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Viewing the Corliss Engine, Then Displays of Japanese, Chinese, and Native American Cultures Were Meant As Further Affirmation of White American Exceptionalism

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Viewing the Corliss Engine, Then Displays of Japanese, Chinese, and Native American Cultures Were Meant As Further Affirmation of White American Exceptionalism Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2017 The American Revolution Bicentennial in Florida State Authority, Grassroots Organizing, and the Creation of Memory and Patriotic Comemmoration Breaden James Belcher Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL IN FLORIDA STATE AUTHORITY, GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING, AND THE CREATION OF MEMORY AND PATRIOTIC COMEMMORATION By Breaden James Belcher A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2017 Breaden James Belcher defended this thesis on March 21, 2017. The members of the supervisory committee were: Jennifer Koslow Professor Directing Thesis Andrew Frank Committee Member Katherine Mooney Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... vii 1. INTRODUCTION: THE BEGINNING OF A SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION ..........1 The Bicentennial in Florida .........................................................................................................1 Why Florida? ...............................................................................................................................7 Historical Antecedents ..............................................................................................................10 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................18 2. FLORIDA PREPARES FOR THE BICENTENNIAL..............................................................20 Interama and Third Century U.S.A. ..........................................................................................20 Florida in a National Context ....................................................................................................23 The Vision of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Florida ........................25 Action ’76 ...............................................................................................................................28 Race and the Bicentennial .........................................................................................................32 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................38 3. CONFLICTING VOICES .........................................................................................................38 The ARBCF and Grassroots Participation ................................................................................38 Crises and Commemoration ......................................................................................................46 Commercialized Commemoration ............................................................................................52 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................57 4. STATE SPONSORED COMMEMORATION ........................................................................59 Bicentennial Travelling Exhibit ................................................................................................60 Florida Bicentennial Trail .........................................................................................................65 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................73 5. THE BICENTENNIAL AND BEYOND .................................................................................76 Beyond 1976 .............................................................................................................................81 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................88 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................92 Biographical Sketch .......................................................................................................................95 iii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Artist’s rendering of the International area of the Interama Complex. Source: The State Archives of Florida. Tallahassee, Florida ..............................................................................20 2. 1964 artist’s rendering of the Tower of Freedom, which was to be the focal point of the Interama Complex. Source: The State Archives of Florida. Tallahassee, Florida ................22 3. A Fourth of July advertisement in the Florida Times Union. Source: Florida Times Union (Jacksonville, Florida) ...........................................................................................................52 4. A Fourth of July advertisement in the Bradford County Telegraph. Source: The University of Florida Digital Collection .................................................................................................55 5. The American Freedom Train crossing Thomas Creek in Duval County, Florida, in 1976. Source: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory .............................................................63 6. Dr. Samuel Proctor (center) discusses plans for the bicentennial in front of the Brokaw- McDougall House in Tallahassee. Dr. Proctor was a prominent historian in Florida, and an ardent supporter of history education. Source: State Archives of Florida. Florida Memory .................................................................................................................................64 7. A Florida Bicentennial Trail marker at Fort Clinch State Park in Fernandina Beach, Florida. The emblem of the ARBCF can be seen on its face. Source: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. ....................................................................................................................67 8. The Cazenave House, also known as the Tivoli High House, in Pensacola. This photograph was taken in 1976, shortly after reconstruction. A Florida Bicentennial Trail Marker can be seen in front. Source: Holland, Karl E., 1919-1993. Source: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. ....................................................................................................................68 9. The cover of the Florida Bicentennial Trail Guide. Source: Florida A&M University Digital Resource Center, Florida Heritage Collection. http://famu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/famu%3A7463#page/Main+1/mode/2up ........72 10. Front page headline of the Florida Times Union on July 4, 1976. Source: State Archives of Florida. Tallahassee, Florida .................................................................................................77 11. Visitors at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day, 2013. Source: Nathan King for the National Parks Service ...............................................................................................81 12. “Spirit of Freedom" sculpture at the African American Civil War Memorial. Sculpture by Ed Hamilton. Source: National Parks Service. https://www.nps.gov/afam/learn/photosmultimedia/index.htm ............................................83 iv 13. An official poster for Viva Florida: 500. Depicts a Native American woman, Spanish Conquistador, with a space shuttle launching from the Kennedy Space Center in the background. Source: The National Endowment for the Humanities. https://www.neh.gov/divisions/fedstate/featured-project/viva-florida-celebrating-500-years- florida-history ....................................................................................................................... 86 14. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain visit Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. Source: Naples Daily News. ..................................................................................................87 v ABSTRACT The American Revolution Bicentennial in Florida: State Authority, Grassroots Organizing, and the Creation of Memory and Patriotic Commemoration examines the ways in which the national bicentennial was celebrated in Florida. Using a cultural historical approach, this thesis looks at how government officials, politicians, and private citizens constructed patriotic historical narratives during a time of heightened social and political divisiveness. Doing so illuminates the ways in which Floridians adapted consensus narratives of history to contemporary political needs. Furthermore, this thesis examines the legacy of the national bicentennial on the practice of patriotic commemoration and remembrance in the United States today. The records of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Florida serve as the chief source of material
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