Black Miami in the Twentieth Century
Florida History and Culture Series
by Marvin Dunn (Author)

The first book devoted to the history of African Americans in south Florida and their pivotal role in the growth and development of Miami, Black Miami in the Twentieth Century traces their triumphs, drudgery, horrors, and courage during the first 100 years of the city's history. Firsthand accounts and over 130 photographs, many of them never published before, bring to life the proud heritage of Miami's black community.

Beginning with the legendary presence of black pirates on Biscayne Bay, Marvin Dunn sketches the streams of migration by which blacks came to account for nearly half the city’s voters at the turn of the century. From the birth of a new neighborhood known as "Colored Town," Dunn traces the blossoming of black businesses, churches, civic groups, and fraternal societies that made up the black community. He recounts the heyday of "Little Broadway" along Second Avenue, with photos and individual recollections that capture the richness and vitality of black Miami's golden age between the wars.

A substantial portion of the book is devoted to the Miami civil rights movement, and Dunn traces the evolution of Colored Town to Overtown and the subsequent growth of Liberty City. He profiles voting rights, housing and school desegregation, and civil disturbances like the McDuffie and Lozano incidents, and analyzes the issues and leadership that molded an increasingly diverse community through decades of strife and violence. In concluding chapters, he assesses the current position of the community--its socioeconomic status, education issues, residential patterns, and business development--and considers the effect of recent waves of immigration from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dunn combines exhaustive research in regional media and archives with personal interviews of pioneer citizens and longtime residents in a work that documents as never before the life of one of the most important black communities in the United States.
 

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Calusa and Their Legacy, The
South Florida People and Their Environment
by Darcie A. MacMahon and William H. Marquardt
 
From the Publisher
"The Calusa and Their Legacy is the first popular book focusing on the Calusa Indians, their ancestors, and the coastal water world in which they lived. It also takes a look at the arts and culture of contemporary south Florida Indian people--the Seminole and Miccosukee. This wonderfully illustrated volume is a delightful rendering of one of the truly unique archaeological and natural areas in the Americas. Anyone interested in North American Indians, Florida, and the natural history of coastal environments of yesterday and today will love this book."--From the foreword, by Jerald T. Milanich

"Finally, a well-researched and entertaining look at the grand procession of life that has been flourishing in south Florida's estuaries for thousands of years. This book masterfully describes the wondrous and little-known stories of its inhabitants--from plankton to mangroves to the ancient Calusa Indians to modern-day people."--Carol Newcomb-Jones, Florida Gulf Coast University
 

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Ding Darling Sampler, A
The Editorial Cartoons of Jay N. Darling
by Jay N. Darling (Author), Christopher D. Koss (Editor)

The Editorial Cartoons of Pulitzer Prize winning cartooning Jay N.Ding Darling. Dings cartoons provide perspective on the political issues that were prominent during his drawing career (1912-1962). A fifty-year period of incredible transitions & events for the United States, including Civil Rights, Space Exploration & 2 World Wars. 200 of his most representative cartoons in a full page, large format reproductions.

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Florida
A Short History
by Michael Gannon
 
From the Publisher
In introducing the 1994 edition, a 99-year-old activist cautioned that efforts to protect Everglades National Park must not be taken for granted. The writer of this edition's introduction lauds other Everglades' advocates. Lodge, a freelance ecologist, provides information on the flora and fauna of this unique ecosystem and human impacts on it. He includes new chapters on The Big Cypress Swamp and Lake Okeechobee, b&w and color illustrations, and 670 references. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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Florida's Lost Tribes
by JERALD T. MILANICH (Author), Theodore Morris (Illustrator)

The Florida Times-Union, 09/19/2004
Engaging new excursion into Florida's Indian past.

KNLS Bookwatch, February 2005
The pairing of a painter with an archaeologist produces a wonderful blend of scholarship and visual color displays.

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Florida's Pioneer Naturalist
The Life of Charles Torrey Simpson
by ELIZABETH O. ROTHRA (Author)

"Elizabeth Rothra's excellent biography of Charles Torrey Simpson restates his philosophies about the intrinsic value of natural ecosystems like the Everglades.  No one knew better than he the history of the plants and animals of South Florida or conveyed it with more humor and enthusiasm."--Marjory Stoneman Douglas

"Absorbing, informative, and useful. . . . Simpson is the primary source of information for all scholars wishing to learn about ecological conditions in south Florida at the turn of the century."--Larry D. Harris, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida

"A needed, timely contribution to scholarship in the form of a very enjoyable, readable volume. . . .  Much of the natural wealth enjoyed by our citizens today is due to the early efforts of pioneer naturalists such as Charles Torrey Simpson, working in a 'labor of love' nearly a century ago."--David H. Stansbery, Curator of Bivalve Mollusks, Museum of Zoology, Ohio State University

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Great Journey, The
The Peopling of Ancient America
Brian M. Fagan

From reviews of the first edition:
"Most of us are acquainted with the European discovery of America, but how and when did American Indians occupy the continent? That's the fascinating puzzle Fagan discusses here--and he reveals himself as a meticulous, skeptical researcher. . . . The upshot is an informative, balanced, and often exciting account."--Kirkus

"This is an admirable introduction to questions that have exercised men ever since the discovery of the Americas."--New York Times Book Review

"For fans of Jean M. Auel's best-selling novels, Fagan's book provides a much-needed and up-to-date summary of the facts on which her books about Ice Age humans are loosely based."--Los Angeles Times
 

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Green Empire
The St. Joe Company and the Remaking of Florida's Panhandle
by KATHRYN ZIEWITZ (Author), JUNE WIAZ (Author)

H-Net, May 2004
"A thought-provoking look at an unfolding chapter in the history of a state and country." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

E-Streams, August 2004
"Does not whitewash over the reasons the company is controversial today, and yet it does not read as a diatribe." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Tallahassee Democrat, June 6, 2004
"A persuasive call to citizens and government to insist upon a greater public interest." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Choice, October 2004 Vol. 42, No. 2
Highly recommended. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The Polish American Journal, January 2005
Anyone concerned with land use and growth management, Florida’s fragile wildlife and natural resources will learn a great deal... --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
 

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History of Florida in Forty Minutes
by Michael Gannon (Author)

"Michael Gannon, a towering figure in Florida history, richly deserves his reputation as the 'dean of Florida studies.'"--Gary Mormino, author of Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams

"One of the state's foremost historians."--Miami Herald

"Mike Gannon [is] one of Florida's gifted historians and authors."--Gulf Coast Historical Review

"Gannon is a lifelong student of the history of his state, an acclaimed teacher, a masterful and tireless raconteur, and a superb stylist."--Paul S. George, Florida Historical Quarterly

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Nine Florida Stories by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Florida Sand Dollar Books)
by KEVIN MCCARTHY (Editor)

The subjects that would fire Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s enthusiasm for the rest of her life first appeared in her short fiction published in the 1920s. Florida’s most celebrated environmentalist, the author of The Everglades: River of Grass, wrote even then about protecting South Florida’s fragile ecosystem and the state’s endangered species, about the dangers of short-sighted land development, and about Florida history.
The nine stories in this first collection take place in a scattering of South Florida settings--Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, the Tamiami Trail, the Keys, the Everglades—and reveal the drama of hurricanes and plane crashes, of kidnappers, escaped convicts, and smugglers.
Editor Kevin McCarthy relates each story to Douglas’s life and points out the autobiographical touches which surface frequently in her stories.

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Paradise Lost?
The Environmental History of Florida (Florida History and Culture)
by JACK EMERSON DAVIS (Editor), RAYMOND ARSENAULT (Editor)

The Journal of Southern History
...situate[s] Florida's environmental problems as central topics...in state and regional history [and] in the broader environmental history of the nation.

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Salvaging the Real Florida
Lost and Found in the State of Dreams
byBill Belleville

Modern life has a tendency to trap people in cubicles, cars, and cookie-cutter suburbs. Thankfully, someone comes along now and then to remind us of the beauty that presents itself when we turn off the information feeds and turn away from the daily grind.
Bill Belleville’s enchanting Salvaging the Real Florida invites readers to rediscover treasures hidden in plain sight. Join Belleville as he paddles a glowing lagoon, slogs through a swamp, explores a spring cave, dives a "literary" shipwreck, and pays a visit to the colorful historic district of an old riverboat town. Journey with him in search of the apple snail, the black bear, a rare cave-dwelling shrimp, and more. Everywhere he goes, Belleville finds beauty, intrigue, and, more often than not, a legacy in peril.
Following in the tradition of John Muir, William Bartram, and Henry David Thoreau, Belleville forges intimate connections with his surroundings. Like the works of Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Archie Carr, his evocative stories carry an urgent and important call to preserve what is left of the natural world.

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Some Kind of Paradise
A Chronicle of Man and the Land in Florida
by Mark Derr

From the Publisher
For 500 years, visitors to Florida have discovered magic. In Some Kind of Paradise, an eloquent social and environmental history of the state, Mark Derr describes how this exotic land is fast becoming a victim of its own allure. Written with both tenderness and alarm, Derr's book presents competing views of Florida: a paradise to be protected and nurtured or a frontier to be exploited and conquered.

Publishers Weekly
Ambitious, comprehensive and generally successful, Derr's study of the country's most-visited state combines ecological, demographic, economic information with political and cultural history. In his account of the area's exploration, colonization and development, the author also portrays the developers, migrants and foreign laborers who shaped the state, primarily for the benefit of winter residents, retirees and tourists. Chief among the 19th-century entrepreneurs were friends and rivals Henry Plant and Henry Flagler, master builders of cities and resorts, whose vast rail systems opened up the peninsula and fostered exploitation of all kinds, including plantation slavery. The panoramic narrative is animated by anecdotes, novel details and flavorful images of Florida's motley settlers. Freelance writer Derr cautions that the outcome of the current war between developers and environmentalists will depend on ``controlled'' growth and wise administration of the state's resources. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)

h Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information

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Trembling Earth
A Cultural History Of The Okefenokee Swamp
by Megan Kate Nelson (Author)

“A fascinating, valuable addition to the (suddenly) burgeoning literature encompassing the

American Southeast’s environment. Nelson’s work, excellent in itself, represents a flowering in

the regional field, I think, that will soon rival the larger and older tradition of western environ-

mental history.”—Jack Temple Kirby, author of Poquosin

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Unspoiled
Writers Speak for Florida's Coast
by Susan Cerulean, Janisse Ray, A. James Wohlpart

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