Beluthahatchee
Posted by: 
team grumpy
N 30° 05.346 W 081° 37.816
17R E 439265 N 3328825
on the side of the road
Waymark Code: WM1F2G
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 04/24/2007
Views: 77
"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.
Marker Number: f-553
Date: april 14
County: St Johns
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: st johns county board of county commissioners
Website: Not listed
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