Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt, known colloquially as The Committee, 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.

The Committee 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. The Committee 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 And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida’s Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers; 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. Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt won various awards and accolades, including an Emmy Award.]]>
Florida's Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt, RICHES of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 2013.]]> RICHES
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Governor Crist is best known as the 44th Governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011. After a career as an attorney, Crist entered politics as a Republican and served in the Florida Senate from 1993 to 1998. He also served as the Florida Education Commissioner from 2001 to 2003 and as the Florida Attorney General from 2003 to 2007. Following his governorship, Crist ran for the U.S. Senate. After being defeated by Marco Rubio (b. 1971) in the race for the Republican nomination, Crist left the Republican Party and ran as an independent, ultimately losing to Rubio. During the Presidential Election of 2012, Crist endorsed and campaigned for President Obama. On December 7, 2012, he officially joined the Democratic Party. He ran for Governor of Florida again in 2014, but was defeated by incumbent Republican Governor Rick Scott (b. 1952).]]>
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