Shade in the Sunshine State: Reflections on Segregation in Florida – Published
A new book, Shade in the Sunshine State: Reflections on Segregation in Florida, has been published by Elizabeth Coursen of Sarasota, Florida. This book is an anthology of sorts, in that, in addition to writings by the author herself, it contains personal accounts written by a number of Florida residents who experienced some effect of segregation in Florida. As of today, only the e-book appears on Amazon.com, but I believe the print version will appear soon.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I2XFPU2/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb
Stories of two Volusia County residents appear in this book: Michael A. Pyle’s A Naive Florida White Kid’s Perspective of Race Relations in the 50′s and 60′s, and Dr. Evelyn Bethune’s Greetings from Dr. Evelyn Bethune.
Pyle’s account describes how as a child on the beachside of Daytona Beach, Florida, he had few Blacks in his life, and little knowledge of issues of prejudice, segregation and racial discord. He describes his relationships he had with Blacks, his father’s reaction to negative racial remarks, and how and why he was naive to the problems of the local Black population. He describes how he eventually became somewhat aware of prejudice and desegregation, and how a few Black students finally arrived at Seabreeze High School in his senior year, in 1971. He specifically talks about Ernest Brown (“Browny”), who was a hero to all the kids who hung out at Halifax River Yacht Club.
Dr. Bethune’s account describes being in the family of Mary McLeod Bethune, and growing up on the campus of what is now known as Bethune Cookman University. She explores many of the amazing things that her grandmother created and brought to life. If you’ve never heard Evelyn Bethune speak about these subjects, I promise that she will pull you into the life of an amazing person who created an amazing legacy.
The book contains many very interesting and telling accounts of racial segregation in Florida. The author, Ms. Coursen explains the photographs on the cover. The white, female cheerleaders are from a post-card that shows Florida beach life. The photo of the police officers motioning for Black men to leave a beach was from a “Wade-in” that occurred in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Ms. Coursen is traveling the state describing the book (along with her other writings). Her presentation in Daytona on February 1, 2014, was amazing. She displayed many photos and post cards (from her post card collection), as well as describing facts that many of us had not heard before. Her talk is very well presented, and the materials are very interesting. Here is her travel schedule, but note that not every talk is about this topic. 
