Palmetto Country

American Folkways #8

by Stetson Kennedy

Reprint of the 1942 edition. The author headed the Florida Writer's Project unit on folklore, oral history, and social ethnic studies for the Works Progress Administration. This is his wide-ranging social history of Florida and the deep South up to the eve of WWII. No bibliography. Published by Florida A&M U. Press. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Genres: American History, Folklore

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

William Stetson Kennedy (October 5, 1916 – August 27, 2011) was an American author, folklorist, and human rights activist. He is remembered for having infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, exposing its secrets to authorities and the outside world.

Reviews

[Sly Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well rounded presentation of life as it was lived in mid-twentieth century Palmetto Country. Strikingly blunt and engagingly sincere. The savagery of slavery, and the resulting racial biases against African Americans (even well beyond the era of this publication), is delivered through first hand interviews of both slaves and racists.

I wasn’t certain how I would feel reading the stark reality of words used to identify African Americans. I had to remind myself throughout the reading of this book that it was written in the 1940s (with interviews that took place well beforehand) with the intent of presenting folkways in an unbiased manner. It was shocking to read at times. However, I believe it was necessary to read it as such to receive the full impact of the message.

If one is on the fence about how the citizenry of the Palmetto Country came to perceives racism today perhaps this book will enlighten. If one believes there is no issue with racism in the Palmetto Country this book will refute that notion — particularly because it was written in the Palmetto Country in the mid-twentieth century.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book of Florida folklore and history. Even though I skipped a few parts, it is still a 5-star read

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave it 2 simply because some chapters were better than others.