In the 1700s, as Florida’s Indigenous tribes were displaced, the forebears of the Miccosukee and Seminole descended along the southwestern Gulf Coast. They soon began working with Hispanic and Indigenous fishermen from various Spanish colonies, who had seasonal operations along the barrier islands.

2023  Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Award Winner

Growing up, Alonzo Felder heard just a few stories about his great-grandfather A.S.J. Allen. In this book the author shares his process, providing guidance to others seeking to discover the stories of their ancestors. The Rev. A.S.J. Allen was a respected African American community leader in Alachua County, Florida. In 1904, he was killed by a white neighbor over a property border dispute. In the Jim Crow era, the white neighbor faced no consequences for his actions.

2022 Samuel Proctor Award Winner

John Wayne Mixson served as a Florida state representative, Florida lieutenant governor, and briefly as the 39th governor of Florida. The results of his work while filling these roles continue to positively impact the state of Florida and its citizens.

Author Sid Riley was a political columnist, managing editor, and part owner of The Jackson County Times newspaper. For this book, Riley conducted extensive oral history interviews with John Wayne Mixson, and his wife Margie Mixson.

This book is easy and interesting reading. It presents the life and legacy of the late Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune holistically and concludes with testimonies from living witnesses. The author narrates Dr. Bethune's early years and documents how developments in those years influenced her later accomplishments. Permeating Dr. Bethune's spectacular career is a philosophy based on deep religious convictions and held that work was honorable, no matter how menial the task. - Dr. Oswald P. Bronson President of Bethune-Cookman College, July 19, 2004

What We Have Endured tells the story of the Seminole Wars through the eyes of Aheedja, a Seminole woman who suffers through nearly a half-century of brutal warfare, forced displacement, and painful deprivation. Determined to remain in the land of their birth, she and her people struggle against the unforgiving Florida climate and the overwhelming military might of the United States government. Written by noted Seminole War historians and a senior tribal member, What We Have Endured faithfully follows the history of America's longest and costliest war against a Native American nation. Although Aheedja is a fictional character, the sufferings depicted are typical of what many Seminole people experienced at the hands of a nation determined to drive them from their homes and destroy their way of life.

2013 Samuel Proctor Award Winner

Lawton Chiles was one of the most inspirational and influential politicians to come from Florida. His unique campaign style and passion for improving people.s lives established a legacy that deserves recognition today. John Dos Passos Coggin conducted more than one hundred interviews with the friends, family, and co-workers of Lawton Chiles to create this definitive biography. Coggin.s insightful writing based on extensive research illuminates both the political career and personal life of the fascinating Lawton Chiles. The Florida Historical Society Press is proud to publish this important work.

2008 CHARLTON TEBEAU BOOK AWARD WINNER

“In this exciting book—part political history, part travelogue—Dorothy Smiljanich sheds light on 1960s Florida with her vivid portrayal of one of Florida’s most colorful political figures, Scott Kelly. Mayor of Lakeland at 28 and legislative power broker in his 30s, Kelly strode a wide path in the swirling political cauldron of 1960s Florida. Kelly twice came within an eyelash of being governor. This vivid portrayal of Kelly’s life begins in the Old Florida of tobacco and turpentine, and concludes with the New Florida of huge housing developments and super expressways, a Florida Kelly helped create.”
James M. Denham, Professor of History, Florida Southern College

River Road Stories is a little masterpiece of story telling. Mary Eschbach, a Rockledge resident, captures life along the Indian River as only a resident can. What a wonderful way to celebrate a way of life that has passed us all by! --Patrick Smith, author of A Land Remembered

There are some authors and some books that you start to read with interest and finish with envy. River Road Stories is such a book. Packed in a few pages, Stories manages to describe in great detail the daily humdrum and occasional excitement of a young girl's life along the Indian River Lagoon. At the same time, River Road Stories is a song of praise for a lifestyle that is largely gone, but which exists forever in the mind of the author. Once you read River Road Stories, you'll become part of the past. --Nick Wynne, PhD, The Florida Historical Society

In 1982, a backhoe operator working at what would become the new Windover Farms housing development in Titusville, Florida, uncovered a human skull. The bones of several other individuals soon emerged from the peat bog. It would be determined that the human remains uncovered at Windover were between 7,000 and 8,000 years old, making them 3,200 years older than King Tutankhamen and 2,000 years older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt. This was just the beginning of an archaeological adventure that continues today.

This book provides a look into the history of Leon County and its biggest city, Tallahassee, the capital of the State of Florida.

2011 Stetson Kennedy Award Winner

Dr. Winsboro's works bring into focus one of the most disturbing yet vital issues in Florida history. To get an idea of the breadth and dimension of the race problem in Florida's complex and long history, one needs only to read this collection of important essays and accompanying analysis by Dr. Winsboro. From this collection, the reader will find an amazing transformation in attitudes and academic research of this issue. For this wide and fresh perspective, we must give a hearty thanks to Dr. Winsboro and the Florida Historical Society Press. -Dr. Joe Knetsch, Historian and Author, Tallahassee, Florida

Poetry from this collection has been published in anthologies and journals, read at the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Annual Conference and Florida Literary Arts Coalition Conferences, recognized at the Florida Folk Festival, and recorded for the Florida State Historical Archives.

2012 Samuel Proctor Award Winner

"In the writings of Stetson Kennedy, education and social action are constantly joined. Generations of human rights advocates have used Stetson's investigative reporting and research to improve the conditions of agricultural workers, women, Latinos, and many others. Stetson Kennedy's pursuit of honesty, social equality, and freedom was unparalleled. He told the stories of America's forgotten people."
Dr. Paul Ortiz, Director Samuel Proctor Oral History Program University of Florida