Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt

Florida’s Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt

The Committee

Education--Florida

Civil rights--Florida

Gainesville (Fla.)

Tallahassee (Fla.)

Colleges

Universities

Homosexuality--Florida

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.

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: Florida's Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt, RICHES of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 2013.

2013-2014

2014

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

General Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

application/website

23-minute and 58-second motion picture

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

Item Creation

History Teacher

Civics/Government Teacher

Geography Teacher

Originally produced by Dr. Robert Cassanello, Dr. Lisa Mills, Slyvana Fernández, and Logan Kriete and published by RICHES.

Cepero, Laura

Cassanello, Robert, Lisa Mills, Slyvana Fernández, and Logan Kriete. Florida's Purge: The Johns Committee Witch Hunt. RICHES of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, 2013.

Graves, Karen. And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida's Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009.

Beutke, Allyson A., et al. Behind Closed Doors The Dark Legacy of the Johns Committee. Gainesville, Fla: University of Florida, Dept. of Journalism, Documentary Institute, 2000.

Florida. Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida, A Report of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee. 1964.