Frank Andrew K. - This Day in Florida History

T HIS D AY IN F LORIDA H ISTORY

U NIVERSITY P RESS OF F LORIDA

Florida A&M University, Tallahassee

Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers

Florida International University, Miami

Florida State University, Tallahassee

New College of Florida, Sarasota

University of Central Florida, Orlando

University of Florida, Gainesville

University of North Florida, Jacksonville

University of South Florida, Tampa

University of West Florida, Pensacola

Andrew K. Frank,
J. Hendry Miller,
and Tarah Luke

University Press of Florida
Gainesville Tallahassee
Tampa Boca Raton
Pensacola Orlando
Miami Jacksonville
Ft. Myers Sarasota

Copyright 2020 by Andrew K. Frank, J. Hendry Miller, and Tarah Luke
All rights reserved
Published in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019955094
ISBN 978-0-8130-6822-0

The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida.

University Press of Florida
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Suite 2100
Gainesville, FL 32609
http://upress.ufl.edu

The seventy-fifth anniversary of the University Press of Florida offers an opportunity to reflect on the events, people, and themes that best illuminate the history of Florida. Much has changed over the past seventy-five years, both in terms of the development of the state and in the maturation of the history profession. Floridas population today is roughly ten times larger than it was in 1945. The population has moved southward, transforming the small towns of Orlando and Miami into cosmopolitan cities, and the state has become a destination for immigrants and tourists from across the globe. The history profession also has changed as scholars have expanded the range of historical inquiry to include people and topics that were once deemed inconsequential. It is in this spirit that we offer This Day in Florida History and its 366 entries.

In 1945, when UPF opened, the events for this type of volume would have been simple to choose. It would have been filled with elections, important legislation, city incorporations, inventions, and famous politicians. It would have emphasized the perspectives of the wealthy, of white communities, and of men. The entries would have been a celebration of achievements and progress without much awareness of the costs of development and change. In 1945, few paid much attention to the presence of the Spanish in the colonial era or of enslaved Africans in the Old South. Residents from Cuba and the Caribbean who called Florida home for centuries were deemed unimportant, and Native Americans were dismissed as savages who were inevitably on their way toward extinction. The volume would have had a different geographic feel as well; the entries would have largely focused on the Panhandle, as the population shift in the state that followed World War II had not yet occurred.

This Day in Florida History reflects these changes in Florida and in historical sensibilities more generally. Rather than representing the 366 most important and best-known events in Florida history, the entries that follow illuminate the states diversity and the various themes that explain it. The topics of some entries would fit comfortably in the imagined volume from 1945, even if the interpretations of them may not. Most of the topics, though, would not have been included in such a volume. Some entries may be familiar to readers; others may not. Entries cover civil rights protests, revolts by Apalachee Indians, crashes at the Daytona 500, and disputes over the drainage of the Everglades. They include the capture of the Seminole warrior Osceola, the establishment of Walt Disney World and of Fort Mos, and the recurrence of hurricanes. The 366 entries hardly encompass the entirety of Florida history, of course, and we hope that this volume sparks interest in learning more. To this end, we have listed a suggested reading for each entry in the volume.

On January 1, 1923, a bruised Frances Fannie Taylor falsely claimed that an unnamed African American man assaulted and raped her. She made up the explosive charges to explain the bruises from her abusive lover and otherwise cover up her infidelity. A posse of white men formed in the town of Sumner to protect white supremacy and the sanctity of white womanhood, and it attacked and threatened the residents of the neighboring all-black town of Rosewood. Two of the white assailants were killed when they stormed a house where community members had fled for safety. The ensuing six days of violence led to the deaths of at least six African Americans and the evacuation and razing of the town. It has since been known as the Rosewood massacre.

FOR FURTHER READING : Maxine D. Jones, The Rosewood Massacre and the Women Who Survived It, Florida Historical Quarterly 76, no. 2 (1997): 193208.

On January 2, 1936, Dick and Julia Pope opened the roadside attraction Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven. Its financial scale dwarfed that of earlier attractions, and it initiated a new phase in the history of Florida theme parks. It began largely as a botanical garden and quickly expanded to include an array of waterskiing shows that earned its nickname as Water Ski Capital of the World. The site became a popular location to film movies and commercials but struggled to compete in the post-Disney world. In 2010 Legoland purchased the site, which had been closed for several years, and integrated some of the botanical gardens into a new theme park on the site.

FOR FURTHER READING : Lou Vickers, Cypress Gardens: Americas Tropical Wonderland: How Dick Pope Invented Florida (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2010).

On January 3, 1987, Wayne Mixon began the shortest term as Floridas governor. Mixon served only three days, replacing Governor Daniel Robert Bob Graham, who resigned to begin his term as a US senator. Mixon, who had served two terms as lieutenant governor under Graham, took on the position as a temporary measure to fill a gap created by the inaugural calendar. Mixon left office on January 6 when newly elected Robert Bob Martinez took the oath of office. Mixons position as governor would be his last public office.

FOR FURTHER READING : Allen Morris and Joan Perry Morris, eds., The Florida Handbook, 20112012, 33rd biennial edition (Tallahassee: Peninsular, 2011).

On January 4, 2000, Florida State University won its second national title in football. Led by standout wide receiver Peter Warrick, the Seminoles defeated Virginia Tech 4629 in a thrilling Sugar Bowl game. They overcame Virginia Tech and its quarterback, Michael Vick. The game epitomized two decades of dominance by teams from Florida. Along with the University of Florida and the University of Miami, FSU changed the landscape of college football in the 1980s and 1990s. From 1983 to 2001, the three teams combined to win eight national championships and consistently finished in the top 5 of the year-end rankings.