I’ve been reading Half Century of Struggle for Freedom in Florida, a fairly obscure book that was published (essentially self-published) in 1981. It is by Edward Daniel Davis, one of the less well-known figures of the civil rights movement. He may be little known because he didn’t talk much about himself. I expected an autobiography, but he limited that to a few pages at the front. Instead, the book is a collection of documents that otherwise might not have been preserved.  Read More 

But I did. I couldn’t sleep during the night after the morning in which the letterbox contained two copies of the Times and none of the Tribune. Mystified, Hubby and I thought maybe the carriers somehow crazily confused their routes. I tried to remember if I had responded to the Tribune carrier’s annual appeal via Christmas card. Maybe I failed to send a check, and she was belatedly taking revenge?  Read More 

Last week I said that I was going to say more about Harriet Tubman, whose image will inspire the next generation on our twenty-dollar bills. She deserves a full column on her own, and here it is.  Read More 

First, “Fighting”



I am so tired of the word “fight.” It seems that every other e-mail that I get, especially those from political sources, have a form of fight in the subject line. No wonder people appear to be angry, when even traditionally pacifist organizations are proud to fight. And it’s not just politics: I got one this morning headlined “London feminists fight to preserve library.”  Read More 

John Winthrop, the 11th generation descendant of the John Winthrop who founded Boston in 1630, will be in Brandon on Saturday. That’s April 23, at 3:00 PM, and technically in Riverview. A former a dairy farm, Winthrop Village is at the corner of Bloomingdale and Providence. They were the main (dirt) roads between the communities of Bloomingdale, Providence, and Riverview back in the day – to say nothing of Lithia and Alafia and Bell Shoals and all the other little settlements that now are lumped together as Brandon.  Read More 

Coming back from a speech in Palm Beach last month, we took State Road 60 through Yeehaw Junction and enjoyed the cattle ranches and citrus groves that end with Brandon. I like to stretch my imagination and try to picture the road back when it was two unmarked lanes of gravel. We seldom refer to Highway 60 by its number anymore, as it becomes Brandon Boulevard, then Adamo Drive and Kennedy Boulevard, and with a strange stretch around the airport, works its way onto Courtney Campbell Causeway and ends at Clearwater Beach, where it’s Gulf to Bay. It’s at least six lanes of heavy traffic these days, but the early highway would have been a pastoral drive.  Read More 

Every year Women’s History Month gets bigger, and I’m especially glad to see that increasing numbers of men in historical societies are acknowledging its importance. Despite the significant differences in Bartow and Palm Beach, audiences for my speeches in both places included a number of men. Both historical societies held their meetings in beautifully restored courthouses that date to a century ago, and I’m glad to see that, too.  Read More 

Planned Parenthood’s annual fundraising lunch in Tampa is next Tuesday, April 5, at the Straz Center. I go every year, and thinking about this motivated me to tell you about my Uncle Emil and Aunt Elsie.  Read More 

I figured out why so many people are voting for The Donald: They like his baseball cap. Unconsciously, his unconventional dress symbolizes to them a rejection of authority and a refusal to follow the ways of their fathers. Hubby’s father, a Methodist minister, was highly offended by the baseball cap phenomenon when it began to appear prior to his 1991 death. I remember how he had to restrain himself from snatching one off his new grandson-in-law’s head when the kid wore it inside the parsonage.  Read More 

One of the (increasingly fewer) reasons to continue to subscribe to the Tampa Tribune is that, unlike the Times, it runs “Today in History.” Yes, I could read it online, but it’s easier to glance at in Mother Trib. A recent entry caught my eye, that for March 12, 1954: “The Battle of Dien Bien Phu began during the First Indochina War as communist forces attacked French troops, who were defeated nearly two months later.”  Read More