The university’s library system was recently chosen to preserve the papers of a legacy.
Stetson Kennedy, a writer, activist and advocate for social justice who passed away in 2011, will now have his 70 years of material on display in the George A. Smathers Libraries Special Collections.
The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program held a commemoration last week that celebrated the importance of having Kennedy’s life research and papers together and available to students and researchers.
“I think it’s fitting that his papers wound up in a library named in honor of his nemesis, Florida Sen. George Smathers,” UF First Lady Chris Machen said.
Paul Ortiz, the director of the oral history program, said Kennedy wanted his papers to go somewhere they would be well-preserved, promoted and treasured.
“This is a great day in the history of the University of Florida. This is a wonderful day for the people of our state. It’s an exceptional day in the history of our nation,” he said.
Kennedy’s collection of never-before-seen records covers many of the most important social movements and struggles for justice in the history of our nation, Ortiz said.
“Part of the reason the Stetson papers are coming here is that we have the best library staff and faculty in the nation,” Ortiz said. “We have tremendous reading room and tremendous bibliographers.”
The collection consists of poems, his accounts of lynchings and Ku Klux Klan activities, and other harsh realities of life, First Lady Machen said.
“[Kennedy’s papers] are an astonishing collection of the various paraphernalia of the KKK, including all their secret signals, bylaws and propaganda gathered as part of Stetson’s decade-long crusade against the clan,” she said.
Kennedy’s wife, Sandra Parks, said she hoped Kennedy’s legacy would quicken the interest in maintaining the ecosystem of Florida, encourage curiosity about traditions of other cultures, and encourage them to think about current human and civil rights violations.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 10/30/2013 under the headline "Smathers acquires writings about topics like lynching, KKK"
