LAKELAND, Fla. (Sept. 14, 2005) — Florida Southern College’s Center for Florida History presents its 2005-2006 Florida Lecture Series with six guest speakers, beginning Sept. 22 and concluding March 16. The lectures will take place at 7 p.m. in the William M. Hollis Seminar Room on the FSC campus. The schedule of events is listed below. All lectures are free and open to the public. For further information, please contact 863-680-3001.

“Once again, we are extremely pleased to bring the Florida Lecture Series to our students, faculty, and friends in Lakeland and the greater Tampa Bay area. This year’s series promises to be one of our finest,” noted James M. Denham, director of the Center for Florida History and FSC history professor. “This year also marks the tenth anniversary of the Florida Lecture Series. As I reflect over the past ten years, I am proud of the distinguished speakers we have hosted and the diversity of subjects we have addressed.” 

Schedule of Lectures

Sept. 22 - “In Search of Visions of Justice and Democracy - Florida Style.” Hon. Justice R. Fred Lewis, Supreme Court of Florida.
A native of West Virginia, Justice Lewis attended Florida Southern College, where he excelled in academics and athletics. He was selected as the college’s Honor Walk Student, awarded annually for the outstanding senior student for scholastic and service achievements. He graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law and entered a long and successful career in private practice in Miami, specializing in civil trial and appellate litigation. Lewis provided counseling and pro bono services to families with children having impairments and to cancer patients seeking proper treatment for multiple conditions. He was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in December 1998 by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles. Lewis served on Florida’s Commission on the Legal Needs of Children and is active in the Justice Teaching Institute, a program designed to enhance public education. Justice Lewis’ public service has been recognized through numerous awards.

Oct. 20 - Book talk and signing. “Grander in Her Daughters: Florida’s Women During the Civil War.” Tracy Jean Revels, Associate Professor of History, Wofford College.
Revels was born and still resides part-time in Madison, Fla. A specialist in southern history, she received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Florida State University. She taught for one year at Georgia Southern University, and is currently an Associate Professor of History at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Florida Historical Society, and the Southern Historical Association. She has published articles in The Florida Historical Quarterly and Forum: The Magazine of the Florida Humanities Council and book reviews in a wide range of newspapers and journals. Her book “Grander in Her Daughters: Florida’s Women During the Civil War” (Columbia, 2004) received the Florida Historical Society’s 2005 Rembert Patrick Prize for the best scholarly work in Florida history. She is also the author of “Watery Eden: A History of Wakulla Springs” (Tallahassee, 2000). A book signing will be held following the lecture.

Nov. 10 - Book talk and signing. “Jacob Summerlin: King of the Crackers.” Joe Akerman, Professor of History, North Florida Junior College, Emeritus.
A native of Orlando, Akerman holds degrees from Rollins College and the University of Florida. He also earned a post-graduate certificate in Southern and Negro History from Johns Hopkins University. Akerman has had a distinguished and varied career as a writer, public speaker, and teacher. A Fulbright Scholar in British Columbia (1967-1968), Akerman is a leading authority on the history of cattle ranching in the United States. He is the author of “The Florida Cowman: A History of the Cattle Industry in Florida” (Kissimmee, 1997), currently in its ninth printing, “American Brahman: A History of the American Brahman” (Houston, 1982), and most recently, “Jacob Summerlin: King of the Crackers” (Melbourne, 2004), which won the Florida Historical Society’s Charlton Tebeau Book Prize in 2005. His articles have appeared in many journals and newspapers, including the Florida Historical Quarterly, Orlando Sentinel, Tallahassee Democrat, Jacksonville Times-Union, and Vancouver Sun. A book signing will be held following the lecture.

Jan. 19 - “The Honor of Andrew Jackson.” Bertram Wyatt-Brown, Professor of History, University of Florida, Emeritus.
One of the most distinguished historians of the American South, Wyatt-Brown holds degrees from the University of the South, Cambridge University and Johns Hopkins University, where he received his Ph.D. under American Historian C. Vann Woodward. Past president of the Southern Historical Association, Dr. Wyatt-Brown taught at Case Western Reserve University and in 1983 was appointed Richard J. Milbauer Professor of History at the University of Florida. He is the author of numerous publications including “The House Percy: Honor, Melancholy, and Imagination in a Southern Family” (New York, 1996); “The Shaping of Southern Culture: Honor, Grace, and War, 1760s – 1890s” (Chapel Hill, 2001), and “Hearts of Darkness: Wellsprings of a Southern Literary Tradition” (Baton Rouge, 2003). He has appeared in television documentaries for Discovery, A&E, and PBS. Currently Wyatt-Brown serves as series editor of the Louisiana State University Press’ Southern Biography Series.

Feb. 9 (The Robert and Rose Stahl Criminology Lecture) - Book talk and signing. “Arc of Justice: Bartow’s Ossian Sweet, Clarence Darrow and the Fight for Racial Equality in America.” Kevin Boyle, Professor of History, Ohio State University.
Boyle, a native of Detroit, attended the University of Detroit and the University of Michigan, where he earned his doctorate. He has taught at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and in 2003 was appointed professor of history at Ohio State University. Boyle’s most recent book, “Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age” (New York, 2004), won the National Book Award for non-fiction in 2004 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has written several other books and his articles have appeared in various journals and anthologies. Boyle has held fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Fulbright Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. He has lectured and held teaching appointments at the University College Dublin, Ireland, Harvard University and other universities. A book signing will be held following the lecture.

March 16 - “Pioneer Mothers, Confederate Daughters, Citrus Princesses, and Other Florida Wild Women.” Diane Roberts, Professor of English, University of Alabama.
An eighth-generation Floridian, Roberts holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Florida State University. From 1980-1989 Roberts attended Oxford University where she earned a second bachelor’s degree in English and a doctor of philosophy in literature. Currently professor of English at the University of Alabama, Roberts is the author of several books including her most recent highly acclaimed “Dream State: Eight Generations of Swamp Lawyers, Conquistadores, Confederate Daughters, Banana Republicans, and other Florida Wildlife” (New York, 2004). She is also a frequent contributor to scholarly and popular magazines and newspapers. She has written on Southern culture and literature for Southern Living, The New York Times, The London Times, and The New Republic, and is a political columnist for The St. Petersburg Times. She is a frequent commentator on NPR and the BBC. She has received the Gustavus Meyer Center for the Study of Human Rights Award, two Associated Press awards for radio, and two Society of Newspaper Editors prizes for editorial writing and sports commentary.

About the Florida Lecture Series
The Florida Lecture Series is produced by the Center for Florida History under the direction of Dr. James M. Denham. The program brings speakers to the Lakeland campus who approach the issue of “Florida Life and Culture” from a wide range of disciplines, including history, public affairs, law, sociology, criminology, anthropology, literature, music and art. Its overall objective is to create an opportunity for members of the community, faculty, and student body to listen to, interact with and learn from leading scholars and specialists of the state’s history and culture. 

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors. Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.