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The 1950s : LeRoy Collins and Charley Johns

James Anthony Schnur

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Recommended Citation Schnur, James. "The 1950s: LeRoy Collins and Charley Johns." In Florida Decades: A Sesquicentennial History, ed. by James J. Horgan and Lewis N. Wynne. St. Leo: St. Leo College Press, 1995.

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opular culture and collective memories have often attributed a sense of complacency and tranquillity to PAmerica during the 1950s. Old photographs, as well as television imd radio programs, might reminisce about an in­ nocent era. But dramatic and pivotal changes redefined Florida after World War II. While much of the state's present infrastructure evolved between 1945 and 1960, battles between leaders of old and new Florida did leave a mixed legacy. Issues that confronted Florid­ ians in the 1950s continue to influence contemporary political, social, educational, cultural, and environmental life. 1 Florida had joined its southern neighbors as a bastion of one-party rule. After the post-Civil War era of Reconstruction, state authorities propagated a political structure based upon white supremacy and Democratic party hegemony. The 1885 constitution limited the governor's authority by prohibiting suc­ cessive terms of office and by requiring the state executive to share power with cabinet members eligible for re-election. This conservative document remained in effect until 1968. Except for special sessions, lawmakers convened every two years throughout this period, forcing governors to implement their proposals quickly during the first sixty-day term of the legisla­ ture, before they became "lame ducks."2 "Porkchoppersn and "Lambchoppersn Unity among Democrats did not necessarily follow from single-party rule. Florida's malapportioned legislature supported rural interests: In 1950, Dade County's lone state senator spoke for nearly 500,000 constituents, while Jefferson County's delegate had barely 10,000 voters in his district. Similar James A. Schnur • The 1950s 167 166 Florida Decades Collins, lambchoppers called for equitable reapportionment and disparities occurred in the House of Representatives, as 4 a revision of the 1885 constitution. leg~slators failed to account for demographic changes during Changes in gubernatorial statecraft signalled the transition their mandated reapportionment sessions. Florida's expansive between old and new Florida. Dan McCarty, former Speaker of geography and peculiar demography led to recurrent rural ("porkchopper") versus urban ("lambchopper") sectional the House from peninsular Fort Pierce, assumed the gove~or­ cleavages and prevented distant metropolitan areas from ship in 1953. Although illness led to his unt~mely death ei~ht supporting a unified platform. months after taking office, McCarty champ10ne~ ?rogress~v.e reforms that placed business interests above traditiOnal poh:I­ Politicians survived by creating ever-changing coalitions cal spoils. The constitution and a state Supreme Court ver~Ict based on personal patronage rather than on principle. In such a provided that Senate President Charl~y Johns be~ome Actmg milieu, counties with less than fifteen percent of the state's total Governor until a1954 election determined a candidate to com- population controlled both houses. The lack of a viable 5 plete McCarty's unexpired term. Republican organization during the 1950s fostered competition among Democrats, and the "sink-or-swim" battles between LeRoy collins legislative and executive branches prevented governors from Two days after the court's ruling, LeRoy Collins announced acting as the party leader in state politics. With few registered his intention to run against Johns for the balance of the term. Republicans on the rolls during the 1950s, Democratic Angered at Johns's suspension of McCarty appointees and t~e gubernatorial candidates fought resolutely to win the party return of corrupt patronage, Collins campaigned to seek legis­ primaries because the victorious candidate automatically lative reapportionment, to restore integrity in g~vernment, and secured the office during the November elections.3 to reinstate suspended officials just as the Umted S~ates S~­ Two political factions dictated Democratic politics during preme Court's May 1954 Brown v. Board~~ ~ducatwn ~eci­ the 1950s. "Porkchoppers" sought to maintain the legislative sion proclaimed separate educational facilities for. Afncan dominance of agrarian districts in Tallahassee. Conservative Americans inherently unequal. Bill Hendrix, a leader m the Ku "county seat elites" who distrusted calls for reform and sought Klux Klan and Democratic candidate in the 1952 race, ques­ to preserve customs such as patronage and segregation, mem­ tioned Acting Governor Johns's loyalty to the principle of seg- bers of the Pork Chop gang took a blood oath to oppose any regation. demands for reapportionment that would dismantle their per­ At Johns's 1954 campaign kick-off from a Starke football I ~ I vasive power in the state house. As tax revenues flowed into field, Pork Chop Senator Dillworth Clark placate~ Hendri~ by the capitol from burgeoning urban counties, Pork Chop legisla­ exclaiming that he had not witnessed "a crowd this large s~nce tors redistributed these funds for the benefit of their smaller the last lynching in Jefferson County." While. Johns obtame~ communities. more votes than Collins and Brailey Odham m the 1954 pn­ mary, a plurality required a run-off election. With Odham throw­ Charley Johns-a senator from Bradford County since the ing his support behind Collins, the Leon County senator mid-1930s and Senate President during the 1953 term-best han~­ ily defeated his Bradford County colleague and token opposi­ represented porkchopper brethren. Hailing from urban and pen­ tion from Republican nominee J. Tom Watson, who insular counties, lambchoppers viewed issues from the context actua~ly died before the election. Johns returned to the Senate. Collms of state-wide business progressivism, rather than of parochial 6 self-preservation. Led by Verle A. Pope and (Thomas) LeRoy became governor. 168 Florida Decades James A. Schnur • The 1950s 169 Throughout his political care C . strengthen Florida's public sch 1 A~' ollms st~uggled to during the Second World War decimated enrollment at the Uni­ first entered the House of R oo s. ~lah~ssee native, Collins versity of Florida (UF), veterans flocked to college campuses cate of New Deal re-~'orm eApresSentatiVes m 1935 as an advo- by the late 1940s. With over 8,000 applications for admission 1' s. s enate Pre ·d h Governor Millard Caldw 11 SI ent, e offered received in 1946 alone, UF' s Gainesville campus could not ac­ Foundation Bill that mode ~up%ort for the 1947 Minimum commodate the onslaught of newcomers and authorities estab­ educational system This ernize and ~tan?ardized Florida's lished a Tallahassee branch of UF on a former military field base level of financi·n· g th tiandmark legislatiOn provided for a adjacent to the Florida State College for Women. a compensated fi d · · · poorer and wealthier count·1es. or Ispanties between By 1947, the capital city's college became the coeducational During his gubernatorial ter C 1 . and comprehensive Florida State University (FSU). Under the practice as elementary and msd o hns put the law into presidency of Doak Campbell, FSU rapidly expanded its cur­ throughout the state Reco ~e.con ar~ schools sprouted up riculum, physical plant, and athletics program. In December technologies in schools C ll~illZing the Important role of new 1956, the University of South Florida (USF) became the state's ' 0 ms assembled a citizen' · to evaluate the potential of ed f 1 . . s COillilllttee first public university created since the 1905 Buckman Act had the legislature to approve au~~~o.~a ~~evisi~n. He persuaded consolidated public institutions of higher learning. Located in Commission that provided for r~ a uc.atwnai Televis~on Hillsborough County, USF opened its doors in September 1960 between educational br d oo~erahve prograrnrnmg to nearly 2,000 students.9 p oa casters m Miami T S etersburg, Gainesville, Jacksonville and 'T'all h ' abmpa- t. The struggle for civil rights modified the educational land­ . ' 1; a assee y 1960.7 C ornmumty and jun · 11 scape as politicians attempted to circumvent the Brown deci­ foresight of LeRoy Coll:~~ ~od ege enrollment exp.loded. The sion. Fearing that Brown was inevitable, lawmakers converted state's Communit n sa~e recommendatiOns by the the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes legislature) provid~d~~~l=~ Cou~cll ( establi~hed by the 1955 into a full-fledged university in 1953. Following the lead of ior college education within~~:;: o~s ex~answn to place ajun­ their southern colleagues, Florida legislators hoped to subvert percent of the populat · F utmg distance of ninety-nine Brown as school boards ignored it and U.S. district courts rarely to 46 281 in 1961 196210n. rom 7,224 students in 1957-1958 enforced it. ' - ' enrollment cont · d almost 125,000 by _ . mue to skyrocket to 1965 1966 Fearing that African Americans would seek immediate ad­ During this period, junior colle . mission to white classrooms, local communities and district the paternalistic direction oflocal b!:~~=:m~~·Ia:gely u~der boards of public instruction embarked upon substantial projects and Jacked curricular d. . pu Ic mstructwn, to erect new schools in long-neglected black neighborhoods. demic freedom until th~v:~:l;;~onomy, or substantial aca­ Ironically, this building frenzy created some all-black schools percent increase in enroll s. N~vertheless, the 1,630 that possessed better facilities than nearby white facilities. 10 1966 d ment over the nme years from 1957 to emonstrated the commit t f . . Pinellas County's superintendent best described this strat­ ondary educaf s men o Flondians to post-sec- Ion. egy in 1956 when he claimed improvements made black schools Universities faced similar e . "separate but really equal." At a time when state officials funded of 4 162 t d · xpanswn. From a wartime low ' s u ents m 1944 the st t · . a massive expansion of community colleges, they added to the nearly 30,000 students by ,1960 ~eh.ul mv~~sity system. served cost by creating a dual system of post-secondary institutions. 1 · e illlhtary COmmitments In the fall of 1962, 1,747 students attended Brevard Commu- 170 Florida Decades James A. Schnur • The 1950s 171 nity Coll~g~, while only 52 enrolled at C . - terpart; smniar disproporti. .arver, Its all-black coun- 2 860 W: ons occurred mE b. in Florida-and his wife were murdered when a firebomb ex­ ' ' asbington: 193), Jackson C . scam Ia (Pensacola: ploded at their Mims home. and St. Lucie (Indian River: 431 L. ( hip.ola: 726, J ~ckson: 68), a few. An integration surve c~ mc.ol~. 96) Counties, to name While Governor Fuller Warren supported a 1951 law that ~ontro1 encouraged authorides mnus~wned by the Board of 1 forbade the wearing of masks in public demonstrations as a tlons, as white respondents to contmue segregated institu- means of limiting Klan activity, he claimed that NAACP Ex­ should deny admission to qu~~~:~lly asserted that the state ecutive Secretary Walter White visited Florida "to try to stir up Supreme Court verdict. u blacks regardless of any strife" while attending Moore's funeral. Hendrix's candidacy in the 1952 election, the presence of Klan chapters throughout Charley Johns the state, and the promises to uphold the custom of segregation . Segregationists attem ted by all1954 Democratic gubernatorial candidates demonstrated !,: ' m~egrati~nists. When studenfs at ;o pounce on .university that dark clouds continued to cast a shadow on the integrity of neighbonng Florida A & M U . 1on.da State Umversity and Sunshine State politics. 13 Tallahassee bus boycott st t mv~~sit~ supported the 1956 affairs in an attempt to p' a e authonties Interfered in academic The 1956 election marked a pivotal point in Florida's his­ · revent adverse bl. · received by a similar p t . · pu Icity similar to that tory. Collins had received approval from the state Supreme Court ro est m Montg a 1956 special Iegislat. . ornery, Alabama. During to seek an unprecedented second term. Residents in disparate · . . Ive sess10n la k InterpositiOn resolution that 1 . ' wma ers debated an urban areas threw their support behind Collins, realizing that Court lacked sovereignty to x:~~ atrned t~at the U.S. Supreme his business progressivism and moderate stand on racial inte­ They also supported I e on racial matters in Florida. gration, as well as his support of reapportionment and constitu­ a proposal by t p . tional revision, served their best interests. J ohn s to create an inte · . . . sena e resident Charley nm mvestigatwn · search for an alleged link b . comnuttee that would Collins bypassed an obstructive legislature and an unyield­ etween hberal d . . an d a supposed commu · t s, esegregatwmsts ing cabinet by appealing directly to Floridians through radio . ms menace Du · · . ' th e Flonda Legislative Inve . . . nng Its mne-year tenure, and television broadcasts. While Collins emphasized the state's co~only known as the Johnss~~atw~ Committee (FLIC)­ potential as an economic leader, Democratic candidates Farris tenswns, trivialized acade . <:.. mnuttee--exacerbated racial Bryant, Fuller Warren, and Sumter Lowry propounded a plat­ illlc ueedom thr . . an d sought to preserve k h ' eatened CIVIl liberties form based upon segregation and reminiscent of old Florida por c oppe . ' f acuity, and admin·st t r prerogatives. Students politics. After winning a second term in the November 1956 . 1 ra ors at publi h ' umversities faced · d. c sc ools, colleges and general election, Collins resumed his tireless crusade to both . . Irnme Iate d. · ' assassmatwn if they ad Isrntssa1 and character encourage civic participation and effect reform in government. 14 h vocated progr · t e FLIC's authority. 12 essiVe causes or questioned Despite Collins's victory, clouds continued to cover the land­ Despite the dangers they en scape. While Florida lacked the violence found in neighboring countered · ·1 · possessed a strong resol Afi ' CIVI ngbts activists states, the Southern manifesto of "massive resistance" curtailed A · ve. ter World W: II mencans who bad fought f, ; ar , many African school integration efforts and jeopardized civil rights advocates. fort~ against domestic aparth~:~g~·fascism redirected their ef­ After attempting to dismantle NAACP chapters throughout the Chnstmas day 1951 H . wlence often occurred: On state, the Johns Committee attacked the academic integrity and . . ' ' arry T. Moore-lead f b . A ssoc1atwn for the Ad er o t e Natwnal curriculum of educational institutions, as well as the personal vancement of Colored People (NAACP) freedoms of many Floridians. 172 Florida Decades James A. Schnur • The 1950s 173 Althoug? Florida's intellectual climate suffered irrepar:; damage dunng these McCarthyite witch hunts the FLIC (HUAC). Similar to Senator Joseph McCarthy's witch ~u~ts, · ·n·b ' and Its I. I er~l supporters did not resurrect old Florida. While these HUAC proceedings at the Dade County federal bmld~ng ~ollms fail~d ~o obta~n fair legislative apportionment or are­ attempted to link membership in so-called subvers~ve VIsed constitutiOn dunng his six years as governor, he did set a organization with traitorous behavior. Liberals in the. Jewish stand~d of moral and ethical behavior that encouraged many community became an obvious target, just as the bombmg of a ~men cans to rel.ocate to Florida, and their arrival forever modi­ Miami synagogue :i,n 1958 demonstrated that anti-Semitism fied the econorruc and cultural climate. remained a potent force in much of the state. By the early 1960s, the face of Miami changed again as older folk died off and Development and Change younger Jews moved away from Miami and Miami Beach. Newcomers provided the impetus for profound economic Nearly 500,000 Cubans fled their homeland after Fidel changes. From a population of approximately 2.8 million in Castro seized control of Cuba in 1959, and friction developed 195~, the state's residents numbered nearly five million in 1960. between Cuban arrivals and Jewish elders. The Cuban exiles Dunng. the twentieth century the state changed from a settled largely along southeastern Florida-predominantly in predommantly rural to an overwhelmingly urban character. Dade County-and included a substantial professional class that Local governments required additional authority to cope with gave the Miami area a more cosmopolitan flavor. 16 unp:ecede~ted growth, and infrequent biennial legislative Castro's ascent and the postwar cult of suburbanization s~sswns faded to provide an adequate forum for the needs of diverse communities. reshaped Tampa's Latin communities. While advances in machinery had rendered the skilled cigar-maker obsolete by ~~medies during the late 1950s and 1960s included the late 1940s, President John F. Kennedy's embargo on tobacco provi.siOns for home rule-the granting of cities and counties imports devastated the once-thriving cigar industr! i~ Tampa, s~nc~wn to govern their affairs-and the proliferation of special reducing many factories to empty, elaborate bmldmgs of a distncts and regional regulatory and planning councils. The bygone era. Thousands of employees in West Tampa and Ybor urba~ growth that occurred in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area City lost their jobs as commercial restrictions signalled the end and m Tampa portrayed the multicultural character of this of the Cigar City's namesake industry. postwar urbanization. 15 During a Cold War era when authorities demanded. abso­ ?Iobal events changed the face of southeast Florida. The lute loyalty to American customs, a mass cult~re su~or?mated state s Jewish population catapulted after World War II as retired many ethnic institutions, such as mutual a1d societies an.d Jewish pensi?ners discovered the climate and lifestyle of Dade domino games along the street comer. Similar to the expen­ County. While many Jews continued to champion activist ence of other ethnic enclaves across America, federal dollars causes, their fraternal and cultural organizations in the Miami funded urbanization projects that developed suburbs. Many area recognized that reactionary elements would attack liberals and desegregationists. former residents ofYbor City migrated to West Tampa (a "Latin suburb") or to newer "bedroom" communities such as Temple Indee.d, during late 1954 and early 1955 many former Tenace. 17 Commumst party sympathizers and union leaders had received An urbanized population demanded great mobility. Just as ~ubp~en~s to give testimony at Harold Velde's Miami the railroads sponsored by Henry Flagler and Henry Plant InvestigatiOns for the House Un-AmericanActivities Committee brought many residents to the sparsely populated peninsula by 174 Florida Decades James A. Schnur • The 1950s 175 the late nineteenth centur h. h - changed Florida' h y, Ig ways cut a substantial path that s uman geography. 1948. A year later, authorities secured unoccupied scrub and A signal event was the Florida F estuary lands on Cape Canaveral as a rocket launching site. 1949 legislature and cham . d b ence Law, approved by the Beginning in July 1950, rockets blasted from Florida's "space In comparison with other s~:~:se th y ;o:ernor Fuller Warren. coast." Throughout the decade, Brevard County encountered a range came relatively late. Alth~ug~ c o~mf of Florid~'s open commercial and technological renaissance, as professionals and

commodities continued to p d . ag~Icu tural and livestock engineers overwhelmed Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, Merritt ' ,,' re onunate m n 1 t · '1,'' the counties planned rout .c • ear Y wo-thirds of Island, and surrounding coastal communities. Other Cold War ' es .tor state high . the federal Interstate High S ways, a turnpike, and industries appeared throughout the state, often funded through state's coasts. way ystem fueled growth along the branches of the federal government. 19 Such growth fostered profound ecological consequences. Between 1949 and 1953 Fl 'd . spent nearly $500 nu'll' t : on a transportatiOn officials The "sun and fun" quest for convenience and leisure brought IOn o Improve ro d F · their last scheduled ru a ways. ernes made many new automobiles and boats to land and water ns across Tampa B · majestic Sunshine Sky . ay m 19 54 after the throughways. The use of toxic pesticides (including DDT) be­ way umted St p t b County The h' · e ers urg and Manatee ginning in the 1940s and continuing into the 1960s left resi­ ',' \ · suns me State Park · (Fl · tended from Miami to F rt p· way onda Turnpike) ex- dues that have threatened the frail biological balance of Florida's . Interstate 75 at Wildwoood b I~~~4by Ja~uary 1957, and joined food chain. Many long-time residents remember the large "fog­ which links Tampa d y · PortiOns of Interstates 4-- ging" trucks that spewed noxious gasses on the front line of the I ',•1 . ' 0 ran1 o, andDayto B h 1 mng along the Atlantic Seab d ~a eac -and 95' run- war against the mosquito. ',,,'1,, among the earliest segments c~%pl~~~~ tathrd Uto ~iami, were Cities of cement rechannelled the rivers of grass, thereby w · n e mted States disrupting water flow and drainage into aquifers. Communities hile urban growth clo ed . parked in one place d t gg d roa~w.ays, many vehicles often failed to expand sewage and industrial treatment plants · .. an s aye Renu f until long after present facilities had exceeded their capacity. tourist camps" of the 1920 · mscent o the "tin can checkered the landscap Is s and 1930s, mobile home parks The advent of affordable wall air conditioning units allowing e. countless newcomers to persevere through hot and humid sum­ The Cold War also redefin d Fl .d . . mers, but these mechanical marvels also brought people in from federal economic infusi· J e on a With Its unprecedented on. ust as New D 1 their front porches, transfigured traditional architecture, and presence of military train. f. T . ea programs and the ,''I required a greater electrical burden for coal-burning power ,, ! economy during the 193~:~n~c~~ties had b?lstered Flor~da's plants.20 (such as the Interstate H' h S 40s, pubhc works proJects Dredging exemplified the commercial and environmental tries created new career Ig way ~~tern) and Cold War indus­ consequences of post-war demography. In the early 1950s, the logical enterprises mushroppo~umties. Scientific and techno­ Navy enlarged Port Canaveral to accommodate the needs of fore Sputnik's 1957 1 ~me throughout the state long be­ ,., ,.;, the space program and its military endeavors. Other coastal re­ the space race to a pe~:~c dcSaus~d fear th~t America had lost Ive oviet monolith gions followed suit. Reminiscent of the dredging along Miami While the federal govemme t d . . Beach, Davis Islands (in Tampa), and Snell Isle (in St. Peters­ installations throughout Fl 'd ~ eactiVated many military burg) during the 1920s, suburban communities appeared atop a former field near Coc ~I a: ter World War II, it reopened former boggy estuaries, shallow sandbars, and barrier islands oa eac as Patrick Air Force Base in on both peninsular coasts and along the Panhandle.

J 176 Florida Decades James A. Schnur • The 1950s 171

The transfonnation of Mud Key, a mangrove island along T ll hass J H kshom ed Govemment ee· University Presses ofFlon· d a, 1980·. ' and Robert f Florida· uc 1991.' In·• earlier days, a a · . ·n . u ·vefSlty Presses o , .. southern Pinellas County, provides an example of this transfor­ and Politics in Florida, Gat~esvt e. m ed history largely as the saga of past pohll~s. mation. Renamed Vina del Mar, Mud Key soon became part of historians constructed narrattves_ that ~or~~:es between Charley Johns and LeRoy Collms While the author uses phtlosophtcal dtffe l examines broader social, educatiOnal, Pass-a-Grille, and after more dredging, a subdivision of St. to characterize old and new Florida: this ~hapt;~~t~~al account of Florida during the 1950s, Petersburg Beach. By 1958, nearly one-quarter of Boca Ciega economic,1. and G Cox environrnentalDqueslltw;l~ri~~:a and J E ove ' From Secession to Space Age, St. Petersburg: see Mer Ill · . ." · 220-245. 974 Bay-the intracoastal waterway separating Pinellas County's Great Outdoors Pubhshmg, 1 • PP· h "every man ior himself' was . .fi d Florida as a place w ere .. mainland peninsula from its beaches-was filled. While the J ltl a classic work, V. 0. Kt;y !dent! te "d E Man •or Himself," in Southern Po ltlcs K J "F!on a· very 1' . 1· 1 creation of a water and navigation authorities and resolute re­ modus operandi. See V. 0. ey, _r., 1949 82-105. Florida's malapporuoned legts a- in State and Nation, New Yor~: Vmta_ge, 'p~ attention in William C. Havard and L~ren strictions on the use of state-owned submerged lands did limit ture and its effects on the ~ohty recetve t~or~~~ ral- Urban Cmiflict in the Florida Leglsla­ dredging by the early 1960s, Pinellas's beach boon taxed natu­ p Beth The Politics of Mls-Representat~on . . I p ess 1962· and William C. Havard and Lotl;re B~ton Rouge: Louisiana State Umverslty e: ;rtionn;ellt: A Case Study for Florida, ral resources: Authorities had to secure distant water reservoirs p Beth, Representative GovemmelltGan_d R .Pllp· University of Florida Public Admm- r~n . . . · No 20 amesv1 e. . R bl" Studies in Public Adrmmstratwn, . , . t ·nority the number of regtstered epu 1- in Pasco and Hillsborough counties to quench the thirst of istration Clearing Service, 1960. Long a stl~n rm l :\40 000 in 1960. While Democrats Pinellas residents because salt water intrusion had corrupted cans increased from just over 6?·?00 m ~95 to.~el~lo th~ trend in Republican growth that local wells. The Florida of bygone years would never return. accounted for a sizeable 1.65 mllhon regtstrants_t litics in the 1960s and beyond. See 21 started after World War II would redefi~e p~::a;h~oChanging Politics of the South, ed. by As LeRoy Collins left the Governor's Mansion in January Manning J. Dauer, "Florida: A Dt~eren:si!~~·s:ate University Press, 1972, pp. 9~-164; ~nd William C. Havard, Baton Rouge. Lou d A H"story ofthe Republican Party m Flonda, 1961, he witnessed surroundings that differed greatly from the Peter D. Klingman, N_either J?ies t:or s~:~::s ~;Bor:da, 1984. ·Florida of his childhood. Profound political, social, educational, 1867-1970, Gainesville: Umvemty p " d . 1955 to signify a legislator's stand economic, and ecological changes that reshaped the state ' The terms "porkchopper" and "lambc~opper a~p~·ar:at: the broader chasm between agrar­ on the reapportionment issue. These ut_les s~onth: ;emocratic party. For a discussion of throughout the twentieth century had accelerated during his two ian populists and business ~rogresst~~h~nPork Chop Gang: Florida's Bourbon Legacy," tenus as governor. As segregationist Farris Bryant assumed the porkchopper politics, see Kevm_ Klem, U . sity 1993. LeRoy Collins represented the Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Flonda State Pork Chop gang. For a political bwgra- spl mv~~h governorship, neither the uncertain future of civil rights under .rit of business progressivism that challengeLeRe Colll"ns oif Florida: Spokesman of the his administration nor the anti-intellectual climate wrought by hy of Collins, see Tom R. '"vv~gy, Governor. aoy Press, 1985; and Thomas Ray "'vvag_y, "A ~ew South, University, AL: _Dm~erstty oGf Alabam LeRoy Collins of Florida," Unpublished Charley Johns and his committee's investigations during the S0 uth to Save: The Admimstratwn of ?vemor . Fl · d State University, 1980. early 1960s managed to restore the dominance of the Pork Chop Ph.D. Dissertatwn, on a L Christie "The Collins-Johns gang. s For an account of the 1_954 D~m~cratic prima~i~~g~;~ ;;~~. ;p. 5-19. Adetailed a~alysis of Election, 1954: A Tummg P?mt, ~pa~che~ tsfield and Elston E. Roady, Flonda Votes, electoral behavior appears_m Ann~e. ~ori~a Government Series No. 1, Tallahassee: In- Despite Collins's sage leadership, new Florida's mixed fore­ 1920-1962. Selected Electwn Statistics, U . "t 1963 · h Florida State mvefSl y, · cast included both clouds and sunshine, as profound demo­ stitute of Governmental Researc ' M C t and Charley Johns illustrates ' Correspondence in the gubernatorial pa:s ariecord Group 102, Series 569, graphic and environmental changes during the 1950s offer lega­ their divergent philosophies. See Johns c ~far ~a~ap~rs , cies that many present-day Fl01idians may wish to forget. State Archives of Florida, Tallahassee. . . . Public Schools Under the · . · c mrmttee Fmancmg . I' Florida Legislative Council, Educatwn ~l h e: Florida Legislative Council andRe er- Endnotes Florida Minimum Foundation Program, Ta .a asse Ed ation Education and the Future of ' Many of the issues that confronted Floridians during the 1950s have roots in the Second ence Bureau, 1957; Florida Citizen's in Florida, Tallahassee: of Flo ~omrmtt:e ~~uca~~on St~te World War. A thorough examination of this pivotal period of history appears in Lewis N. rl"da. A Report of the ComprehensiVe Study ifd h ols libraries and other educatwnal Wynne, ed., Florida at War, Saint Leo, FL: Saint Leo College Press, 1993. Other general · . . · 1 cont11bute to sc o • ' J · Florida, 1947. Civic mstltutwns a so f women's clubs and service leagues, see esst.e histories of Florida include Charlton W. Tebeau, A Histmy ofFlorida, Coral Gables: Univer­ institutions. For an assessment of the role o ifS . The Florida Federation of Women s sity of Miami, 1971; and Michael Gannon, Florida: A Short History, Gainesville: University . h Wi . A Century 0 erv1ce, Presses of Florida, 1993. Hamm Meyer, Leadmg t e ay. "d F deration of Women's Clubs, 1994. Clubs, 1895-1995, Lakeland: Flon a e . db k an essential reference tool for Investigations of Florida's political climate include Manning J. Dauer, ed., Florida's Politics f 0 Enrollment information comes rom Tl l e Flonda . Han °The' Florida Handbook, rr1a llah as- and Government, 2d edition, Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1984; David R. any stu den t o f Florida . history. . See Allen Moms, comp., Colburn and Richard K. Scher, Florida's Gubernatorial Politics in the T\ventieth Century, see: Peninsular Pubhshmg. James A. Schnur • The 1950s 179 178 Florida Decades see, see LeRoy Collins Papers, Special Collections, Robert M. Strozier Library, Florida 9 For an institutional account of post-war chan es at Flo . . . State University, Tallahassee; and LeRoy Collins Papers, Special Collections, Tampa Cam­ Campbell, A University in Transition Florid ~t t U . nd~ State Umverstty, see Doak S pus Library, University of South Florida, Tampa. Collins became an integrationist during his Florida State University Press 1964, ,..., a a e mv~rstty Studies No. 49, Tallahassee: 1 second term of office. For essays on his political transformation, see Robert Howard Akerman, s out h Fl onda,. examine Russell• M · o traced Mthe functwnal grow th of the University of· . c ooper an argaret B F h "The Triumph of Moderation in Florida Thought and Politics: A Study of the Race Issue porary University: A Case Study of E . . ts er, The Vision ofa Contem- from 1954 to 1960;' Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, American University, 1967; Sandra L. cation, 1950-1975 Tampa· Uni 't x~mlszon and Development in American Higher Ed • • ' • verst Y resses of Florida, 1982. li- Fanning, "A Study of Changes in Racial Attitudes as Revealed in Selected Speeches of 10 The Brown dectswn invigorated the social stru . . . LeRoy Collins, 1955-1965," Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of South Flmida, 1965; tlve, see Richard Kluger Simple Justice· '~''h Hg~le for ctvtl nghts. For a broader perspec- and John Michael Cornett, "A Study of Dispositio in Selected Speeches of LeRoy Collins on BlkA ., ' .l.ezstmyofBrown B df . ac menca s Struggle for Equality N y; k· . v. oar o EducatiOn and Race Relations, 1954-1964," Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Florida State University, 1965. III, From Brown to Bakke The S ' ew or . Vmtage, 1975; and J. Harvie Wilkinson Governmental reform during the Collins years is also documented by: Bruce Mason and York: O~ford University Press, ;~;~:neF~;~;;t ~nd,School Integration: 1954-1978, New Penrose Jackson, eds., Reports of the Governor's Citizens' Committees, Studies in Public Tomberlm, "Florida Whites and th B D . o_nda s response to Brown, see Joseph A e rown ectston of 1954" Fl 'd . · Administration, no. 15, Gainesville: University of Florida Public Administration Clearing u Y 1972), pp. 22-36· and · . • on a Hzstorical Quarterly M51 (J I . • vanous essays m Chari u S · ovement m Florida and the United St t 1' II h es . mtth, ed., The Civil Rights House, 1956. See Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino, "From Dixie to Dreamland: Demographic contemporary account of the turtle a Ies, a a assee: Father and Son Press 1989 For a 15 -craw progress of s h 1 d . ' · and Cultural Change in Flodda, 1880-1980," in Shades of the Sunbelt: Essays on Ethnicity, monthly accounts in Southern School N ' . . c oo esegregatwn in Florida, see porting Service. ells, a publtcatwn from the Southern Education Re- Race, and the Urban South, Randall M. Miller and George E. Pozzetta, eds., Contributions in American History No. 128, New York: Greenwood Press, 1988, pp. 161-191.Arichlitera­ 11 Nu merous studtes. document school dese r . . . ture, wdtten for general readership, either promoted or criticized life in Florida during this ,'1 I, see Janet Hall, "School Desegregatt'o . gH~lgl abtwn efforts m Flonda counties. For example era. Some examples include Max E. Bulske, Florida ls1z 't Heaven! New York: Vantage Press, Th · · n m t s orough Cou ty Fl 'd " ' ests, Umversity of South Florida . d J n • on a, Unpublished M.A. 1957; June Cleo and Hank Mesouf, Florida: Polluted Paradise, Philadelphia: Chilton Books, · p· ' 1992• an ames A Schnur "D · oo s m mellas County Florid "y, B . · • esegregatwn of Public Sch I 1964; A. Lowell Hunt, Florida Today, New York: Scribner's Sons, 1950; Mike Smith, Florida: 43. For a state-wide persp:ctive, c~'nsu~~~Jo~e ~::tory, 13 (S~ri~~/Summer 1991), pp. 26- A Way of Life, New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1959; and Lady Peg Wilks, Skippy System of Education: The Aftermath f th Bp· on Tomberlm, The Negro and Florida's Rides Through Florida: A Dog's-Eye View of the Sunshine State, New York: Vantage Press, . Fl on'd a S tate University 1967 For ad' o e. I own Case" ' U npu bl'ts h e d Ph.D. Dissertation L . ' · ISCUSS!On of segregat d · ' 1959. For sources that describe retirement in Florida, see William H. Bates, You Can Live ee Smtth, The Magnificent T\velve. Fl 'd ' Bl e commumty colleges, see Walter Longer in Florida, New York: Exposition Press, 1950; George Dusenbury and Jane Dusenbury, G, 1994; and Walter Lee Smith "A St ;n ; ;1 ack Ju~ior Colleges, Winter Park: FOUR- How to Retire in Florida, rev. ed., New York: Harper, 1947; Carte'r C. Osterbind, Looking at 1966," Unpublished Ph.D. Dis~ertatio~ ~ 'd acSk Publtc_ Juni_or Colleges in Florida: 1957- Aging in Florida, Tallahassee: Citizens Advisory Committee on the Aged, 1960; T. Stanton Iz . • on a tate Umverslty 1974 Dietrich, Florida's Older Population, Research Report No. 2, Tallahassee: Florida State For further mformation on the Tall h B ' . The Civil Rights Movement t'n ""allah as see Flus ~oycott, see Glenda Rabby, "Out of the Past· Improvement Commission, 1952; and Edith M. Orsini, ''The Impact of Elderly In-Migration . 1 • a assee onda" u bl' · State Umversity 1984· and Jam M F' . ' npu tshed Ph.D. Dissertation Florida on Flotida's Counties," Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Florida, 1991. - ' ' es ax endnch Jd 1 Rzghts Movement Albany· Stat U · . ' ea c ztzzens:· The Legacy oifthe' Civil ' · e mverstty of New y; k p For an account of Jewish life in Florida, see Henry Alan Green and Marcia Kerstein Zerivitz, papers, closed from the committee' d' b d . or ress, 1993. The Johns Committee 16 s ts an ment m 1965 t'l1 bl' MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida: A Documentary Exhibit from 1763 to the Present, Coral opene them in 1993 offer a ch'll' . un pu tc records legislation Gables: MOSAIC, 1991. More specific to Miami is Deborah Dash Moore, To the Golden d ' 1 mg portratt ofMcCarth 1't d · - awmakers in Cold War Flo 'd s Fl . Y e an antl-mtellectual activities 0 fl n a. ee onda Legis! t' 1 · . Cities: Pursuing the American Jewish Dream in Miami and L.A, New York: Free Press, ecord Group 940 Series 1486 St t Ar hi a tve nvestlgatwn Committee Papers ,R ' • a e c ves of Flo 'd 1' 11 h ' 1994. HUAC investigations in Dade County are documented in the Florida Legislative In­ 'The Florida Legislative Investigatt' on C . n a, a a assee; and Steven F. Lawson, . . ommtttee and the c t' · . vestigation Committee Papers. Studies of Miami's Cuban community appear in David Rieff, ace e atlons," mAn Uncertain Tradition· C . . . ons ttutwnal ReadJUStment of R R I The Exile: Cuba in the Heart of Miami, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993. Kermit L. Hall and James W. Ely, eds., and the_ History of the South, A;he~;stztutzon~hsm For a lively portrait of the blending of Tampa's Cuban, Italian, and Spanish communities, broader perspective of Cold War A . : Umverstty of Georgta Press, 1989. For a 17 m menca, examme Steph J wh· fi see Armando Mendez, Ciudad de Cigars: West Tampa, Tampa: Florida Historical Society, o rrar, Baltimore: Johns Ho ki U . . en · It eld, The Culture of the FC ld . P ns mverslty Press, 1991. 1994; and Gary R. Mormino and George E. Pozzetta, The Immigrant World ofYbor City: 13 or a geopohtical account of attempts to I' 't b Italians and Their Latin Neighbors in Tampa, 1885-1985, Urbana: University of Illinois D(ouglas) Price, The Negro and Southern!pmll _IacAk political participation, examine H(ugh) . . o zflcs: ChapteroifFl 'd H' ew or mverslly Press 19S N . on a zstory, New York: Press, 1987. N · y; k U ' 7 · ewspapers serve as 1 · The arrival of millions of newcomers has not stifled the importance of agriculture and live- attitudes during the 1950s The Af · A . mportant pnmary sources of racial 18 . · ncan- mencan pre s · 1 d d stock to Florida's economy. Frozen concentrate citrus juices became a premiere agricultural entmel-Bul/etin (Tampa) the Fl 'd S s me u e papers such as the Florida S ' on a tar (Jackso ·n ) d h . commodity beginning in the 1950s. For a discussion of Florida's cattle enterprise, see Joe A. papers-such as the Atlanta Daily w, ld Cl. nvt_ e 'an t e Mzami Times. National . or • ncago Dazly De~'end B 1 · . Akerman, Jr., Florida Cowman, A History of Florida Cattle Raising, Kissimmee: Florida can, an t e Patsburgh Courier· _, . J' er, a tzmore Afro-Amen- ]' d h -uocumented events m Fl 'd E . Cattlemen's Association, 1976. A celebratory history of the State Road Department appears tes also reappraised race relations - th . . on a. dttors of large urban dai- 1n etr commumty Fo . in Baynard Kendrick, Florida Trails to Turnpikes, 1914-1964, Gainesville: University of o e son Poynter, Special Coli t' d . · r one perspective, consult Papers f N· I . ec wns an Archtves N 1 p mvers!ly of South Flotida St p t b ' e son oynter Memorial Library Florida Press, 1964. U • • e ers urg. , Elaine Murray Stone, Brevard County: From Cape of the Canes to Space Coast, Northridge, 19 14 A comprehensive account of Collins's govemo h' . . CA: Windsor Publications, pp. 55-74. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration old: The Administration oif Gov L R rs tp appears m Flonda Across the Thresh- ernor e oy Col/' J. (NASA) maintains an archives as part of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Library. Nearly Tallahassee: Governor's Office 1961 G b anumy 4, 1955- Janumy 3, 1961, l~S, 700,000 pages of documents and over 25,000 photographs trace the history of KSC. Florida's "Statesman of the Cen;ury" ~d_ematonal papers preserve Collins's legacy as . I n a ttl on to papers at the State Archives in Tallahas- 180 Florida Decades

2 ° For an overview of the relationship of economy and ecology in Florida see Mark D s K' d ifP. d' . • err, ome m o ara tse: A Chromcle ofMan and the Land in Florida, New York: William Morrow 1989 · To get a sense of the broader implications of air conditioning in Southern culture ' Raymo~~ Arsenault, "The End of the Long Hot Summer: The Air Conditioner and South:: Culture, Journal of Southern Hist01y, 50 (November 1984), pp. 597-628. 21 For a history of batTier island communities in Pinellas County see Frank T Hurley 1 s if, Sand, and Post Card Sunsets: A History of Pass-a-Grille and the Gulf Be~ches s't ~ t u ' burg Beach: Hurley, 1977. Studies of dredging along Pinellas County include Rob~rt Fra~: NASA and the Space Race H~t:on, et al.,. The Ecology of Boca Ciega Bay, with Special Reference to Dredging and Ftllmg Operatwns, St. Petersburg: Florida State Board of Conservation 1956· d Th JC · h J "Th . • ,an omas · unn.mg am, r., ~ Emer~mg Lands in Boca Ciega Bay, Pinellas County, Florida," Unp~bhshed ~.S. Thesis, Flonda State University, 1957. See also Luther J. Carter, The Flonda .Expenence: Land and Water Policy in a Growth State, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins he "Beep ... Beep ... Beep" of Sputnik as it or­ Umversity Press, 1974; Ne~son Manfred Blake, Land into Water-Water into Land: A His­ bited the earth on October 4, 1957, sent political tOiy ofWater ';!anagement 11! Florida, Tallahassee: University Presses of Florida, 1980; and waves crashing against the coast of Brevard County Laura Szabo, The W~ter War, ~1961-1974)" Seminar paper, 1992. Paper 014, Florida His­ T tory Rese.arch CollectiOn, Special Collections and Archives, Nelson Poynter Memorial Li­ and across the United States with the same intensity as the hur­ brary, Umversity of South Florida, St. Petersburg. ricanes that regularly pound the Florida beaches. Repercussions of the Sputnik launch included the redirection of national civil and military policies toward space and a metamorphosis of Brevard County, Florida, from the "Mosquito Coast" to the "Space Coast." i. The U. S. space program would have a great impact on the I i county closest to the epicenter of space activity at Cape Canaveral. Its effects-the economic impact and the demand on public services in particular-spread throughout the rest of the state. The Space Race The Space Race began not just for international prestige or technological superiority. It was a deadly serious weapons com­ petition between the two superpowers who emerged from the international restructuring of World War II. Impressed with the success of the German V-1 and V-2 rockets against England during the war, Congress in 1949 authorized the establishment and operation of a missile range starting from Cape Canaveral and extending beyond Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. Canaveral was chosen for its isolated location, proximity to the Banana River Naval Air Station (NAS), and favorable overwater missile flight paths. 1 Two US Army rockets-Bumper 8 and Bumper ?-inaugurated flights from the cape in July of that year. Testing on the range in the early 1950s concentrated on military weaponry, including