When Stetson Kennedy ran for governor of Florida in 1952, Woody Guthrie penned his campaign song. The renowned folk singer summed up Kennedy’s firebrand nature, writing, “When I believe in something I’m the loudest yeller.”

At the age of 95, Kennedy remains one of the state’s most dynamic voices, a pioneering folklorist and tireless social activist.

In the mid-1930s, he began working for the federal writers’ project at the age of 21. There he collaborated with notable Florida folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. Together they documented countless Florida folksongs and tales. Many of these recordings are now preserved in the Library of Congress and the Florida State Archives.

Kennedy’s greatest achievement may be the attack he waged against the Ku Klux Klan. His infiltration of the Klan in Florida and subsequent writings on the subject dealt a major blow to the KKK and Jim Crow racial segregation.

Kennedy has been honored with a Florida Folk Heritage Award, induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, and a Florida Governor’s Heartland Award.

Information courtesy of the Florida Division of Historical Resources.