Stetson Kennedy - Fruit Cove, FL
N 30° 05.346 W 081° 37.813
17R E 439270 N 3328825
This historical marker is located along the William Bartram Scenic Highway (State Road 13) outside the entrance to Beluthahatchee Park, home of author Stetson Kennedy.
Waymark Code: WMJ77V
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/05/2013
Views: 5
The historical marker reads:
"Beluthahatchee" as defined by noted author Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) is a mythical "Florida Shangri-la, where all unpleasantness is forgiven and forgotten." When Florida author/activist Stetson Kennedy (b. 1916) moved here, the site was named and set aside as a wildlife sanctuary. After WWII, he infiltrated and exposed the KKK and other domestic terrorist groups. Kennedy's books include Palmetto Country (1942), Southern Exposure (1946), Jim Crow Guide (1956), and The Klan Unmasked (1957). The latter two were translated around the world. This site served as headquarters for his pioneering 1950 "total equality" write-in bid for the U.S. Senate. His book, After Appomattox, was completed here in 1995, with the help of his wife Joyce Ann. That year he won the Gustavus Meyer Award for doing the most to combat bigotry in the USA. In April 2005 Kennedy was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Beluthahatchee also served as a Florida hangout for America's legendary folk balladeer, Woody Guthrie. Here, Guthrie completed his autobiographical book, Seeds of Man, and over 80 Florida songs, including "Beluthahatchee Bill. This site was designated a Literary Landmark by Friends of Library-USA in 2003.
The following additional information about Stetson Kennedy is from Bartram Scenic Highway website:
"Kennedy’s career as an author began in 1942 with Palmetto Country, a volume in the American Folkways Series edited by Erskine Caldwell. This was followed by Southern Exposure in 1946, Jim Crowe Guide in 1956, and The Klan Unmasked in 1957, based upon Kennedy’s infiltration of the Klan following WW II. Numerous awards received by Kennedy during the course of his career are indicative of the significance of his life work."