If you talked to David Colburn, you would never know he was a Floridian. His New England accent was a dead giveaway to his formative years in Providence, Rhode Island. In spite of his Yankee enunciation, Colburn was a son of the Sunshine State, living 47 years in Gainesville associated with the University of Florida. But he was more than simply a UF Gator, he was someone who cared deeply about the state he lived in. He worked tirelessly to make Florida a better place for all its citizens, emphasizing something that seems rather quaint today—the public good.
Colburn not only grew up in Providence, but he also completed his post-high school academic career at Providence College, where he received both his
undergraduate and MA degrees in history. Participating in the school’s ROTC program, he joined the Army after graduation and served in Vietnam for a year, starting in 1966. Upon returning to the states, he entered the PhD program in history at UNC Chapel Hill, where he graduated in 1971, writing his dissertation on the political career of New York governor and failed presidential candidate Al Smith. That academic focus did not last long, as Colburn got a teaching position at the University of Florida in 1972 and never looked back. For the rest of his academic career, he focused on the political and social history of his adopted state.
A remarkably prolific writer, especially considering his administrative duties at UF, Colburn produced a series of books that are considered “have-tos” for those interested in modern Florida history. In 1995, he (along with his former student Jane Landers) edited a path-breaking volume entitled The African American Heritage of Florida. Colburn’s entry in the book focused on the 1948 Groveland Four case in which four young African-Americans were wrongly accused of raping a white woman. His 2007 book, From Yellow Dog Democrats to Red State Republicans, examined the forces behind the transition to Republican rule in the Sunshine State. In the book he wrote, “Florida reflected the new America. A nation of young and old, immigrant and native, rich and poor—all searching for a place in paradise that would afford them opportunity, freedom and a better quality of life.” But his most important written work on Florida was neither a book nor an article; instead, it was a state government-commissioned report released in 1993 on the 1923 Rosewood Massacre. Entitled A Documented History of
The Incident Which Occurred at Rosewood, Florida, in January 1923 and written in conjunction with FAMU historian Larry Rivers and FSU historian Maxine Jones, the report afforded the basis for the state of Florida to provide financial compensation to the survivors and descendants of that horrific racial massacre.
Like his fellow Gator Michael Gannon and his good friend Gary Mormino, David Colburn was not just an academic historian. He gave years of service to the Florida Historical Society, working to get the general public and academics on the same page regarding the state’s long history. He also worked for many years with Florida Humanities, both as a public lecturer and in an administrative capacity serving as chair of the organization and as its representative to (and chair of) the U.S. Federation of State Humanities Councils. Because of that commitment to public humanities in Florida, he was awarded the Florida Humanities Lifetime Achievement Award.
After serving a series of important administrative positions at the University of Florida, Colburn became director of the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at UF, working with the former senator and governor to improve civic responsibility and service among college students. Colburn and Graham published numerous op-ed pieces in newspapers around the state talking about issues related to Florida and how civic activism and engagement could help solve them. His last book, published posthumously in 2022, entitled Writing for the Public Good: Essays from David R. Colburn and Senator Bob Graham is an edited collection of the best of those op-ed pieces and is a worthy testament to Colburn’s dedication to making Florida a better place.
David Colburn’s legacy at UF and around the state of Florida is a lasting one. He often stated that his role as a teacher was to allow students to “develop the tools of discernment.” That statement can be broadened out to define the mission of the humanities more broadly. Therefore, it is only fitting that he be selected as a member of the Florida Humanities Hall of Fame.
