOBEE and NAPLES
Voices and Visions: the world ofAmerican poets entered through six two-hour video/discussion programs, basedon the TV series of the same name, withthe participation of a recognized regionalpoet, all under the guidance of a humanities scholar
Sponsor: Friends of the Venice AreaPublic Library Inc., and each of the participating libraries
Scheduled variously from Nov. 1990through June 1991, as arranged at eachofthefollowing locations: Bartow PublicLibrary, Bradford County Public LibraryCollier County Public Library De SotoCounty Library Destin Library GulfportPublic Library Lakeland Public LibraryLakes Region Library New Port RicheyPublic Library, Okeechobee CountyLibrary Palatka Public Library Palm Harbor Library Sun City Center Clubhouse,Taylor County Public Library Thonotosassa Public Library
Project director: Arthur Mac Miller813 645-3842 or 813 359-4360
DAYTONA BEACHLet’s Talk About It: reading/discussion
series featuring modern classicsSponsor: Volusia County Public LibraryScheduled once a month-beginning
Nov. 19,1990-through April 22, 1991,at the Cornelia Young Library
Project director: Brian K. Reed 904255-1401 ext. 236, or 904 252-5427
FEH grant: $1,000/approximate totalcost $2,300
Twenty-three proposals,requesting more than
$337,000, were consideredby the FEHBoard of
Directors at its Septembermeeting. Ten were awarded
grants in the total amount of$110,085, which is
approximately 25% of thetotal cost of these projects
k Hereare the projectsfunded.
GAINESVILLEplus national travel
"Fort Mose" Satellite Exhibit: designedto advertise a major traveling exhibit onAmerica’s Black Fortress of Freedom byproviding a sample teaser in "culturallydeprived" locations
Sponsor: University of FloridaScheduled to be used in conjunction
with locations of a major exhibit on FortMose to be arranged through Dec. 1991
Project director: Kathleen Deagan904 392-1721
FEH grant: $17,075/approximate totalcost: $56,000
Music of Femina: discussion and liveperformance of music by Western womencomposers since 1700
Sponsor: Women’s Study Program,University of Florida
Scheduled for Nov. 4, 1990, in UFMusic Bldg. 120
Project director: Caryl Flinn 904 392-0777
FEH grant: $400/approximate totalcost: $1,000
MIAMI, WEST PALM BEACHPOMPANO, HOBE SOUND
and SANIBELWater, Water Everywhere-Nor Any
Drop to Drink! Florida’s ethical dilemmaof the decade discussed in a series ofpublic forums based on issues posedby a 45 minute musical drama, "TheWater Log"
Sponsor: Creative Stages, Inc., and theSouth Florida Water Management District
Scheduled for the Museum of Science,Miami, on Nov. 11, 1990; Duncan Theatre or Norton Art Gallery West PalmBeach, on Dec. 1, 1990; Fern ForestNature Center, Pompano, on Jan. 13,1991; Hobe Sound Elementary School,during early Feb., 1991; Hyatt HotelAuditorium, Miami, on March 2, 1991;and Sanibel Elementary School, on March16, 1991
PALM BEACH COUNTYFrom "C" to Inland "C": guided tours
and other ways of inviting the public inon the significance of selected sites onthe southern shore of Lake Okeechobee
Sponsor: Palm Beach County Planning Division
Scheduled for Jan.12 & 13, 1991, atJohn Stretch Park/Lake Harbor Community Paul Rardin Park/Belle Glade andPahokee, Canal Point Community Center/Canal Point Community and PalmBeach Community College/Belle GladeCampus
Project director: Vicki Silver 407 233-5313
FEH grant: $6,920/approximate totalcost: $15,500
16 F*E*H F
NAPLES and FORT LAUDERDALECoast to Coast: Two reading/lecture
series-on "Detectives Unlimited"mysteries and crime fiction and "Beforeand After Cone with the Wind" historical novels, featuring major authors andcritics-bounce between Naples and FortLauderdale.
Sponsors: Naples Literary Seminar, Inc.,and the Florida Center for the Book
Scheduled for Nov. 8 at The Depot,Naples; Nov. 9 and Dec. 3, 1990, at theBroward County Main Library Fort Lauderdale; Jan. 16, 1991, at both locations
Project director: Carol Cain Farrington 813 263-2664
Forum: six lecture/discussion sessionsdesigned to explore ethical issues probed
by selected Playhouse productions, featuring a group of older adults who willpreview the plays and participate in thediscussions
Sponsor: Coconut Grove PlayhouseScheduled from 7:00-10:00 p.m. on
Nov. 26 "Driving Miss Daisy", Dec.17"At Wits End", 1990, and Jan. 14"Shirley Valentine", Feb. 24 "Little Shopof Horrors", April 8 "The CemeteryClub", May 20 tba, at the CoconutGrove Playhouse
Focus on Gender: FlU’s ninth annualWomen’s Studies Colloquium invites allFloridians to considergender related theories, practices, and applications.
Sponsor: Florida InternationalUniversity
Scheduled for March21 & 22, 1991,at FlU/University Park
Project director: Marilyn HoderSalmon
FEH grant: $11,705/approximate totalcost: $35,000
Technology and Ethics: a series of fivelecture/panel discussions on definitivefeatures of the relationship betweentechnological ingenuity and humanresponsibility
Sponsor: Barry UniversityScheduled for Nov. 14, 1990; March
20, May 22, and Nov. 13, 1991; andMarch 25, 1992, at Barry University
Project director: Mary Ann Jungbauer305 758-3392
FEH grant: $9,510/approximate totalcost: $28,000
GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINESfor 1991
FOR REGULARPROJECTSEXPECTED TOBEGIN AFTER JUNE 15, 1991
Preliminary Application due byFebruary 8, 1991Final Application 1 original, 28 copiesdue by March 15, 1991Notification by May 15, 1991
FOR REGULARPROJECTSEXPECTED TOBEGIN NOVEMBER 1, 1991E Preliminary Application due by
July 8, 1991Final Application 1 original, 28 copiesdue by August 9, 1991Notification by October 7, 1991
NOTICE
MEDIAAPPLICATIONS
SUSPENDEDNo media applicationswill be
consideredin 1991. The mediagrant progran hasbeensuspended.Theoriginally
announcedmedia applicationdeadlineis inoperative.
NO MEDIA GRANTS TO BEAWARDED IN 1991
Fall * 1990 17
CriticsFORUM
The 1990 Summer Teacher Institute on"The Heritage of the Florida Panhandle"was organized around academic presentations every morning including thatof the architect/contractor who conducted the field trip on the last morning.These were followed on the first threeafternoons by presentations of those with"hands-on" experience. The last twoafternoons were set aside for presentations by participants. Every presenter haddone excellent research. The participants were very eager to contribute.
James McGovern provided a comprehensive discussion of the queen city of1900-1 930, Pensacola, and the area tothe east, especially Jackson County theInstitute site. His knowledge of the effectsof the rise and fall of the major businessof this locale, lumbering of the long leafpine was extraordinary as well as of theeconomic and social life of the times.His illustrative slides were especiallyinteresting.
Jerome Stern’s style of presentationhelped relax the participants, invitingthem into a dialogue. His presentationwas very informative, while also providing a wide variety of student projectsuggestions.
Ormond Loomis encouraged participants to share folklore they knew, thoughthis limited the time for his own presentation. His slides of area crafts, buildings, and jobs that require folk knowledge
added a great deal.Connie Palmer and her sister, both
native Americans, gave an informativepresentation of their heritage in makingpine needle baskets. They explained everystep of the method-from gathering andpreparing the pine needles to finishingthe baskets. They provided a large display of their baskets which participantscould examine as closely as they liked.
For the majority of the participants, thehighlight of the Institute was ClaudeReese’s tour and accompanying explanation of the background and architectural styles of the historic home sites inGreenwood. Mr. Reese’s vast knowledgeshowed the hours he had put into reading old records, talking to older Greenwood residents, and doing libraryresearch. The open, relaxed manner inwhich he and his wife shared every areaof their 100-year old home, Great Oaks,was astounding.
Presentations by those who lived theculture were the real highlights of theInstitute. The widow of a man who hada turpentine company spoke of the lifethey lived, even the feel of the companymoney. Learning about growing sugarcane and making syrup from that canefrom someone whose family has been inthat business fora number of generationswas most enlightening. Then to be servedhomemade sausage, biscuit, and syrup
to give a real "taste" of this Panhandleindustry! Basket making with white oakand with pine needles, quilt making,logging, bateau boat building, Indianfolklore-each of these by people intimately involved in the craft, industry orway of life-gave special insights theparticipants could learn from no othersources.
Every participant had extremely favorable comments on the Institute. One toldme, "In the over 20 years I have taught,I have never attended anything as interesting and as useful." I heard another say"I wish this could be an in-service program for all the teachers." I heard comments concerning what they planned touse in their classes, ways they planned tocollect information on their own backgrounds, and projects they planned tostart. One of the presenters, when Iaskedif he had sufficient time to prepare for hispresentation, said, "Oh, yes! In fact, I gotso involved in this and collecting material that my wife told me ‘No more! Nomore!’ And Ienjoyed everything so muchthat I had a hard time deciding how tolimit this report."
The only weakness of the institute wasa feeling that there was so much to learnand so little time in which to do it.
Ruth Davis
IDI
WayneMartin, the "fiddlin’fool, "points out the workmanshipwhich goes intoa fiddle during a summer teacherinstitute.
18 F.E.H Forum
A VIEW FROM THE BOARD
Several weeks ago, while I wastrapped in my car in what used to becalled the Kendall morning rush hour butwhich has actually become a Buddhiststate of non-existence, my somnolentsensibilities gradually became aware thatPublic Radio was talking in glowing termsabout a controversial but energetic groupof young actors and directors in Chicagowho called themselves the Remains Theatre Company They present new, and notalways clear, works about AIDS, aboutcrime, unemployment, Saddam Hussein, the approach of the killer bees-whatever is au courant and in the public’s interest.
The only catch is the public has to bewilling to listen hard, because Remainsdoesn’t spell it out. Plenty of people, baffled or otherwise, have shown a willingness to listen, because Remains chargesten dollars a ticket, not thirty-five. Theyalso exhibit prominently the warning that"LATECOMERS WILL BE SEATEDWHENEVER THE MANAGEMENT FEELSIT APPROPRIATE, AND IT WILL BEDONE IN THE MOST HUMILIATINGMANNER POSSIBLE." As I said, plentyare showing up, and they’re on time.
What made the news even more exciting to me was the further discovery that
performances are held, not in a theatre oran outdoor stadium or even a tent, but ina shopping mall. I suddenly rememberedhaving made a few passing remarks during a recent Board meeting to the effectthat there must be some enterprisinggroups out there who would like to makethings happen in the Mall besides freecholesterol counts; who have recognized the potential of having thousandsof people there on any given day-people to sing to, perform for, and involve inmeaningful dialogue on issues of tremendous significance, dialogue thatcould easily precede or follow a performance of some kind.
Poets and philosophers of the American scene have vilified the Mall for sometime now, have savagely attacked it as thetacky symbol of our deteriorating culture, the Taj Mahal of flea markets.Teachers, school boards, and parentswould sometimes rather see our youthrocketed off to a distant planet than spendFriday nights walking aimlessly up anddown the shadowless tiles of the Mall.
We all know the hard truth: the Mallisn’t going away any time soon. So whynot start seriously thinking about what canbe done to bring the humanities there?The entrepreneurs would readily coop-
erate, I haven’t the slightest doubt. Wecan all enjoy the best of both worlds.Those who come for the sale at Penney’smight be intrigued by the sounds of theMozart opera just outside, might lingerfor an insightful lecture by a music critic,and would still make it to the sale.
Railing against the materialism of thetimes has been traditional in the humanities, but until the public experiencesbeauty and truth for itself, sermons willaccomplish little. I think Shakespeare, hadhe been our contemporary would havealready cornered the market.
180TEACHERS PARTICIPATE INSUMMER INSTITUTES
Nine Teacher Institutes were held byFEH during the summer of 1990. Withfunds provided through the FloridaDepartment of Education, 180 secondary school teachers took advantage ofthese opportunities to bring aspects of"Florida Heritage" into their students’experience. The only continuing education in the humanities provided to our
teachers, these institutes were devoted tothe study of the history social life, andcultural traditions of the various peoplesand several regions of our state.
A special feature of every institute wasspecific consideration of ways in whichtopics could be introduced to students ineach participant’s own classroom. Allparticipants are expected to report back
on how their institute pays off in theirteaching practices.
Teachers interested in participating inone of the 1991 institutes may contact theFEH office after January 31 for a list oflocations, topics, and directors.
oI
Richard P. Janaro
Fall * 1990 19
RESOURCE CENTERNews
Newly acquired video tapes availableon loan include:"Marjory Stoneman Douglas""Living in America: A Hundred Years of
Ybor City""Four Corners of Earth" about Seminole
women and folkways.
A special invitation is extended toretirement communities and associations. Videos and other materials of theResource Center should be of specialinterest to them. Request a ResourceCenter Catalogue. Set up your own special series.
Audio cassettes based on FEH sponsored radio features are available for pu rchase at the price of eight dollars $8.00each. Topics range from bioethics reportsto discussions of leadership in Florida, andfrom Florida writers to bits of Florida history. The Resource Center Catalogue hasa complete listing.
Speakers available in 1991 include:
Judith Bense, Associate Professor ofAnthropology, directs the Institute of WestFlorida Archeology at the University ofWest Florida. The author of Underground Pensacola and other works, sheis interested in enlisting the public’s helpwith the preservation of our deterioratingarcheological sites. Topic: GettingInvolved in Public Archeology in YourTown
Andrew Buchwalter, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University ofNorth Florida, has published numerousessays on political philosophy and 19thand 20th century German thought. Having recently organized an internationalconference on the subject, he is currently preparing a book of controversialessays about public support for the arts.Topic: Controversies in Public Fundingfor the Arts-Philosophical and Historical Perspectives
Mason Daly, of the Academy of SeniorProfessionals at Eckerd College, is theformer director of the Overseas Divisionof the University of Maryland. While FordFoundation University DevelopmentAdvisor, Daly started his large collectionof art from non-Western cultures. Topic:WestAfrican Carvings andtheirlnfiuenceupon Western Art
Emma Waters Dawson, Associate Professor of English at Florida A & M University has studied and taught the worksof Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, andother African American authors for fifteen years. She is the co-author of theforthcoming Toni Morrison: A Bio-Bibliography. Topics: Images of AfricanAmerican Women in The Color Purple;or The Legacy of Slavery in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Shirley Anne Williams’ Dessa Rose
Jane Dysart is an Associate Professorof History at the University of West Florida. Her scholarly work focuses on NativeAmerican women’s roles as mothers,workers, and preservers of culture. Sheis currently researching mixed-bloodCreeks and Indian traders. Topic: TheRoles of Women in Creek and SeminoleFamilies
Jane Anderson Jones, an AssociateProfessor of English at Manatee Community College, is editing an anthologyof poems from and about Florida. Topic:Florida Poems and Poets
Robert Mertzman is an AdjunctInstructor of Philosophy at the Universityof South Florida and at Eckerd College.Having managed several large companies, Mertzman now turns a philosopher’s gaze towards the tough issues thatarise in the business world. Topic: Whatis Business Ethics and Why Should WeStudy It?
Sandra Norman, Assistant Professor ofHistory at Florida Atlantic University, hasextensive experience with museums andhistoric sites. She has lectured on Florida’s industrial heritage and is currentlyinvolved in projects in Palm Beach countyand Bimini. Topics: Public History in theCommunity; or The Effect of Technologyon the Everglades
Cordon Patterson, Associate Professorof History at Florida Institute of Technology is the author of the forthcomingThe Essentials of Ancient History andchairs the Social Science section of theFlorida Academy of Sciences. His manyresearch interests include German andAustrian intellectual history. Topics:Jacques Le Moyne’s Drawings of EarlyContact in Florida - European Images ofNative Americans; or Back to theSource - Bartram to Coleridge to Hurston
Joseph Siry, Associate Professor ofEnvironmental Studies at Rollins College, is the author of Marshes of the OceanShore: The Origins of an Ecological Ethic,the "Wetlands" entry in the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, and a number oftexts on teaching environmental studies.Siry researches energy use and development and has lectured on wetlandspreservation. Topic: The History of Florida’s Environmental Movements
Jerome Stern directs the Creative Writing Program at Florida State UniversityThe author of Making Shapely Fiction andthe director of the World’s Best Short StoryContest, Stern’s commentaries can beheard on National Public Radio’s "AllThings Considered" and have appearedin Harper’s Magazine and Playboy Topics: Fiction from Rural Florida or American Popular Culture
Sidney Homan, Professor of English andTheater at the University of Florida andVisiting Professor at Jilin University in thePeople’s Republic of China, has writtenseven books on theater and has directedand acted in a long list of plays fromShakespeare to Stoppard. Presentations:Money and the Human Contractstagingand discussion of a scene from TheMerchant of Venice; or No Longer aCouch Potato viewing and discussion ofBeckett’s television plays
Joan and Steve Hansen, a.k.a. The St.George Street Players, make history comealive before your eyes. Theater lovers areequally appreciative of the Hansens’accomplishments as linguists. Joan’stranslations brought the comedies of 16thcentury playwright Lope de Rueda toEnglish speakers for the first time; andSteve, after working for the U.S. Army asa Russian linguist, translated Chekhov’sone-act comedies. Presentations: "AnEvening in St. Augustine, 1740;" or "TheIndian Mission Problem of 1697"
Ernie Williams chairs the HumanitiesDivision of St. Leo College. Althoughacademically trained in philosophy thisformer Florida state banjo champion haspublished fiction, poetry many articleson southern folk arts, and has written afu II-length ballet. Presentation: SouthernFolk Music a musical performance withcommentary =
20 F*E*H Forum
Requestfor Proposals
1990 - 1992
THE 1992COLUMBIAN QUINCENTENARYEncountersof Cultures
The significance of 1492 lies not withwhat Columbus found but in the interaction which followed his voyages. AsWilliam H. McNeilI recently wrote,"What Columbus did was to change theworld in which he lived and the world inwhich the American Indians lived byconnecting the two in a way that haslasted for half a millennium." We inviteFloridians to study this connection.
In our state, Juan Ponce de Leon, Panfib de Narváez, and Hernando de Sotoset in motion a series of events, aptlycalled by Alfred Crosby the "Columbianexchange." Over a period of centuries,Florida was the staging ground for cultural and biological interplay amongTimucua, Apalachee, Tequesta, Calusa,Spanish, Minorcan, Greek, French, Italian, and English. Invaders became settlers. Immigrants became citizens. Theirdescendants populate our peninsula.
In 1787 Abbé Genty published anelaborate essay "The Influence of theDiscovery of America upon the Happiness of the Human Race." Genty con-
cluded that the influence had been chieflyfor the bad. "Think," he said, "what aslaughter there had been of innocent andhigh-minded red men by brutal andruthless whites!" "Think too," he said,"how most of the great European warssince the Peace of Westphalia have grownout of quarrels about colonial empire!"To Abbé Genty, Columbus had come witha sword-notwith an olive branch-andhad opened a new chapter in the longodyssey of human woe.
There are many today who agree withAbbé Genty, those who view 1492 as acatastrophe for the Americas, for the land,and its peoples. Despite differences ofinterpretation, analysis, and perspective,it is difficult to ignore the significance ofthe date. It is, in fact, the differences ininterpretation, analysis, and perspectivethat are critical to this commemoration.
The Florida Endowment for theHumanities calls for proposals for publicprograms that investigate the encounterand interaction of peoples and cultures,either historical or with an emphasis on
contemporary Florida. Non-profit organizations are encouraged to develop andconduct various kinds of programsgrounded in one or more of the humanities disciplines, combining creativeimagination with sensitivity to localinterests in developing a focus and format for their projects.
Scholars in the disciplines of thehumanities such as philosophy ethics,comparative religion, history, art historyand criticism, jurisprudence, literature,languages, linguistics, archaeology cu Itural anthropology and fobklife must becentral to your proposal and project.
For further information, and for application forms, please call 813 272-3473or write us for application forms and further information. Two FEH publications,Commemoration and Spanish Pathwaysin Florida: A Resource Guide to sites,scholars, and collections may help youdesign a public program appropriate toyour community These publications areavailable, free of charge, upon request.
oI
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION91 1 FLODA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
1718 E. SeventhAvenue * Suite 301 . Tampa,Florida 33605
Count me in. I am joining the Florida Endowmentfor theHumanities.Keep spreading across Florida the stimulationof humanities programs, events, broadcasts, and publications.
NAME
STREET
CITY
_________________________________________________
STATE
____________
ZIP
____________
TELEPHONENUMBER
_____________________
Enclosed isa tax-deductiblecontributionto continuetheinsightful programsof the FloridaEndowmentfor the HumanitiesFEH.
$100.00 $50.00 $25.00 $10.00
Pleasemakecheckpayableto: FLORIDA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
1991FEH Board Meetings
April 12 in TampaJune13 & 14 in TampaSeptember21 in Tampa
Baptist Church hasa wayof
accepting intofellowshipall who come ‘by letter or
profession offaith.’ One can get to be a Floridian
by either of those same routes, i.e., by the accident
andgreatgoodfortune ofbirth, or by choice.
from PalmettoCountry
by Stetson Kennedy
FLORIDA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES1718 E. SeventhAvenue * Suite 301 * Tampa, FL 33605
