This program examines the slow growth of democracy in Florida. Starting in Spanish colonial Florida, Dr. Steve Noll looks at how the actions of political leaders and grass-roots activists have worked to increase the ideas and notions of democracy, a continuing process.

Steve Noll is an instructional professor in the University of Florida’s history department, where he received his PhD in 1991. Dr. Noll taught special education in public schools for twenty-eight years before moving to UF in 2004. He has written on general Florida history as well as more specialized subjects ranging from Florida environmental policy, the Cross Florida Barge Canal, and the 1970s disability rights movement. In 2013, the Princeton Review named him one of the 300 best professors in the United States.

Florida Reflections was developed by Florida Humanities and is part of By the People: Conversations Beyond 250—a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Funding is provided in part through the Thomas M. & Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Foundation, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for Brevard. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or its partners.