{{short description|American author, folklorist, anti–Ku Klux Klan crusader (1916–2011)}} {{Infobox writer | name = Stetson Kennedy | image = Stetson Kennedy.jpg | imagesize = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{birth date|1916|10|5}} | birth_place = [[Jacksonville, Florida]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|08|27|1916|10|5|mf=yes}} | death_place = Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | occupation = {{flatlist| * Author * activist * [[folklorist]] }} | nationality = American | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | influences = | influenced = | signature = Signature_of_Stetson_Kennedy.jpg | spouse = Sandra Parks (at time of death) | website = {{URL|http://stetsonkennedy.com/}} }} '''William Stetson Kennedy''' (October 5, 1916 – August 27, 2011) was an American author, [[folklorist]] and [[human rights activist]]. One of the pioneer [[folklore]] collectors during the first half of the 20th century, he is remembered for having infiltrated the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in the 1940s, exposing its secrets to authorities and the outside world. His actions led to the 1947 revocation by the state of Georgia of the Klan's national corporate charter.<ref name=NYT_OBIT>{{cite news|last1=Grimes|first1=William|title=Stetson Kennedy, Who Infiltrated and Exposed the Klan, Dies at 94|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/us/30kennedy.html|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=August 30, 2011}}</ref> Kennedy wrote or co-wrote ten books.
==Childhood and education== William Stetson Kennedy, commonly known as Stetson Kennedy, was born on October 5, 1916, in the Springfield neighborhood of [[Jacksonville, Florida]] to Willye Stetson and George Wallace Kennedy.<ref name=NGE>{{cite web|author1=Hatfield, Edward A.|author2=NGE Staff|title=Stetson Kennedy (1916–2011)|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/stetson-kennedy-1916-2011|website=New Georgia Encyclopedia|publisher=University of Georgia Press|accessdate=August 26, 2017|date=November 4, 2013|orig-year=2009}}</ref> A descendant of signers of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], Kennedy came from a wealthy, [[Southern aristocracy|aristocratic Southern family]] with relatives including [[John Batterson Stetson]], founder of the [[John B. Stetson Company|Stetson hat empire]] and namesake of [[Stetson University]], and an uncle "Brady" who served as the head [[KKK|Klan]] official, or "Great Titan", of a congressional district.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tis|first1=Bob|title=Smooth Sailin': Remembering the Storyteller Who Led the Way|url=http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2015-05-10/smooth-sailin-remembering-storyteller-who-led-way|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The St. Augustine Record|date=May 10, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Roberts>{{cite news|last1=Roberts|first1=Diane|title=Stetson Kennedy, Unmasker of the Klan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/sep/02/protest-florida|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The Guardian|date=September 2, 2011}}</ref><ref name=Pilgrim>{{cite news|last1=Pilgrim|first1=David|title=Question of the Month: Superman Busts the KKK|url=https://ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/question/2009/july.htm|work=Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia|publisher=Ferris State University|date=July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516222826/http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/question/july09/|archive-date=May 16, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
At a young age, Kennedy began collecting Florida folklore material and wrote poetry about Florida nature.<ref name=NGE/> His views on race relations in the South were largely influenced by his family's black maid, known only as "Flo", whom Kennedy considered "almost like a mother".<ref name=Pilgrim/> He recalled that during his childhood in the 1920s, local Klan members beat and raped Flo for "sassing whitefolks" after she questioned a white bus driver who had given her incorrect change. Recalling this incident later in life, Kennedy said, "At a very tender age, I became aware that grownups were lying about a whole lot more than Santa Claus", in reference to the Klan's claims of being Christian patriots.<ref name=Roberts/><ref name=Pilgrim/>
Kennedy attended [[Duval County Public Schools|Jacksonville public schools]] and graduated from [[Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville)|Robert E. Lee High School]] during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name=NGE/><ref name=Keller/> In 1935, he enrolled in [[University of Florida]] (UF), leaving in 1937 without receiving a degree. He also studied at the New School for Social Research in New York and at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] in Paris, France.<ref name=GSUN_OBIT>{{cite news|last1=Swirko|first1=Cindy|title=Florida Author, Known for Infiltrating Klan, Dies|url=http://www.gainesville.com/news/20110827/florida-author-known-for-infiltrating-klan-dies|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The Gainesville Sun|date=August 27, 2011}}</ref><ref name="folkheritageaward"/>
==Early writing and activism== In 1936, while studying at [[University of Florida]], Kennedy collected boots and blankets for the [[Second Spanish Republic|Spanish Republic]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref name=Roberts/>
Kennedy has been called "one of the pioneer folklore collectors during the first half of the 20th century".<ref name=Banks/> In 1937, he left the University of Florida to join the [[Federal Writers' Project]], the federally funded [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA) initiative created under the [[New Deal]] to fund and support American writers during the Great Depression. As part of the Federal Writers' Project, the [[Library of Congress]] hired archivists to document the diversity of American culture by recording regional [[folksong]]s (e.g., children's songs, dance and [[gospel music]]) and [[oral histories]] in many languages and dialects. For five years, Kennedy collected Florida [[folklore]], traveling throughout Florida alongside other notable figures such as [[Harlem Renaissance]] writer [[Zora Neale Hurston]] and folklorist [[Alan Lomax]], among others.<ref name=NGE/><ref name=Banks>{{cite news|last1=Banks|first1=David|title=The Sound of 1930s Florida Folk Life|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/feb/wpa_florida/020228.wpa_florida.html|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=NPR|date=February 28, 2002}}</ref> Kennedy had a large role in editing several volumes for the Federal Writers' Project, including ''The WPA Guide to Florida'' and ''A Guide to Key West'' of the WPA's famed [[American Guide Series]], and ''The Florida Negro''.<ref name=NGE/>
At this time, Kennedy was contributing to periodicals like ''[[PM (newspaper)|PM]]'', the ''[[New York Post]]'', ''[[The Nation]]'', ''[[Common Ground (magazine)|Common Ground]]'', ''[[The Crisis]]'', ''[[George Seldes#In Fact|In Fact]]'', ''[[Southern Regional Council#Publications|Southern Frontier]]'', and ''[[Southern Conference for Human Welfare#Works|Southern Patriot]]''.<ref name="Bulger"/>{{rp|149}} He also began writing "Inside Out" a column for the [[Federated Press]] that ran from 1937 to 1950.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Southern Labor Archives: Stetson Kennedy: A guide to his papers: Stetson Kennedy - Biograph and Description of Papers| publisher = Oregon Encyclopedia| url = https://research.library.gsu.edu/StetsonKennedy | access-date = 23 December 2019}}</ref> Kennedy coined the term "Frown Power", when he started a campaign with that name in the 1940s, which simply encouraged people to pointedly frown when they heard bigoted speech.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jenkins|first1=Henry|title=Perhaps a Revolution is Not What We Need|url=https://civic.mit.edu/blog/henry/perhaps-a-revolution-is-not-what-we-need|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=MIT Center for Civic Media|date=December 7, 2016}}</ref>
Kennedy relied on unused material collected during his time with the Federal Writers' Project for his first book, ''Palmetto Country'' (1942).<ref name=NGE/> It was commissioned by Georgia writer [[Erskine Caldwell]] for the [[American Folkways Series]]. When it was published, Alan Lomax of the Library of Congress said, "I very much doubt that a better book about Florida folklife will ever be written".<ref name=Winick>{{cite news|last1=Winick|first1=Stephen|title=Folklorist, Writer, and Activist Stetson Kennedy Dies at 94 |url=https://www.loc.gov/folklife/StetsonKennedy.html|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The [[American Folklife Center]]|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|date=August 31, 2011}}</ref>
In 1942, Kennedy was an editorial director for the [[Congress of Industrial Organizations|CIO's]] [[political action committee]]. He wrote a series of [[monographs]] objecting to racist policies like [[Poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]] and [[White primary|white primaries]] because they were designed to [[disenfranchise]] minorities and poor people.<ref name=NGE/> Kennedy saw Southern fascist policies as part of an alliance with Northern industrialists to perpetuate a [[slavocracy]], and this thesis was the basis of his second book, ''Southern Exposure''.<ref name="Bulger"/>{{rp|210}}
==Infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan== While working for the Writers Project, Kennedy often heard stories about the KKK's terrorism.<ref name="Wade">Wade, Wyn Craig. ''[https://archive.org/details/fierycrosskuklux0000wade_r3z2/page/n4/mode/1up The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Clan in America]''. Simon and Schuster, 1987.</ref>{{rp|281}} Because his bad back disqualified him for service in [[World War II]], he decided to channel his patriotism towards combating racial injustices in the [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow South]].<ref name="Bulger">Bulger, Margaret Anne. ''Stetson Kennedy: Applied folklore and cultural advocacy''. Dissertation. University of Pennsylvania, 1992.</ref>{{rp|188}} The [[Anti-Defamation League]] of [[B'nai B'rith]] helped Kennedy establish a cover identity as John Perkins. From 1942 to 1946, he lived a double life as an employee of the CIO and as a white supremacist who joined up to 20 hate groups with names like White Front, Confederate Underground, and American Gentile Army.<ref name=Bulger/>{{rp|187–9}}
Kennedy moved from Miami to Atlanta to target the highest rungs of the KKK. He volunteered for former Georgia Governor [[Eugene Talmadge]], who had been voted out of office in 1942. Though not a member, Talmadge supported the KKK and often spoke at their events.<ref name=SK>Kennedy, Stetson. ''The Klan Unmasked''. University of Alabama Press, 2011.</ref>{{rp|22–4}} Using Talmadge as a reference, Kennedy secured a sales job with the racist magazine ''The Southern Outlook'' and managed to join the [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] Klavern #1 of the KKK.<ref name=SK/>{{rp|32–3}}
With the help of other informants, Kennedy filed detailed reports on the Klavern's Monday night meetings from September 1944 until November 1948.<ref name=Bulger/>{{rp|192}} He also reported the Klan's various crimes to the [[Georgia Bureau of Investigation]], the [[FBI]], as well as police, prosecutors, journalists, and human rights organizations.<ref name=NYT_OBIT/><ref name=Perhach/>
A folklorist by habit, Kennedy documented how the Klan drew on fraternal organizations like the [[Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks|Elks]] and the [[Freemasonry|Masons]]. He also relished the absurd flourishes of Klan lore, such as making "K" the initial letter for most terms, renaming the days of the week "Dark, Deadly, Dismal, Doleful, Desolate, Dreadful, and Desperate", and their Byzantine handbook the [[Kloran]]. Kennedy decided to expose such "Klankraft" to public ridicule.<ref name=Bulger/>{{rp|195–7}}
More importantly, Kennedy recognized that the KKK was operating in violation of its non-profit charter. In May 1946, he wrote to Governor Ellis Arnall with justifications for revoking it.<ref name=SK/>{{rp|76–7}} By June, Arnall had announced his intention to cancel the charter.<ref>"[https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=IJN19460607-01.2.2&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA--------0------ Arnall Declares War on Klan]", Intermountain Jewish News. June 7, 1946.</ref> Georgia filed a ''[[Quo warranto#United States|quo warranto]]'' suit against the Klan, and the Klan surrendered its charter on June 13, 1947.<ref>"KLAN SURRENDERS CHARTER WITHOUT A FIGHT: ACTION OF KLAN COUNSEL SHOCKS COURT CROWDS GREEN CLAIMS KLAN STATUS IN GEORGIA REMAINS UNCHANGED." ''[[Atlanta Daily World]]''. June 14, 1947. 1.</ref>
==Exposure of the KKK== Kennedy was inspired by the success of ''Under Cover'', [[Arthur Derounian|John Roy Carlson's]] exposé of American Nazis. In 1944, he was pitching a similar book organized around Roosevelt's [[Four Freedoms]], but it took another two years of revisions to convince Doubleday to publish ''Southern Exposure''. The book was a bestseller and a critical favorite. The [[Institute for Southern Studies#Southern Exposure|Institute for Southern Studies]] went so far as to name their journal after Kennedy's book.<ref name="Bulger"/>{{rp|208–9}}
''Southern Exposure'' is a survey of the politics of the South from the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] until the present, with a particular focus on labor practices and inequality. The book deals briefly and candidly with the Ku Klux Klan. Kennedy traveled to [[Chattanooga]] to interview [[J. B. Stoner]], who did not realize the author was opposed to his work. Kennedy quotes Stoner's unvarnished racism at length. He also includes images of original Klan paperwork like Forms K-111 and K-115, applications for reinstatement and "Citizenship in the Invisible Empire".<ref name=Expose>Kennedy, Stetson. ''Southern Exposure''. Doubleday, 1946.</ref>{{rp|213–7}} The book outraged the Klan and a bounty was put on Kennedy's head.<ref name=SK/>{{rp|7}}
Kennedy fed information to law enforcement and journalists in order to engineer counteractions against the Klan. He even showed up at the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] in his Klan robe to get their attention.<ref name=Bulger/>{{rp|215}} Having once called the KKK "an old American institution" after allowing Imperial Wizard [[James A. Colescott]] to testify, HUAC was uninterested in Kennedy's information.<ref name=SK/>{{rp|191ff}} His most high-profile media ally was [[Drew Pearson (journalist)|Drew Pearson]] who had a nationally syndicated column and a popular radio show. Pearson regularly broadcast intelligence from Kennedy. The Klan was irate to hear its machinations made public, such as Eugene Talmadge's secret promise to appoint the KKK's Atlanta Cyclops to run the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.<ref>Chalmers, David J. ''Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan''. Duke University Press, 1987. 330.</ref> Pearson dubbed Kennedy "the nation's number-one Klanbuster".<ref name="Wade"/>{{rp|289}}
===Superman=== On June 10, 1946, the highly popular ''[[The Adventures of Superman (radio)#"Clan of the Fiery Cross"|Adventures of Superman]]'' radio show began a 16-episode story called "The Clan of the Fiery Cross". The show had previously tackled hate groups as a subject. The writers approached the [[Anti-Defamation League]] about new foes for Superman.<ref name=Bowers>Bowers, Rick. ''[https://archive.org/details/supermanversusku0000bowe/page/131/mode/1up Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan: the true story of how the iconic superhero battled the men of hate]''. National Geographic, 2012.</ref>{{rp|131}} Kennedy claims he pitched the Klan as a subject.<ref name=SK/>{{rp|92}}
By 1947, the ADL was claiming Kennedy was a consultant on the show.<ref>"Kennedy Named Consultant for Famed Radio Series", ''Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith Bulletin'', Vol IX, No. 3. March, 1947.</ref> In ''The New Republic'', [[Thomas Whiteside (journalist)|Thomas Whiteside]] described Superman's regular use of KKK passwords as a constant irritant to Grand Dragon [[Samuel Green (Klansman)|Samuel Green]], who was forced to listen to the show and update compromised codes.<ref>Whiteside, Thomas. "Up, Up and Awa-a-y!!" ''The New Republic''. March 3, 1947. 15–16.</ref> A myth took hold that the actual audio disproves. Superman never uses any code words as he takes on "the Clan".<ref name=Bowers/>{{rp|147}}
==The Klan Unmasked== In early 1947, Stetson Kennedy's undercover career as John Perkins ended when he was subpoenaed to testify in the trial of Homer Loomis and Emory Burke. Loomis ran an organization called the Columbians of Atlanta, a neo-Nazi terrorist organization that Kennedy infiltrated with other operatives. His fellow Columbians were shocked to see that Perkins was Kennedy, and they attacked him in the courthouse.<ref name=SK/>{{rp|178f}}
Kennedy spent the spring of 1947 on a lecture tour. He moved to [[Greenwich Village]], because the Klan made his native South unsafe for him. In New York, he collaborated with photographer Marian Palfi on ''Jim Crow Guide to the U.S.A.'' He was also writing a manuscript titled ''I Rode With the Ku Klux Clan'', which was reissued in 1990 as ''The Klan Unmasked''.<ref name=Bulger/>{{rp|230}}
Unlike the journalistic ''Southern Exposure'', where Kennedy occasionally appears in first person, ''The Klan Unmasked'' is written as a potboiler. Having struggled since 1948 to get it published, Kennedy decided that turning it into a thriller was the best way to sell it. Writing in the style of [[Mickey Spillane]], Kennedy is a hard-boiled witness to everything from the murder of a Black man by the KKK to the "[[Three governors controversy|Wool Hat Putsch]]" by [[Herman Talmadge]].<ref name="patton">{{cite news|last1=Patton|first1=Charlie|title=KKK Book Stands Up to Claim of Falsehood|url=http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/012906/met_20943923.shtml|access-date=August 26, 2017|work=The Times-Union|date=January 29, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826113628/http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/012906/met_20943923.shtml|archive-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref>
In ''Southern Exposure'', Kennedy slips into the first person to relate his trip to [[Stone Mountain]] to document a Klan rally.<ref name=Expose/>{{rp|212f}} He recasts the event in ''The Klan Unmasked'' as his formal initiation as a Klansman.<ref name=SK/>{{rp|51}}
Kennedy also combined his exploits with those of other covert operatives in ''The Klan Unmasked''. For instance, he was one of three undercover Columbians. In the book, Kennedy combines all of their data gathering into a first person narrative where he is the main character. In addition to being a more marketable story, it helped Kennedy protect the identity of his collaborators.<ref name=patton/>
He eventually identified one as John Brown, who was a disillusioned Klansman. Brown was able to penetrate the highest levels of the KKK, and many of the most gripping episodes in ''The Klan Unmasked'' are presumed to have happened to him. Kennedy was acting as his handler, relaying his intelligence reports to the [[Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League]] that was supporting their work.<ref name=Bowers/>{{rp|128f}}
===Criticism=== One Klan historian called Stetson Kennedy's activism "the single most important factor in preventing a postwar revival of the Ku Klux Klan."<ref name=Wade/>{{rp|289}} [[Stephen J. Dubner]] and [[Steven Levitt]] amplified this overstatement in their 2005 book ''Freakonomics''. When they learned about the fictional device in ''The Klan Unmasked'', they retracted their error and revised the book.<ref name="hoodwinked">{{cite news|last1=Dubner|first1=Stephen J.|last2=Levitt|first2=Steven D.|title=Hoodwinked?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/magazine/hoodwinked.html|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 8, 2006}}</ref>
Kennedy defended his work in several essays and interviews.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Stetson |date=2006-01-08 |title=RESPONSE TO "FREAKONOMICS: HOODWINKED?" |url=http://www.stetsonkennedy.com/articles/times_union_art.html |access-date=2024-03-24 |website=Stetson Kennedy}}</ref> Several of his colleagues and other historians supported Kennedy's method.<ref name="NYT-Bulger">{{cite news|last1=Bulger|first1=Peggy A.|title=Letters|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/magazine/22letters.html|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 22, 2006}}</ref>
==Later career== Kennedy traveled to [[Geneva]] in 1950 and then to Paris. [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] wrote an introduction to the French translation of Kennedy's Jim Crow book.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hospital Trying to Make Kennedy Comfortable|url=http://historiccity.com/2011/staugustine/news/florida/hospital-kennedy-comfortable-18077|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=Historic City News|date=August 26, 2011|archive-date=August 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826114548/http://historiccity.com/2011/staugustine/news/florida/hospital-kennedy-comfortable-18077|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kennedy traveled extensively behind the Iron Curtain after he took the subway into East Berlin. He met [[Maria Tănase]] in Romania, visited the USSR, and Hungary. His passport expired while he was in Eastern Europe, and he was officially in police custody in Paris until he was issued a new one and was able to return to America.<ref name=Bulger/>{{rp|ch. 9}}
In 1952, when Kennedy ran for governor of Florida, his friend and houseguest [[Woody Guthrie]] wrote a set of lyrics for a campaign song, "Stetson Kennedy". The song was later set to music by [[Billy Bragg]] and recorded by Bragg and [[Jeff Tweedy]]'s band [[Wilco]] on the album ''[[Mermaid Avenue Vol. II]]''.
[[File:Stetson Kennedy at desk.jpg|thumb|Kennedy in 1991]] A founding member and past president of the Florida Folklore Society, Kennedy was a recipient of the 1998 Florida Folk Heritage Award and the Florida Governor's Heartland Award.<ref name="folkheritageaward">{{cite web|title=Stetson Kennedy: 1988 Florida Folk Heritage Award|url=https://dos.fl.gov/cultural/programs/florida-folklife-program/folk-heritage-awards/list-of-past-recipients/stetson-kennedy/?id=50|website=Florida Division of Historical Resources|publisher=Florida Department of State|access-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref> Kennedy is also featured as one of the "Whistle Blowers", in [[Studs Terkel]]'s book ''Coming of Age'', published in 1995.
In 2007 [[St. Johns County, Florida|St. Johns County]] declared a "Stetson Kennedy Day".<ref name=Perhach>{{cite news|last1=Perhach|first1=Paulette|title=Legacy of Social Justice|url=http://staugustine.com/stories/100605/new_3370113.shtml|access-date=August 26, 2017|work=The St. Augustine Record|date=October 6, 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826113937/http://staugustine.com/stories/100605/new_3370113.shtml|archive-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref>
Kennedy participated in the two-day "New Deal Resources: Preserving the Legacy" conference at the [[Library of Congress]] on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the [[New Deal]] held in March 2008.<ref name="newdealresources">{{cite web|title=Art, Culture, and Government: The New Deal at 75|url=https://www.loc.gov/folklife/newdeal/program.html|website=The American Folklife Center|publisher=Library of Congress|accessdate=August 26, 2017}}</ref> Kennedy's most recent book, ''Grits and Grunts: Folkloric Key West'', was issued by the Pineapple Press, in 2008.
In February 2009, Kennedy bequeathed his personal library to the [[Civic Media Center]] in Gainesville, Florida with which Kennedy had worked since the center's inception.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tripp|first1=Matt|title=CMC Opens New Locale; Will Be Given Author's Collection|url=http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090222/ARTICLES/902221016|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The Gainesville Sun|date=February 22, 2009}}</ref>
In October 2009, a first party for Kennedy's 93rd birthday was held at the Civic Media Center and the next day admirers flocked to Beluthahatchee Park, now a landmarked historic site, to celebrate Kennedy's birthday there.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Murphy|first1=Bridget|title=Admirers flock to Stetson Kennedy's 93rd birthday|url=http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-05/story/admirers_flock_to_stetson_kennedys_93rd_birthday|access-date=August 26, 2017|work=The Florida-Times Union|date=October 5, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826115343/http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-05/story/admirers_flock_to_stetson_kennedys_93rd_birthday|archive-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref>
==Personal life== According to friends, he was married seven times, though Kennedy only admitted to five marriages,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Klinkenberg|first1=Jeff|title=Florida's Homer, Folklorist Stetson Kennedy, Dies at Age 94|url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/floridas-homer-folklorist-stetson-kennedy-dies-at-age-94/1188450|access-date=August 26, 2017|work=Tampa Bay Times|date=August 27, 2011|language=en-us|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826234610/http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/floridas-homer-folklorist-stetson-kennedy-dies-at-age-94/1188450|archive-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref> stating, "I'll leave it to the historians to decide how many times I've been married."<ref name=historiccity18145>{{cite news|title=Kennedy Lived to Be 94 Years-Old|url=http://historiccity.com/2011/staugustine/news/florida/kennedy-lived-94-years-old-18145|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=Historic City News|date=August 27, 2011|archive-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921075553/https://historiccity.com/2011/staugustine/news/florida/kennedy-lived-94-years-old-18145|url-status=dead}}</ref> His first marriage was in 1936 to Edith Ogden-Aguilar,<ref name=Keller>{{cite web|last1=Keller|first1=Amy|title=Icon: Stetson Kennedy|url=http://www.floridatrend.com/article/10893/icon-stetson-kennedy|website=Florida Trend|accessdate=August 26, 2017|date=July 1, 2006}}</ref> a Cuban émigré he met in [[Key West|Key West, Florida]] while doing [[fieldwork]] for his own writing shortly after leaving UF.<ref name=NYT_OBIT/>
In 1942, he had a son, Loren Stetson Kennedy, his only child.<ref name="patton_celebrated"/><ref>{{cite web|title=St. Johns County Obituaries|url=http://www.stauggens.com/obituary/obitsK.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629073440/http://stauggens.com/obituary/obitsK.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2011|website=St. Augustine Record|via=Saint Augustine Genealogical Society|access-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref>
After fleeing [[Budapest]] with his Hungarian wife during the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]], Kennedy was held in detention in Paris for over a year after his passport was confiscated by the U.S. government due to [[McCarthyism]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Folklore Historian|volume= 8|date=1991|author=Bulger, Peggy A.|title=Stetson Kennedy: Folklore and the Struggle for Human Rights|page=65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aw_XAAAAMAAJ&dq=stetson%20kennedy%20wife%20barbara&pg=PA65}}</ref>
In 2006, at 90 years old, Kennedy married writer and bookstore owner Sandra Parks, a former [[city commissioner]] of [[St. Augustine, Florida]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Kennedy, Parks Wed in Weekend Ceremony|url=http://staugustine.com/stories/112806/news_4239403.shtml|access-date=August 26, 2017|work=The St. Augustine Record|date=November 29, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826152849/http://staugustine.com/stories/112806/news_4239403.shtml|archive-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref> They remained married until Kennedy died in 2011.<ref name=NYT_OBIT/>
==Legacy== ===Beluthahatchee Park=== [[File:Beluthahatchee Literary Landmark 83.jpeg|thumb|190px|Sign on Stetson Kennedy's residence erected consequent to the 2003 designation of Beluthahatchee as a Literary Landmark, No. 83 in the National Register. (An additional marker, in Kennedy's name, was also approved, to be erected following his demise.)]]In 2003, Friends of Libraries USA put Beluthahatchee on its national register of literary sites and, to commemorate the occasion, [[Arlo Guthrie]] gave a concert in Jacksonville.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dickinson|first1=Joy Wallace|title=Klan Buster Stetson Kennedy Left Legendary Florida Legacy|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2011/09/15/klan-buster-stetson-kennedy-left-legendary-florida-legacy/|access-date=August 26, 2017|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=September 15, 2011|archive-date=August 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826114749/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-09-15/features/os-dickinson-florida-history-0918-20110915_1_beluthahatchee-stetson-kennedy-zora-neale-hurston|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2005 Kennedy received a [[life estate]] on his 4-acre homestead in [[Saint Johns County]], and it is now Beluthahatchee Park.<ref>{{cite web|title=LAMP Major Projects: Beluthahatchee Park|url=http://www.sjcfl.us/LAMP/Projects/FLct_belutha.aspx|website=St. Johns County Government|accessdate=August 26, 2017|archive-date=October 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031222118/http://www.sjcfl.us/LAMP/Projects/FLct_belutha.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=SJC_Beluthahatchee>{{citation|url=http://www.co.st-johns.fl.us/BCC/Land_Management/LAMP/FLct_belutha.aspx|title=Land Acquisition & Management Program: Beluthahatchee Park|website=St. Johns County, Florida Government Gateway|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320095958/http://www.co.st-johns.fl.us/BCC/Land_Management/LAMP/FLct_belutha.aspx|archive-date=March 20, 2008}}</ref>
The name "Beluthahatchee" describes a mythical "Florida Shangri-la, where all unpleasantness is forgiven and forgotten" according to Zora Neale Hurston.<ref>{{cite web|title=Florida Historical Markers Programs – Marker: St. Johns|url=http://apps.flheritage.com/markers/markers.cfm?county=st.%20johns|website=Florida Division of Historical Resources|publisher=Florida Department of State|accessdate=August 26, 2017}}</ref>
Among the amenities are a picnic pavilion, canoe dock, access to the Beluthahatchee Lake, and use of the two wildlife observation platforms. A "Mother Earth Trail" throughout the property is planned, as envisioned by the Kennedy Foundation. The Park's perimeter is surrounded by a heavy canopy of native vegetation and the enclave provides a habitat for wildlife and continues to serve as a rookery and roosting place for many types of waterfowl and other birds.
Kennedy's home has, upon his death, been opened as a museum and archive and offer educational exhibits, primarily about Woody Guthrie and William Bartram in addition to Kennedy himself, and has been operated by the Kennedy Foundation which shares office space in an adjacent home with the William Bartram Scenic and Historic Highway corridor group. A log cabin that's in the park may serve as a caretaker residence while the fourth building there may house an Artist-in-Residence through the Florida Folklife program.<ref>{{cite web|title=Florida Folklife Program|url=https://dos.fl.gov/cultural/programs/florida-folklife-program/|website=Florida Division of Historical Resources|publisher=Florida Department of State|access-date=August 26, 2017}}</ref>
The park is part of a 70-acre tract that Kennedy purchased in 1948, recorded restrictive covenants setting aside land in perpetuity as a wildlife refuge, and the following year subdivided, subsequently selling all but his own 4 acre parcel.<ref name=SJC_Beluthahatchee/>
===Death and memorials=== [[File:Interment of Stetson Kennedy‘s ashes.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|Stetson Kennedy's ashes are spread at the end of his memorial service on October 1, 2011, onto Beluthahatchee Lake.]] Kennedy died on August 27, 2011, at Baptist Medical Center South in Jacksonville, Florida, where he had been in palliative care for several days.<ref name="patton_obit">{{cite news|last1=Patton|first1=Charlie|title=Jacksonville Author, Civil Rights Activist Stetson Kennedy Dead at 94|url=http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2011-08-25/story/jacksonville-author-civil-rights-activist-stetson-kennedy-dead-94|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The Florida Times-Union|date=August 25, 2011}}</ref>
Kennedy's stated wishes were that upon his death a party should be held rather than a funeral; therefore, a celebration of Kennedy's life was held on October 1, 2011 (four days before Kennedy's 95th birthday) at Kennedy's homestead, Beluthahatchee Park.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kennedy|first1=Sean|title=Stetson Kennedy: A Brief Overview|url=http://www.stetsonkennedy.com/|website=Stetson Kennedy|publisher=The Stetson Kennedy Trust|accessdate=August 26, 2017|language=en}}</ref> Several hundred relatives, friends, and admirers gathered for the events which commenced with an hour of musical performances. The performances included several pieces written by Kennedy's friend Woody Guthrie, who composed many songs at Beluthahatchee, including several about Kennedy, e.g., "Beluthahatchee Bill", culminating with all present singing Guthrie's "[[This Land Is Your Land]]". This was followed by an hour of eulogies. Then all present walked down to Lake Beluthahatchee and viewed Kennedy's ashes being scattered thereon from a canoe.<ref name="patton_celebrated">{{cite news|last1=Patton|first1=Charlie|title=Stetson Kennedy's Life Celebrated at Beluthahatchee|url=http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2011-10-01/story/stetson-kennedys-life-celebrated-beluthahatchee|accessdate=August 26, 2017|work=The Florida Times-Union|date=October 1, 2011}}</ref>
==Books== * ''Mister Homer'', 1939 * ''[https://archive.org/details/southernexposure0000unse_c3y3/mode/2up Southern Exposure]''. New York: Doubleday, 1946. :* Reissued by University of Alabama Press 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-8173-5672-9}} * ''I Rode With the Ku Klux Klan''. London: Arco Publishers, 1954. {{OCLC|3469598}} :*Abridged as ''Passage to Violence''. NY: Lion Books, 1954. {{OCLC|70666546}} :*Reissued as ''The Klan Unmasked''. University of Alabama Press 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-8173-5674-3}} * ''Jim Crow Guide to the U.S.A.''. Laurence and Wishart, 1949. {{OCLC|59060670}} :*[http://www.stetsonkennedy.com/jim_crow_guide/index.html Reissued by] University of Alabama Press 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-8173-5671-2}} * ''Palmetto Country'', 1942, University Press of Florida 1989 reprint: {{ISBN|0-8130-0959-6}}, Florida Historical Society Press 2009 reprint with a new publisher's preface, updated Afterward and eighty photographs {{ISBN|1-886104-38-7}} ; {{ISBN|978-1-886104-38-9}} * ''The Jim Crow Guide: The Way It Was Before the Overcoming'', 1956 at Paris, 1959, Florida Atlantic University 1990 reprint: {{ISBN|0-8130-0987-1}} * ''South Florida Folklife'', 1994, (coauthors [[Peggy A. Bulger]] and Tina Bucuvalas), University Press of Mississippi, {{ISBN|0-87805-659-9}} * ''After Appomattox: How the South Won the War'', 1995, University Press of Florida 1996 reprint: {{ISBN|0-8130-1388-7}} * ''Grits and Grunts: Folkloric Key West'', Pineapple Press, 2008 * ''The Florida Slave'', The Florida Historical Society Press, September 29, 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-886104-48-8}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{official website|http://www.stetsonkennedy.com/}} * [http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/SKennedy Stetson Kennedy Papers] at Georgia State University * [http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20724 Stetson Kennedy collection] at the New York Public Library * [https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/238740 Interview with Stetson Kennedy, September 22, 1981], Florida Folklife Collection, State Library & Archives of Florida * [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0354/menu.html Oral History Interview with Stetson Kennedy, May 11, 1990], Oral Histories of the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill *[https://digitalarchives.broward.org/digital/collection/p16146coll8 Stetson Kennedy Letters, Bienes Museum of the Modern Book, Broward County Library.] * "[https://archive.org/details/Superman_page09/460610_1308_Clan_Of_The_Fiery_Cross_Pt_01.mp3 Clan of the Fiery Cross]", Parts 1–16, ''The Adventures of Superman'', recordings of the Superman radio program from Archive.org * "[https://web.archive.org/web/20090125192958/http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=285 Know Your Enemy]", ''This American Life'', transcript of episode about Stetson Kennedy * [https://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/364 Kennedy's Correspondences and other papers] are housed at The University Of Iowa Archives
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Stetson}} [[Category:1916 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American writers]] [[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]] [[Category:American environmentalists]] [[Category:American folklorists]] [[Category:American historians]] [[Category:American human rights activists]] [[Category:American investigative journalists]] [[Category:American memoirists]] [[Category:Riverside High School (Florida) alumni]] [[Category:American newspaper journalists]] [[Category:American anti-fascists]] [[Category:American anti-racism activists]] [[Category:American Ku Klux Klan members]] [[Category:Ku Klux Klan in Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:University of Florida alumni]] [[Category:Writers from Jacksonville, Florida]] [[Category:Victims of McCarthyism]] [[Category:Federal Writers' Project people]]