LAKELAND, Fla. (Feb. 14, 2008) — Florida Southern College’s Center for Florida History welcomes author and Florida A&M University history professor David Jackson to the Florida Lecture Series on Feb. 28. Jackson will discuss “Booker T. Washington Comes to Florida.” The lecture will start at 7 p.m. in the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel on the FSC campus. The event is free and open to the public.

“We are delighted to have David Jackson here to help us celebrate Black History Month,” said James Denham, professor of history and director of FSC’s Center for Florida History. “His presentation on Booker T. Washington’s 1912 trip to Florida will be informative as well as entertaining.” 

A highly sought-after public speaker, Atlanta native Jackson holds degrees from Florida A&M (B.S. and M.S.) and from the University of Memphis (Ph.D.). Before joining the FAMU faculty, Jackson worked in private industry and as a high school teacher, earning accolades as Memphis City School system’s “Most Influential Teacher” for two years. Jackson won the Rattler Pride award for Community Leadership, the FAMU Teacher of the Year Award, and was named Advanced Teacher of the Year in 2006. He has published more than a dozen scholarly articles and presented papers at numerous professional conferences.

Jackson is the author or co-author of “A Chief Lieutenant of the Tuskegee Machine: Charles Banks of Mississippi” (Gainesville, 2002), “Retrieving the American Past” (2003), and “Go Sound the Trumpet! Selections in Florida’s African American History” (Tampa, 2005). He is currently at work on a book-length study of Booker T. Washington’s southern travels from 1908 to 1912. Jackson has served as an historical consultant to many organizations and agencies, including the Florida National Register Review Board and the Florida Historical Commission. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors for the John G. Riley House Museum and Cultural Center in Tallahassee.

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.