In praise of newspapers and other rare gifts
One day soon, I’m going to drive over to Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Gainesville, the city where I live, and find the grave of Matthew Lewey. Somehow, if belatedly, I’d like to connect with him. Lewey was founder and editor of one of Florida’s first Black newspapers, the Gainesville Sentinel, launched in 1887 as Reconstruction ended. He renamed it the Florida Sentinel in 1894, moving the growing enterprise to Pensacola,
As Newspapers Reinvent….
Are nonprofits key to keeping Florida informed? By Ron Cunningham Two reports of Florida marine entrepreneurism, separated by a century and a half: “The wrecking vessels are usually small schooners. They anchor within sight of each other along the Reef, and readily exchange signals when a wreck is seen. So promptly do these vessels come to the rescue they are likened to the condor that swoops down upon its prey.”
Southern comfort, Korean-style
Jennifer and Michele Kaminski missed their mother’s cooking, so they opened a ‘ghost restaurant’ to bring bibimbap — and a voice against anti-Asian prejudice — to Miami By Dalia Colón | Photos by Amanda Julca Featured image above: Jennifer, left, and Michele Kaminski, with the to-go boxes for their 2 Korean Girls “ghost kitchen.” The sisters grew up spending time in their mother’s Mishawaka, Indiana, restaurant. Years later, living in
Home Sweet Tree
Striving to make my retirement enjoyable and fruitful, I invest time surrounded by Florida’s natural beauty with a camera in hand. One recent steamy morning, I had a favorite place nearby to myself, enjoying some of the wonderful birds that nest there. Summer Tanagers were singing overhead, joined by the warbling song of a Blue Grosbeak and many others, when a Red-Headed Woodpecker alighted on the dead pine snag I’d
Lessons of the seashells
Weaving history, science, and culture, Cynthia Barnett’s new book unlocks what we’ve missed about these ocean gems By Ron Cunningham | Photos by Betsy Hanson Featured image above: Environmental author Cynthia Barnett in the light-filled office where she wrote The Sound of the Sea, her arm resting on the four books she has authored. The first three dealt with fresh water issues; this one “really completes the hydrologic cycle for
Respect + Rebellion: The State of Debate on Campus
Universities have long been experienced as a place where the ideals of free inquiry and deliberative democracy are embodied – even as the paragon of these values. But in recent years, colleges across the nation have become front-page news for alarming instances of censoring voices and protests escalating when two ideas come into conflict.
FORUM Magazine: Fall 2021 – Chronicling Florida
FORUM Magazine: Spring 2021 – Written in Water. Vol. XLV, No 1 Spring 2021.
Florida Newspaper History Timeline 1783–2021
Our state’s evolving life has been mirrored in the pages of our newspapers, even as the landscape of Florida journalism grew, flourished, contracted, changed, and continues to transform. This excerpt is from a chronology that is part of the University of South Florida library’s digital collection. You can also download it here. By David Shedden 1783 - 19001783 The Treaty of Paris between Great Britain and the United States ends
The power of being seen
Since 1873, Florida’s Black newspapers have advocated, informed, and reflected lives often ignored By Kenya Woodard Featured image above: Josiah Walls, born enslaved in 1842, was a man of firsts – among them, owner/publisher of Florida’s first Black newspaper and the first Black man to serve his state in the U.S. Congress. Yet when he died in 1905 in Tallahassee, no state newspaper carried his obituary. “…no more striking demonstration
Anything is possible
A conversation with Florida Humanities’ new Executive Director Nashid Madyun By Jacki Levine and Keith Simmons Featured image above: “The ability to know your neighbor helps you truly know yourself and, ultimately, contribute to a fair and vibrant society,” says Nashid Madyun, photographed on the grounds of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Long before Dr. Nashid Madyun became Florida Humanities’ new executive director in May, he had witnessed
