Creator: Kennedy, Stetson.
Collection number: 4193
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Abstract: Stetson Kennedy was employed in the 1930s by the Florida office of the Federal Writers’ Project as a folklorist. He went on to write many articles and books on folklore and on social problems in the South. Correspondence, 1938-1939, and other papers relating to the Florida office of the Federal Writers’ Project, including letters exchanged by staff members Roland Phillips and Maxwell Hunter in Washington, D.C., and director Carita Doggett Corse, while the former were editing the state guide, specifically downplaying some of the more controversial aspects of race relations. The letters give insight into the operation of the Project and into the relationship between the state and national offices. Also included are thirty-three life histories and narratives generated by the project, all pertaining to Florida, four of which concern Mulberry Grove Plantation. In addition, there is scattered material (correspondence and writings), 1938-1945, relating to Stetson Kennedy’s work for the Project and his later career; and a folder of miscellaneous material, 1938-1978, relating to African American folklorist Zora Neale Hurston.
Repository: Southern Historical Collection
Collection Highlights: Folders 1 thru 3 contain correspondence from the Federal Writers Project in Florida, including discussions of some of those editing the guide downplaying controversial aspects of race relations. Folder 12 contains various information relating to novelist & folklorist Zora Neale Hurston.