Welcome!

Welcome to my blog dedicated to Florida history.  I've spent my academic life wandering through Florida's past, which is a pretty interesting place to ramble around in.  It's a land of fierce Native American fighters, rowdy cracker cowmen, bombastic tourism promoters, and blissful retirees.  The state is a diverse mixture of people and cultures, and has been since the 1500s.  And, of course, Florida is a paradise, a beautiful country of beaches and forests and wetlands.  Its environment deserves respect and protection.  If ever there was a state that needed its history, that state is Florida.

I've written three books on aspects of Florida history.  They are:

Watery Eden: A History of Wakulla Springs





Grander in Her Daughters: Florida's Women During the Civil War





Sunshine Paradise: A History of Florida Tourism





I'm excited to announce that this year I will have two more books on Florida's history.  I don't have the cover art for them yet, but I can give their titles.

Florida's Civil War: Terrible Sacrifices, will be listed in the Fall/Winter catalog of Mercer University Press.  It is a study of the Florida home front during the Civil War, a consideration of how the war impacted Florida's Confederates, Unionists, women, slaves, and soldiers.  What was life like in Florida during the war?  What dangers confronted Floridians, especially in areas of the state where raids and occupations were common?  How did Floridians treat each other during the conflict?  And how has the Civil War been remembered in Florida?

Upon The Face of the Waters: A Brief History of Wakulla Springs, will be published by Sentry Press in Tallahassee.  It is a major revision and update of 2002's Watery Eden: A History of Wakulla Springs.  So much has happened at Wakulla that we felt a need to update its story and make a call for its preservation.  Part of the proceeds from this book benefit the Friends of Wakulla Springs, an organization that educates the public about Wakulla and other highly endangered Florida springs and wetlands.

Though my research focuses on my home state, I am proud to be a Professor of History at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, where I teach classes in American history, Southern history, Women's history, and Civil War.  I've been here since 1991.  Wofford is a wonderful liberal arts school, and I enjoy teaching small classes and getting to know my students and my colleagues.

On a side note, I am also an avid Sherlockian and have three Sherlock Holmes pastiche novels: Shadowfall, Shadowblood, and Shadowwraith.  In Shadowblood, I sent Holmes and Watson to investigate a case in 1890s St. Augustine!

I look forward to updating this blog regularly, and to discussing not only my research, but all topics of interest in Florida history.  Thanks for visiting!