Glades Library Lecture Coming

Indians And African Americans In Early Florida

MOORE HAVEN, FL. -- On Saturday, October 13th at 2 pm, the Glades County Public Library will host a lecture entitled "Red, Black and White: Race and Community in Early Florida�". This lecture will explore the relationships between Indians and African Americans in eighteenth and nineteenth century Florida.  Runaways of different kinds, Seminole Indians and fugitive slaves found various ways to unite, and in many ways become a community.   Although they usually came from vastly different backgrounds, Native Americans and Africans found ways to create common ground.  Even African Americans who remained slaves among the Seminoles discovered that they could enjoy freedoms and opportunities that defy the general meaning of slavery.

The featured speaker is Dr. Andrew Frank of the History Department at Florida State University. Dr. Frank studied at Brandeis University and the University of Florida. He is the author of �Creeks and Southerners: Biculturalism on the Early American Frontier� and the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships. The public is cordially invited to the 50 minute lecture which will be followed by a question and answer period and discussion. Refreshments will be served following the program. The lecture is made possible by a grant from the Florida Humanities Council; the event is free and open to the public.

The October 13th event is the first in a series of three lectures on the history of Central Florida. Upcoming lectures are on November 17th and November 24th. The topics are: �Before the Exodus: The Hispanic Presence in Florida Before Castro� and �When Cattle Was King: Ranching at the Turn of the Century�. All lectures are on Saturdays at 2 pm at the library. The lectures are part of a larger project initiated by the Core Ensemble, a music theatre company, which is creating a performance piece based on oral histories and stories of Glades County.

For more information about the lectures, call the library at 863-946-0744, Project Director Margot Emery at 561-582-0603 or email margot@core-ensemble.cc .  The Glades County Public Library is located at 201 Riverside Drive in Moore Haven.