Stetson Kennedy
Stetson Kennedy | |
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Born | Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | October 5, 1916
Died | August 27, 2011 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | (aged 94)
Occupation |
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Nationality | American |
Spouse | Sandra Parks (at time of death) |
Signature | |
Website | |
stetsonkennedy |
William Stetson Kennedy (October 5, 1916 – August 27, 2011) was an American author,
Childhood and education
William Stetson Kennedy, commonly known as Stetson Kennedy, was born on October 5, 1916, in the Springfield neighborhood of
At a young age, Kennedy began collecting Florida folklore material and wrote poetry about Florida nature.[2] His views on race relations in the South were largely influenced by his family's black maid, known only as "Flo", whom Kennedy considered "almost like a mother".[5] He recalled that during his childhood in the 1920s, local Klan members beat and raped Flo for "sassing whitefolks"[4] after she questioned a white bus driver who had given her incorrect change. Recalling this incident later in life, Kennedy said, "At a very tender age, I became aware that grownups were lying about a whole lot more than Santa Claus",[4] in reference to the Klan's claims of being Christian patriots.[5]
Kennedy attended
Early writing and activism
In 1936, while studying at University of Florida, Kennedy collected boots and blankets for the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.[4]
Kennedy has been called "one of the pioneer folklore collectors during the first half of the 20th century".
Kennedy's first book, Palmetto Country (1942), which was commissioned by Georgia writer
In 1942, Kennedy began working for the
Infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan
Kennedy was unable to enlist in the military to serve in
Working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Kennedy joined the multiple Klan-affiliated organizations under the pseudonym John Perkins. He intended to gain evidence that could be used to prosecute its members.[12] He obtained information about the Klan's "Invisible Empire" through his own participation and also through a high-ranking informant. As soon as he became aware of new details, he shared the Klan's secrets with police, prosecutors, journalists, and human rights organizations.[1] In 1947, after a year of working undercover, he consented to testify in a trial against the leaders of the Columbians, Homer Loomis and Emory Burke, who were found guilty.[2]
Kennedy claimed that in 1946, he provided information—including secret codewords and details of Klan rituals—to the writers of the
Critical assessments from his peers
In 1999, freelance historian Ben Green alleged that Kennedy falsified or misrepresented portions of The Klan Unmasked. During the 1990s, Green had enlisted Kennedy's help while researching a book about the still unsolved murders of Florida couple
Green also interviewed Georgia State Prosecutor Dan Duke, whom he reported as denying having worked with Kennedy as closely as the latter had claimed. "Duke agreed that Kennedy 'got inside of some [Klan] meetings' but openly disputed Kennedy's dramatized account of their relationship. "'None of that happened,' [Duke] told Green", according to
Dubner and Levitt had included a favorable summary of Kennedy's anti-Klan activities with special emphasis on the events recounted in I Rode with the Ku Klux Klan in the 2005 edition of their bestselling book. In the revised 2006 edition, after being contacted by Green, they retracted their earlier admiration, claiming that they had been "hoodwinked".[13] The allegations in their retraction were swiftly repeated by the business journal Forbes in a review of the revised edition of Freakonomics: "It turns out that Kennedy doesn't quite live up to his own legend. In fact, he had exaggerated his story for decades and credited himself with actions taken by other people."
Green's insinuations are contested by scholars, who emphasize that Kennedy never concealed that he had protected his colleagues' identities and maintain that Green either misread or did not really read the material at the Schomburg Center. Bulger maintains that Kennedy was always candid with her and others about his combination of two narratives into one in I Rode With the Ku Klux Klan: "His purpose was to expose the Klan to a broad reading audience and use their folklore against them, which he did". In a letter to the editor of The New York Times Magazine (published on January 22, 2006) Bulger accused Dubner and Levitt of "holding Stetson Kennedy responsible for the inadequacies of their own research":
It's preposterous. I have worked with Stetson Kennedy for more than 30 years, conducting almost 100 in-depth interviews with both Kennedy and his contemporaries. Your writers use one footnote from my dissertation as "evidence", yet Dubner admitted to me that they never read the whole thing. This is "data"? What is the smoking gun here?[17]
In the same issue of the magazine, a letter of protest from famed oral historian Studs Terkel affirms that "With half a dozen Stetson Kennedys, we can transform our society into one of truth, grace and beauty.... The thing is, Stetson did what he set out to do .... He did get help. He should have been much more up-front. But he certainly doesn't deserve this treatment".[citation needed]
In his own response (published in the Jacksonville, Florida Folio Weekly, January 27, 2006) Kennedy pulled no punches:
The hidden story behind these hidden story guys is that it was a put-up, hatchet job. Freakonomics co-author, Stephen Dubner, admitted to me that it was Ben Green, author of the book about the Harry T. Moore assassinations, who made the call. And, why would he have it in for me? We once had a contract to collaborate on the Moore book and split the byline; but instead we split, because I was convinced that lawmen at every level were involved in every phase of the murders, while he was bent not just upon whitewash but on praising the G-men for a "stellar performance".
I must say that I am not at all comfortable about being in Freakonomics, anyway. I took the authors into my home on the basis of their assertion that what they were after was the economics of the Klan. The next thing I knew, they sent me a pre-publication copy of their sketch of Klan history, and I was horrified to see that it was a rehash of the Klan's very own "Birth of A Nation" version. I did some detailed editing, but they chose to ignore it—just as they did all the documentation I gave them on my infiltration of Klans all over the South, all by my lonesome.
I trust that readers took note of the book's attack upon [the low-income early education program] Head Start, which with all its faults, is a godsend to many. Still worse is the book's suggestion that the way to decrease the crime rate is to decrease the black birthrate via abortion. Without reference to what America does to its black and tan kids, that is sheer racism. There is too much evil going on in the world for me, going on 90, to take time out to haggle with anyone about which agent covered which Klan meeting 50 years ago.[18][failed verification]
In 2006, The Florida Times-Union, after extensive research, published an article "KKK Book Stands Up to Claim of Falsehood" substantiating the general accuracy of Kennedy's account of infiltrating the Klan, while acknowledging that (as he himself never denied) he had made use of dramatic effects and multiple narratives in the book I Rode with the Ku Klux Klan.[16]
According to David Pilgrim, curator of the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University:
Green claimed, after months of readings Kennedy's field notes, that he was unable to substantiate many of the claims in The Klan Unmasked. He even insinuated that Kennedy had fabricated his true role. Kennedy, in his 90s, fought to salvage his reputation and protect his legacy. He acknowledges that some accounts in his books were actually derived from the actions of co-infiltrators or others sympathetic with undermining the Klan. "Though I recognize the importance of integrity in a person's work, I am nevertheless not especially troubled if Southern Exposure or The Klan Unmasked includes accounts from others afraid to speak for themselves. Nor am I bothered that Kennedy embellished his role. Infiltrating the Klan was an act of great courage, and the information in the books and on the radio shows led to the arrests of some Klansmen, the derailing of domestic terrorist acts, and the unpopularity of the Klan organization. That is good enough for me. I encourage readers to watch this short video on
YouTube(no longer) which chronicles the life and work of Kennedy." The Jim Crow Museum staff periodically trains docents to work in the facility. When I facilitate this training I have the students read Kennedy's book, Jim Crow Guide: The Way It Was (1959). The book is a mock guide dripping with bitter sarcasm; nevertheless, it is a historically sound account of life under Jim Crow segregation.[11]
Later career
After World War II, Kennedy worked as a journalist for the liberal newspaper PM and as a part-time correspondent for publications such as the New York Post and The Nation. He also fed information about discrimination to columnist Drew Pearson. His stories appeared in newspapers and magazines such as the New York Post for which he was for a time Southern correspondent, and he fed information about discrimination to columnists. To bring the effects of Jim Crow in the South to public awareness, he authored a number of exposés of the Klan and the racist Jim Crow system over the course of his life, including Southern Exposure (1946), Jim Crow Guide to the USA (1959), and After Appomattox: How the South Won the War (1995). During the 1950s, Kennedy's books, considered too incendiary to be published in the US, were published in France by the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre[19] and subsequently translated into other languages. Kennedy coined the term "Frown Power", when he started a campaign with that name in the 1940s, which simply encouraged people to pointedly frown when they heard bigoted speech.[20]
In 1952, when Kennedy ran for governor of Florida, his friend and houseguest
A founding member and past president of the Florida Folklore Society, Kennedy was a recipient of the 1998 Florida Folk Heritage Award and the Florida Governor's Heartland Award.[8] His contribution to the preservation and propagation of folk culture is the subject of Peggy Bulger's dissertation, "Stetson Kennedy: Applied Folklore and Cultural Advocacy" (University of Pennsylvania, 1992). Kennedy is also featured as one of the "Whistle Blowers", in Studs Terkel's book Coming of Age, published in 1995.
In 2005, Jacksonville residents attended a banquet in honor of Kennedy's life, and afterward a slide show with narration at Henrietta's Restaurant, located at 9th and Main Street in
In 2007 St. Johns County declared a "Stetson Kennedy Day".[12]
Kennedy participated in the two-day "New Deal Resources: Preserving the Legacy" conference at the Library of Congress on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the New Deal held in March 2008.[21] Kennedy's most recent book, Grits and Grunts: Folkloric Key West, was issued by the Pineapple Press, in 2008.
In February 2009, Kennedy bequeathed his personal library to the Civic Media Center in Gainesville, Florida with which Kennedy had worked since the center's inception.[22]
In October 2009, a first party for Kennedy's 93rd birthday was held at the Civic Media Center and the next day admirers flocked to Beluthahatchee Park, now a landmarked historic site, to celebrate Kennedy's birthday there.[23]
Personal life
According to friends, he was married seven times, though Kennedy only admitted to five marriages,
In 1942, he had a son, Loren Stetson Kennedy, his only child.[26][27]
After fleeing Budapest with his Hungarian wife during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Kennedy was held in detention in Paris for over a year after his passport was confiscated by the U.S. government due to McCarthyism.[28]
In 2006, at 90 years old, Kennedy married writer and bookstore owner Sandra Parks, a former
Legacy
Beluthahatchee Park
In 2003, Friends of Libraries USA put Beluthahatchee on its national register of literary sites and, to commemorate the occasion, Arlo Guthrie gave a concert in Jacksonville.[30]
In 2005 Kennedy received a
The name "Beluthahatchee" describes a mythical "Florida Shangri-la, where all unpleasantness is forgiven and forgotten" according to Zora Neale Hurston.[33]
Among the amenities are a picnic pavilion, canoe dock, access to the Beluthatchee Lake, and use of the two wildlife observation platforms. A "Mother Earth Trail" throughout the property is planned, as envisioned by the Kennedy Foundation. The Park's perimeter is surrounded by a heavy canopy of native vegetation and the enclave provides a habitat for wildlife and continues to serve as a rookery and roosting place for many types of waterfowl and other birds.
Kennedy's home has, upon his death, been opened as a museum and archive and offer educational exhibits, primarily about Woody Guthrie and William Bartram in addition to Kennedy himself, and has been operated by the Kennedy Foundation which shares office space in an adjacent home with the William Bartram Scenic and Historic Highway corridor group. A log cabin that's in the park may serve as a caretaker residence while the fourth building there may house an Artist-in-Residence through the Florida Folklife program.[34]
The park is part of a 70-acre tract that Kennedy purchased in 1948, recorded restrictive covenants setting aside land in perpetuity as a wildlife refuge, and the following year subdivided, subsequently selling all but his own 4 acre parcel.[32]
Death and memorials
Kennedy died on August 27, 2011, at Baptist Medical Center South in Jacksonville, Florida, where he had been in palliative care for several days.[35]
Kennedy's stated wishes were that upon his death a party should be held rather than a funeral; therefore, a celebration of Kennedy's life was held on October 1, 2011 (four days before Kennedy's 95th birthday) at Kennedy's homestead, Beluthahatchee Park.[36] Several hundred relatives, friends, and admirers gathered for the events which commenced with an hour of musical performances. The performances included several pieces written by Kennedy's friend Woody Guthrie, who composed many songs at Beluthahatchee, including several about Kennedy, e.g., "Beluthahatchee Bill", culminating with all present singing Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land". This was followed by an hour of eulogies. Then all present walked down to Lake Beluthahatchee and viewed Kennedy's ashes being scattered thereon from a canoe.[26]
Books
- Mister Homer, 1939
- Southern Exposure, University of Alabama Press 2011 reprint, ISBN 978-0-8173-5672-9
- The Klan Unmasked, University of Alabama Press 2011 reprint: ISBN 978-0-8173-5674-3
- Jim Crow Guide to the U.S.A., University of Alabama Press 2011 reprint: ISBN 978-0-8173-5671-2
- Palmetto Country, 1942, University Press of Florida 1989 reprint: ISBN 978-1-886104-38-9
- The Jim Crow Guide: The Way It Was Before the Overcoming, 1956 at Paris, 1959, Florida Atlantic University 1990 reprint: ISBN 0-8130-0987-1
- South Florida Folklife, 1994, (coauthors ISBN 0-87805-659-9
- After Appomattox: How the South Won the War, 1995, University Press of Florida 1996 reprint: ISBN 0-8130-1388-7
- Grits and Grunts: Folkloric Key West, Pineapple Press, 2008
- The Florida Slave, The Florida Historical Society Press, September 29, 2011, ISBN 978-1-886104-48-8
References
- ^ a b c d e Grimes, William (August 30, 2011). "Stetson Kennedy, Who Infiltrated and Exposed the Klan, Dies at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hatfield, Edward A.; NGE Staff (November 4, 2013) [2009]. "Stetson Kennedy (1916–2011)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. University of Georgia Press. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Tis, Bob (May 10, 2015). "Smooth Sailin': Remembering the Storyteller Who Led the Way". The St. Augustine Record. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Roberts, Diane (September 2, 2011). "Stetson Kennedy, Unmasker of the Klan". The Guardian. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9780817356743.
- ^ a b Keller, Amy (July 1, 2006). "Icon: Stetson Kennedy". Florida Trend. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Swirko, Cindy (August 27, 2011). "Florida Author, Known for Infiltrating Klan, Dies". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b "Stetson Kennedy: 1988 Florida Folk Heritage Award". Florida Division of Historical Resources. Florida Department of State. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b Banks, David (February 28, 2002). "The Sound of 1930s Florida Folk Life". NPR. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Winick, Stephen (August 31, 2011). "Folklorist, Writer, and Activist Stetson Kennedy Dies at 94". The American Folklife Center. Library of Congress. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b Pilgrim, David (July 2009). "Question of the Month: Superman Busts the KKK". Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia. Ferris State University. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011.
- ^ a b c Perhach, Paulette (October 6, 2005). "Legacy of Social Justice". The St. Augustine Record. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Dubner, Stephen J.; Levitt, Steven D. (January 8, 2006). "Hoodwinked?". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore – Site Credits". PBS. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore". PBS. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c Patton, Charlie (January 29, 2006). "KKK Book Stands Up to Claim of Falsehood". The Times-Union. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Bulger, Peggy A. (January 22, 2006). "Letters". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Stetson Kennedy's response is reproduced on the website of the Association for Cultural Equity.[dead link]
- ^ "Hospital Trying to Make Kennedy Comfortable". Historic City News. August 26, 2011. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Jenkins, Henry (December 7, 2016). "Perhaps a Revolution is Not What We Need". MIT Center for Civic Media. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Art, Culture, and Government: The New Deal at 75". The American Folklife Center. Library of Congress. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Tripp, Matt (February 22, 2009). "CMC Opens New Locale; Will Be Given Author's Collection". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Murphy, Bridget (October 5, 2009). "Admirers flock to Stetson Kennedy's 93rd birthday". The Florida-Times Union. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Klinkenberg, Jeff (August 27, 2011). "Florida's Homer, Folklorist Stetson Kennedy, Dies at Age 94". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Kennedy Lived to Be 94 Years-Old". Historic City News. August 27, 2011. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b Patton, Charlie (October 1, 2011). "Stetson Kennedy's Life Celebrated at Beluthahatchee". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "St. Johns County Obituaries". St. Augustine Record. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2017 – via Saint Augustine Genealogical Society.
- ^ Bulger, Peggy A. (1991). "Stetson Kennedy: Folklore and the Struggle for Human Rights". The Folklore Historian. 8: 65.
- ^ "Kennedy, Parks Wed in Weekend Ceremony". The St. Augustine Record. November 29, 2006. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Dickinson, Joy Wallace (September 15, 2011). "Klan Buster Stetson Kennedy Left Legendary Florida Legacy". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 26, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "LAMP Major Projects: Beluthahatchee Park". St. Johns County Government. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ a b "Land Acquisition & Management Program: Beluthahatchee Park", St. Johns County, Florida Government Gateway, archived from the original on March 20, 2008
- ^ "Florida Historical Markers Programs – Marker: St. Johns". Florida Division of Historical Resources. Florida Department of State. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ "Florida Folklife Program". Florida Division of Historical Resources. Florida Department of State. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Patton, Charlie (August 25, 2011). "Jacksonville Author, Civil Rights Activist Stetson Kennedy Dead at 94". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
- ^ Kennedy, Sean. "Stetson Kennedy: A Brief Overview". Stetson Kennedy. The Stetson Kennedy Trust. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
External links
- Official website
- Stetson Kennedy Papers at Georgia State University
- Stetson Kennedy collection at the New York Public Library
- Interview with Stetson Kennedy, September 22, 1981, Florida Folklife Collection, State Library & Archives of Florida
- Oral History Interview with Stetson Kennedy, May 11, 1990, Oral Histories of the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Stetson Kennedy Letters, Bienes Museum of the Modern Book, Broward County Library.
- "Clan of the Fiery Cross", Parts 1–16, The Adventures of Superman, recordings of the Superman radio program from Archive.org
- "Know Your Enemy", This American Life, transcript of episode about Stetson Kennedy