Social Science

Join author and Miami native Avi Bash as he exposes the life and activities of Organized Crime in Miami in the 20th century.

While other cities are credited for birthing and honing the legendary crime figures who inevitably influenced and shaped their susceptible surroundings and culture, Miami is where the Mob, like many American citizens, often turned when seeking vacation, vice, or a new beginning. Dating back to the first quarter of the 20th century, resourceful gangsters from across the nation recognized the profitable business opportunities Miami could provide with its booming population, perfect year-round climate, cooperative law enforcement, and mutual understanding among otherwise rival gangs. The promise of an open city, free from familiar encumbrances and restrictions, prompted eager mobsters from around the country to migrate south and trade in their suits and fedoras for swim trunks and flip-flops. Organized Crime in Miami examines the considerable yet heavily underpublicized involvement of the American Mafia in South Florida and its lasting impact on the community through their business activities, both illegal and within the confines of the law.

Years before the first shots of the Civil War were fired, Florida witnessed a clash of wills and ways that prompted three wars unlike any others in America's history.

Among the most well-known of Florida's native peoples, the Seminole Indians frustrated troops of militia and volunteer soldiers for decades during the first half of the nineteenth century in the ongoing struggle to keep hold of their ancestral lands. While careers and reputations of American military and political leaders were made and destroyed in the mosquito-infested swamps of Florida's interior, the Seminoles and their allies, including the Miccosukee tribe and many escaped slaves, managed to wage war on their own terms. The study of guerrilla warfare tactics employed by the Seminoles may have aided modern American forces fighting in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and other regions.

This fascinating collection of myths, legends and folktales celebrates the diversity of characters and cultures across the Sunshine State.

Florida boasts mysterious tales that stretch back more than twelve thousand years. In Florida Lore, storyteller Caren Schnur Neile shares a treasure trove of colorful, curious tales that capture her home state’s history, mystery, and unique personality.

Delve into the lives of the proud Wakulla Pocahontas and the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. Meet local lawbreakers like John Ashley, as well as transplants like Ma Barker and Al Capone. Stalk stumpy gators or Hogzilla as they prowl Florida's swamps and suburbs. Discover the quintessential Cracker cowboy and the Barefoot Mailman, plus the origin of names like Boca Raton and Orlando.

Despite Marco Island's common distinction as the largest of Florida's Ten Thousand Islands, there are only 12 square miles of land upon which to wander - making the enormity of its history all the more remarkable.

Marco Island projects prominently from Florida's mainland at the peninsula's southwestern fringe, where the waters of the Everglades and the Gulf of Mexico commingle. Its tropical climate, verdant landscape, unique topography, and abundant wildlife sustained prehistoric Native American cultures for centuries. The first pioneer settlers arrived in 1870, carving out a niche on the harsh Florida frontier. Bustling villages soon sprang up on the island, bolstered by strong leaders and economies centered around farming and fishing. The crash of Florida's land boom, along with the Great Depression, devastating hurricanes, and a series of failed developments, ultimately stunted the island's growth. Most of Marco Island was sold to the Deltona Corporation in 1964, which transformed the island into a place its early residents might find unrecognizable.

These pictorial images of Greek heritage illustrate the people and events that have shaped the culture and history of Tarpon Springs.

Beginning in 1905, large numbers of Greeks from the Dodecanese and Saronic Gulf islands settled in Tarpon Springs to work in the sponge business. They significantly expanded the industry and changed Tarpon Springs forever. Greektown flourished with residences, stores, churches, restaurants, and recreational facilities stretching from the sponge docks to downtown. Sponge fishing and related activities served as the economic base for the community. By 1913, as many as half of Tarpon Springs residents were reputedly Greek, and many businesses displayed both Greek and American flags. Today, Tarpon Springs' Greek community preserves a strong ethnic and maritime heritage. While some major US cities have a larger Greek population, no other has a greater percentage with Greek heritage than Tarpon Springs.

The first orange groves, planted in St. Augustine in the 1500s by Ponce de León, were the precursor to what would become an integral part of Florida’s identity.

Orange groves slowly spread across the state, inspiring horticultural and manufacturing ingenuity. Discover the story behind Deland’s eccentric “citrus wizard” Lue Gim Gong, the rise and fall of smuggler Jesse Fish and the silver-tongued politician William J. Howey, who made his fortune selling plots of groveland through the 1920s. Celebrate the heyday of orange tourism and the farmers who weathered freezes, floods and citrus greening. Join author Erin Thursby as she explores the history of the Sunshine State’s most famous crop.

When fearless and resourceful frontier women settled in Tampa Bay, they paved the way for dauntless suffragettes and the evolution of the modern woman.

Bay area suffragettes Eleanor Collier McWilliams Chamberlain, Elizabeth Robins, Julia Harrison Norris, and Elizabeth Askew fought tirelessly for the 19th Amendment and contributed to the evolving institutions of the 20th century that began to give women a voice—the woman’s club, garden club, and welfare league. Covering the gamut from the Rosie Riveter types in the embodiment of prize-winning welder Margaret Clark Miller to the courageous female athletes such as Olympians Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Brooke Bennett and the first women council members and mayors of Tampa Bay area towns, perspectives were evolving. From the plight of women farm workers, Depression-era factory labor, and the changing world of women’s work, Trailblazing Women of Tampa Bay offers a glimpse into the lives of female war heroes, entrepreneurs, and risk takers.

Madonna Jervis Wise is a lifelong educator, having served as an administrator in three large Florida school districts. Wise’s first college degree was in history, and her most endeared area of research continues to be local history and genealogy. Wise volunteers with Tampa Bay area libraries and museums and does several presentations annually. Publications have included curriculum, 11 previous books, and regular columns for local newspapers.

Florida cuisine: twelve thousand years in the making, discover the the state's unusual and distinctive food influences and dishes.

From the very first prickly pears harvested by Paleo-Indians more than twelve thousand years ago to the Seminole tribe's staple dish of sofkee, Florida's culinary history is as diverse as its geography. Influences as diverse as French, Creole, Spanish, Cuban, Greek, Mexican, Caribbean, and more season Florida's eclectic flavors. Learn how Florida orange juice changed the look of the American breakfast table and discover the state's festival-worthy swamp cabbage. Through syllabubs, perloos, frog legs and Tupelo honey, author Joy Sheffield Harris serves up a delectable helping of five hundred years of Florida cuisine--all with a side of key lime pie, of course.

This book captures the historical impacts of the African American community of Key West, Florida.

Known best as a vacation destination and home to artists, beach bums, and celebrities, Key West also boasts a proud African-American heritage that has its roots in the immigration of Caribbean settlers in the late 1800s. Bringing with them valuable skills, such as shipbuilding and other marine trades, and a strong sense of family and community, these immigrants and their descendants made significant contributions to the life of this unique island.

The Scary Side of Paradise

The Florida Keys may be a tropical paradise, but behind the swaying palms and ocean breeze lies a haunted past that refuses to rest. From the ancient spirits of the Timucuan Indians to the restless ghosts of pirates, rumrunners, wreckers, and smugglers, these islands are alive with eerie legends and spine-tingling tales.

Did you know the dead in Key West Cemetery outnumber the living by over 44,000 souls? Or that Robert the Doll, one of the world’s most infamous haunted artifacts, still resides in his island home? In Haunted Florida Keys, authors Elizabeth and Bob Randall explore the ghostly folklore and paranormal hotspots scattered from the Everglades to Key West—a region long known as a refuge for outlaws, artists, and the eccentric. Enter the Artist House, where the haunted legacy of Robert Gene Otto still lingers. Smell unexplained smoke in a historic Key West theater. Discover the tragic suicide atop a shipwreck museum’s lookout tower. And beware the mysterious spirits said to live within the roots of the rare Kapok tree. Perfect for fans of haunted travel books, true ghost stories, Florida history, and the paranormal, this book takes you deep into the supernatural soul of the Keys. The sun may shine bright—but the shadows are darker than you think.

Jacksonville, Florida’s Gullah Geechee heritage is an integral part of the city’s story.

Gullah Geechee people, descendants of west and central Africans forcibly brought to the southeastern coast of the United States, have retained many of their indigenous African traditions through architecture, food, culture, religion, and occupations. This legacy, combined with northeast Florida’s unique blend of Indigenous, French, Spanish, and English colonial history, has contributed to the African American journey in Jacksonville. Today, Jacksonville is the largest city in the federally designated Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which stretches from Wilmington, North Carolina, to St. Augustine, Florida.

Ennis Davis is a Gullah Geechee descendant, urban planner, heritage advocate, and writer. Adrienne Burke is a historian, urban planner, and heritage advocate. Together they own Community Planning Collaborative, a firm working to assist communities with heritage-based urban planning solutions. Drawing from archival photographs housed in the Library of Congress, State Archives of Florida, National Archives, Jacksonville Public Library, University of Florida, University of North Florida, the Ritz Theatre & Museum, and the Jaxson magazine, each image illuminates the unique stories of the past that continue to shape Jacksonville’s character today. The foreword is provided by Saundra Morene with the Jacksonville Gullah/Geechee Nation Community Development Corporation.

Spanish explorers arrived in Tampa Bay in the 16th century.

Jews were first allowed to live in Florida in 1763 and less than 100 years later, Tampa became a city. The arrival of the railroad and the cigar industry in the 1890s attracted immigrants. Many were Jews, who helped propel growth, especially in Ybor City, where they owned more than 80 businesses. Over the decades, Jews participated in civic and Jewish organizations, the military, politics, and in developing Tampa as a sports center. Today, with about 23,000 Jews in Tampa, there are fifth-generation residents who represent the continuity of a people who contribute vibrancy to every area of the community.

These pictorial images illustrate the people, places, and events that have shaped the African-American culture and history of St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg's African-American community enjoys a rich history that is evidenced within these pages of treasured images and detailed captions. Captured are the people, places, and events that have shaped this community from its earliest days to the present. Highlighted are the city's first black settlers John Donaldson and Anna Germain, former slaves, employees of Louis Bell Jr., and true pioneers. Acknowledged is the impact that the blacks who migrated here in the late 1800s had on the city's development. Shared are fond memories of black neighborhoods like Methodist and Pepper Towns that no longer exist, but can never be forgotten. Remembered is the community's fight for racial equality-using both peaceful and militant means.

The Scary Side of Paradise

The Florida Keys may be a tropical paradise, but behind the swaying palms and ocean breeze lies a haunted past that refuses to rest. From the ancient spirits of the Timucuan Indians to the restless ghosts of pirates, rumrunners, wreckers, and smugglers, these islands are alive with eerie legends and spine-tingling tales.

Did you know the dead in Key West Cemetery outnumber the living by over 44,000 souls? Or that Robert the Doll, one of the world’s most infamous haunted artifacts, still resides in his island home? In Haunted Florida Keys, authors Elizabeth and Bob Randall explore the ghostly folklore and paranormal hotspots scattered from the Everglades to Key West—a region long known as a refuge for outlaws, artists, and the eccentric. Enter the Artist House, where the haunted legacy of Robert Gene Otto still lingers. Smell unexplained smoke in a historic Key West theater. Discover the tragic suicide atop a shipwreck museum’s lookout tower. And beware the mysterious spirits said to live within the roots of the rare Kapok tree. Perfect for fans of haunted travel books, true ghost stories, Florida history, and the paranormal, this book takes you deep into the supernatural soul of the Keys. The sun may shine bright—but the shadows are darker than you think.

In 1984, Vanessa Williams broke the race barrier to become Miss America, but she was not the first Black woman to wear a pageant crown.

Black beauty pageants created a distinctive and celebrated cultural tradition during some of the most dismal times in the country's racial history. With the rise of the civil rights and Black Pride movements, pageantry also represented a component of social activism. Professor Kimberly Pellum explores this glamourous and profound history with contributions by dozens of former contestants who share their personal experiences.