Abraham Lavender

Abraham Donald Lavender (November 14, 1940 – June 26, 2022)^[1] was a professor of sociology at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, where his special areas of interest include ethnic relations, Judaica, political sociology, urban sociology, the sociology of sexuality, and social deviance. He was editor-in-chief of Journal of Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Crypto Jews,^[2][3] and had served as president of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies.

Having previously been a professor of sociology at St. Mary's College of Maryland and the University of Miami, he began teaching at Florida International University in 1990 and remained there until his death in 2022.

Early life and education

Born in

.

Career

Lavender served from 1964 to 1968 in the United States Air Force and completed his service as a Captain, serving at Whiteman Air Force Base in Warrensburg, Missouri, where he was a Personnel Casualty Officer,^[4] and in Izmir, Turkey, as part of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). After completing military service, Lavender began his doctoral studies and earned a Ph.D. in sociology in 1972 from the University of Maryland, College Park,^[4][5] with a doctoral dissertation on generational changes in Jewish identity.

A prolific author, Lavender wrote dozens of books and academic articles, mostly about ethnicity and Sephardic Jews,^[3] as well as other scholarly publications including journal articles, reference book/encyclopedia articles, book reviews, or research reports, on a wide variety of sociology-related topics. In addition to his books listed below, among his major publications linking multiple areas of interest (Jews, Latins, ethnicity, political sociology) are A History of Jewish and Hispanic Interaction in Miami-Dade County (published by the American Jewish Committee) and Jews, Hispanics, Blacks, and Others in Miami Beach: An Ethnically Divided City or a Cosmopolitan Multiethnic City?, a monograph published by the Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship Studies at Florida International University to which the answer was Cosmopolitan Multiethnic City. In 1977, Lavender published a collection of studies on non-mainstream Jewish people in the United States, A Coat of Many Colors.^[6] As of 2014^[update], he was completing a seventh book, Early Social Life in Miami Beach: From Mangroves and Mosquitoes to Mansions and Millionaires. He also was selected to write the article on Judaism for the Encyclopedia of Sociology, and to write seven articles on the relationship between anthropology and DNA for the Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Lavender argued that since Sephardic Jews constitute a separate group, they should be granted the same attention bestowed on other ethnic groups.^[7]

On six occasions, Lavender was honored (Distinguished Citizen Award, Key to the City, Certificate of Appreciation) for his civic activities in

, conducted extensive research at the Huguenot Society, and was involved with the International Huguenot Conference held in Charleston in 1997.

Civic and political activities

Lavender also was active in civic and political affairs, serving as advisor to

. His direct paternal ancestor, Benjamin Lavender, settled in the Sumter, Turbeville, New Zion areas of South Carolina c. 1790, and among Lavender's later presentations was "Where in the World are Benjamin Lavender’s Distant Male Cousins?" ("¿Donde Están en el Mundo los Primos Distantes de Benjamin Lavenda?"), presented in Turbeville, S.C., in August 2010. With thirteen Y-chromosome markers, the answers were, in order, Italy (especially Marche); Cologne, Germany; Central Portugal; the United States (4 European background, 2 Hispanic background, and 1 African background), Brazil (especially Rio Grande Do Sul), and Warsaw, Poland.

Lavender was also a frequent speaker to academic, civic, and genealogical groups, with frequent presentations about the Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal, and their descendants in North America and South America. Recent presentations have included "The Secret Jews of Brazil." Other favorite topics include Miami Beach history, political behavior, and DNA, and recent presentations include "The Secret Society of Moses according to Flavio Barbiero." His academic visits included Portugal, Spain, and Israel.

Organizations

Lavender was president of the Miami Beach Historical Association and president of the South Florida Association of

Jewish War Veterans of the United States

.

Books

• Miami Beach in 1920: The Making of a Winter Resort. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2002.
• Black Communities in Transition: Voices from South Florida. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1996 (edited, with Adele S. Newson).
• Jewish Farmers of the Catskills: A Century of Survival. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1995 (with Clarence Steinberg).[8]^[9]
• French Huguenots: From Mediterranean Catholics to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. New York, Bern: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1990.
• Ethnic Women and Feminist Values: Toward a 'New' Value System. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1986.
• A Coat of Many Colors: Jewish Subcommunities in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1977 (edited).

References

External links

• Webpage at FIU
• Miami Beach social history reveals a homogenous population with little resemblance to today’s diverse city