From the Editor

2022 Board of Directors

B. Lester Abberger Frank Biafora

TALLAHASSEE ST. PETERSBURG

Kurt Browning Peggy Bulger Dan Denton SAN ANTONIO FERNANDINA BEACH SARASOTA

Olympia Duhart FORT LAUDERDALE

Reginald Ellis Makiba Foster, Secretary

TALLAHASSEE PLANTATION Maria Goldberg, Vice-Chair PENSACOLA Joseph Harbaugh, Previous Past Chair HOLLYWOOD Sue Kim ORMOND BEACH George Lange, Treasurer TAMPA Thomas Luzier, Chair SARASOTA Linda Marcelli GULFPORT Janet Snyder Matthews SARASOTA Glenda Walters LYNN HAVEN

Florida Humanities

Nashid Madyun

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Stephanie Chill GRANTS COORDINATOR Lashonda Curry COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Lisa Lennox DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER Lindsey Morrison GRANTS DIRECTOR April Myerscough PROGRAMS COORDINATOR Brenda O’Hara CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Patricia Putman ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Mara Utterback MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR

FORUM

Pam Daniel EDITOR Janet Scherberger COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT Athena Buell CONTRIBUTING EDITOR David Meek DESIGNER

To advertise in FORUM, contact nmadyun@flahum.org Florida Humanities FORUM/Vol. XLV, No. 1 Spring 2022 © 2022 Florida Humanities The magazine of Florida Humanities 599 Second Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5005 (727) 873-2000 Website: www.floridahumanities.org Florida Humanities is a nonprofit organization funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and private contributors. FORUM is published three times a year and distributed to the friends of Florida Humanities and interested Floridians. If you wish to be added to the mailing list, please request so in writing or via the website. Views expressed by contributors to FORUM are not necessarily those of Florida Humanities.

Sound Check

There may be a better job for a Florida-fanatic journalist than editing this magazine, but after five months on the job, I can’t think of one. Published by Florida Humanities, the council that helps support legions of deserving organizations across the state, FORUM has been the voice of the humanities in Florida for three decades. Along the way, it’s racked up numerous awards and attracted an exceptional audience of intellectually curious readers who are eager to dive deep into the history and culture that make Florida so fascinating.

Anything relating to the humanities anywhere and at any time in this hugely diverse state is fair game for our pages, and that is both an exhilarating and a daunting challenge for an editor. Heeding the storyteller’s adage that narrow is better than broad, we decided to focus on one subject in much of this issue—and what a subject it is. Florida has a rich and exciting musical legacy, from the songs of Indigenous people to the electrifying riffs of some of the world’s greatest rock guitarists. You’ll read about them and many others in this issue.

As our stories came in, we found ourselves taking guilty breaks from editing to listen to the mesmerizing music and artists our writers were describing. I came to appreciate more than ever the magnetic power of music— as well as its ability to provoke controversy. In a brash moment, we’d decided to pick the 16 G.O.A.T. Florida musicians and asked artist Regan Dunnick to illustrate our choices. Several of our writers helped make the final picks, and when a few previewed the list on social media, along with all the “likes,” a flurry of outraged objections and alternate suggestions popped up. (Let me know your reaction to our All-Star picks, pages 28 to 29, by emailing me at pdaniel@flahum.org.)

Working on my first issue of FORUM has stretched my musical horizons, deepened my understanding of our state, and been pure, unmitigated joy. I hope you have a similar reaction to reading it.

Pam Daniel

23

The Soundtrack of Our State

Introducing our Florida music issue.

30

“I’m Florida, Need I Say More?” 36

As this spring’s Florida Folk 24 Festival turns 70, Peter B. Gallagher spins the stories and recalls the musicians that have made it so beloved. 42

28

The Florida All-Stars

Artist Regan Dunnick sketches 16 all-time music greats.

46

The Hitmaker

Since 1958, Criteria Studios in North Miami has produced some of the most iconic albums in recording history.

By Janet Scherberger

Traveling Down the Chitlin’ Circuit

Rev. Billy C. Wirtz leads a wild ride down the back roads of history, where Black artists in segregated Florida clubs performed soul-stirring music to sold-out crowds.

Lift Every Voice and Sing

How Jacksonville’s multi-talented James Weldon Johnson wrote the song that became the Black National Anthem.

By Craig Pittman

State of Rock

Eight superstar Florida electric guitarists led a revolution in rock and roll.

By Bob Kealing

3 Letter from the Executive Director

Opening notes from Dr. Nashid Madyun

4 From the Editor

Pam Daniel on the perils of picking our All-Star Band.

6 Letter from the Secretary of State

Laurel M. Lee reflects on Florida’s rich musical heritage.

DEPARTMENTS

7 HUMANITIES LIVE

The latest in Florida Humanities’ grants, programs, talks and special events.

16 ORAL HISTORY

Listening to Vietnam vet and antiwar activist Scott Camill.

18 TREASURE

An iconic amphitheater adorns the Daytona Beach shore.

19 CREATORS

A Tampa museum showcases extraordinary images by self-taught artists. By Pam Daniel

52 A TASTE OF FLORIDA

Creole gets contemporary with a Haitian-Miami chef. By Dalia Colon

56 SENSE OF PLACE

Amy Bennett Williams pens an ode to her family’s Alva cottage.

59 BY DESIGN

How Addison Mizner’s impossibly complicated life story foiled the great Stephen Sondheim. By Robert Plunket

64 MORE PERFECT UNION

The mayor of Newberry on his town’s journey towards truth and reconciliation.

66 THE QUIZ

Test your Florida smarts.

67 ON EXHIBIT

Loving portraits of same-sex couples.