Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt
Education--Florida
Civil rights--Florida
Gainesville (Fla.)
Tallahassee (Fla.)
Colleges
Universities
Homosexuality--Florida
<em>Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt</em>, known colloquially as <em>The Committee</em>, is a short film about the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee's investigation of communism and homosexuality amongst students and faculty at Florida colleges and universities. Commonly known as the Johns Committee, the committee was led by state senator and former governor Charley Eugene Johns (1905-1990). The committee was established in 1956 and originally focused on the investigation of the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, an historically African-American university, for its faculty's and staff's involvement of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott (1956-1957). However, as the committee expanded its McCarthy era anti-communist witch hunt, it came to focus on the homosexual lifestyles of many faculty members and students at colleges and universities. After growing public critique of the committee's activities, it was eventually disbanded on July 1, 1965. <br /><br /><em>The Committee</em> centers on the anti-homosexual investigations of the Johns Committee. The film was produced and directed by University of Central Florida professor Dr. Robert Cassanello and Dr. Lisa Mills. Other producers include Slyvana Fernández and Logan Kriete, and Monica Monticello serves as associate producer. The screenplay was written by Monica Monticello, Kathryn Paulson, and Amy Simpson, with research conducted by Alex Boyce and Shay Cambre. Ben Taylor and Alex Wood were the cinematographers and the arts and graphics were created by Patrick Fenelon and Adrien Mills. The film was edited by Aaron Hosé, with the aid of assistant editors Chelsea Echols and David Mariutto. <em>The Committee</em> includes interviews with Ruth Jense-Forbell, a lesbian student interrogated by the Florida State University Police Department in 1964-1965; Chuck Woods, a homosexual student interrogated by the University of Florida Police Department while attending the university from 1959 to 1965; John Tileston, Sr., a UF police officer who investigated various faculty members and students, including Woods; Dr. Karen Graves, a professor of education at Denison University and the author of <em>And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida’s Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers</em>; Dr. Judith Poucher, a professor at Florida State College at Jacksonville; Bob Graham, a graduate of UF, the 38th Governor of Florida (1979-1987), and former U.S. Senator for Florida (1987-2005); and Dr. Fred Fejes, a professor of multimedia studies at Florida Atlantic University. <em>Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt</em> won various awards and accolades, including an Emmy Award.
Cassanello, Robert
Mills, Lisa
Fernández, Slyvana
Kriete, Logan
Original 23-minute and 58-second motion picture produced by Dr. Robert Cassanello, Dr. Lisa Mills, Slyvana Fernández, and Logan Kriete: <a href="http://www.thecommitteedocumentary.org/" target="_blank"><em>Florida's Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt</em></a>, <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a>, Orlando, Florida, 2013.
<a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES<br /></a>
Hosé, Aaron
Monticello, Monica
Paulson, Kathryn
Simpson, Amy
Taylor, Ben
Wood, Alex
Brown, Timothy
Hosé, Brigitte
Echols, Chelsea
Mariutto, David
Boyce, Alex
Cambre, Shay
Fenelson, Patrick
Mills, Adrien
Jensen-Forbell, Ruth
Woods, Chuck
Fejes, Fred
Graham, Bob
Graves, Karen
Poucher, Judith
Tileston, John, Sr.
Jensen-Forbell, Elizabeth
application/website
eng
Moving Image
Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, Tallahassee, Florida
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Florida State College at Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida
Stonewall Inn, Greenwich Village, New York City, New York
Florida From the House...To Your Home Newsletter, March 1972
Lake Apopka (Fla.)
The <em>Florida From the House...To Your Home</em> newsletter mailed to citizens of the 5th Congressional District of Florida, represented by U.S. Representative Louis Frey, Jr. (1934-2019), who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1969 to 1979. Rep. Frey was on several committees during his time in office, including the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control and the Science and Technology Committee. He was also the chairman of the Young Republicans of Florida.<br /><br />The newsletter also discusses President Richard Nixon's (1913-1994) Temporary Wage and Price Controls of 1971, the U.S. economy in general, as well as the federal budget and campaign reform. The newsletter also states Rep. Frey's concerns over the condition of Lake Apopka, and his efforts with Reps. Don Fuqua (b. 1933) and William V. Chappell, Jr. (1922-1989) to form the Ocklawaha Basin Improvement Council, an organization that would tackle the lake's pollution problems on a regional level. Additionally, the newsletter describes efforts to improvement employment in the aerospace industry in Florida, as well as describing the issues facing attempts to fight drug trafficking in Mexico during the War on Drugs.
Photocopy of 2-page typed newsletter: <em>Florida From the House...To Your Home</em>, March 1972: binder 1972, Friends of Lake Apopka Archives, Ginn Museum, <a href="http://www.oaktownusa.com/Pages/Preserve/index" target="_blank">Oakland Nature Preserve</a>, Oakland, Florida.
Frey, Lou, Jr.
application/pdf
eng
Text
Lake Apopka, Florida
Washington, D.C.
Cape Canaveral, Florida
A Pocket Reference Guide: Army, Navy, Marine Corps Insignia
World War II, 1939-1945
Army
Navy
Marine Corps
A pocket reference guide for insignias of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. This reference guide was owned by Sergeant John B. Hancock (1913-1944). Sgt. Hancock was born in Thomasville, Georgia, in 1913, but later migrated to Auburndale, Florida. Hancock managed a Great Atlantic &
Pacific Tea Company (A&
P) store in Haines City until he enlisted in the 45th Infantry Division's 179th Infantry Regiment. Sgt. Hancock served initially in Africa in 1943, until the 45th Infantry Division's participation in the Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky. The division then went on to participate in the Allied invasion of Italy, where Sgt. Hancock was injured. He was returned to duty in February of 1944in southern France. On November 1, 1944, Sgt. Hancock went Missing in Action (MIA) after serving in the Allied invasion of Southern France, codenamed Operation Dragoon. He was eventually buried at Epinal American Cemetery and Memorial in Dinozé, France.
Photocopy of original 6-page guide: Private Collection of Linda Hughes.
Hughes, Linda
application/pdf
eng
Text
Auburndale, Florida