He earned top prize for teaching about Black history in Florida, including lynchings
It seems fitting, that as many of us were remembering the 101 anniversary of the Rosewood Massacre, Marvin Dunn was being honored for his work as a noted expert of Florida history.
It was in the first week of January 1923 when white mobs in the tiny lumber town just southwest of Gainesville murdered most of the Blacks and burned down early every Black-own house. Indeed, no Black property was spared in the small Black community, not even the Black school, church or its Masonic Lodge.
It all happened because of the false allegations that Jesse Hunter, a Black man, had brutally raped a white woman, Fannie Lee Taylor, on New Year’s Day.
One newspaper headline described the event like this: “WHITES GATHER FOR MILES TO SLAY NEGROES”. Another newspaper story showed a picture of whites surveying the still smoldering fires of burned property and human lives, a week after the massacre.
Years later, in 1994, then Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles signed a $2.1-million claims bill that provided $150,000 to each of the nine still living Rosewood survivors.
Even so, the Rosewood Massacre was mostly spoken of in hushed tones, or not at all, until Dunn’s recent work in the area, which has shed new light on the massacre. Dunn has even brought property in Rosewood, where he plans to establish a memorial park to honor those who were murdered there more than a century ago.
In addition, Dunn has organized Teach the Truth tours, where he takes high school and college students, teachers and other interested citizens to Rosewood and other Florida sites where Blacks were lynched.
The author of several books on Black history in Florida, Dunn is professor emeritus at Florida International University. In 2020, after a Minneapolis policeman murdered George Floyd, Dunn founded the Miami Center for Racial Justice. He started his Teach the Truth tours in 2023. Dunn’s work has been profiled in the Miami Herald, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Mother Jones.
READ MORE: ‘We need to hear it.’ This tour explores Florida’s horrific history of racial violence
The American Historical Association is the oldest association of historians in the country. Dunn is the inaugural recipient of the organization’s Tikkun Olam Prize for Promoting Public Historical Literacy. He was awarded the prize at the organization’s 137th meeting in San Francisco earlier this month.
Tikkun Olam represents a concept in Judaism that refers to action intended to improve the world. In modern Jewish circles, it has become synonymous with social action in the pursuit of social justice. The prize honors “individuals whose work has promoted literacy in public culture, with the abiding hope that such work will indeed help to repair the world.”
The AHA, which promotes historical work and the importance of historical thinking in public life, was incorporated by Congress in 1889. Today, it has more than 11,000 members.
Tikkun Olam prize winners will have made a significant contribution to historical literacy in American public culture, “with an emphasis on history education [broadly construed] beyond the academy,” the historical association noted.
Grandmother book
Congratulations to Harriett Blackshear-Cowins, whose book, “Grandmothers Are Sooo Special: A Children’s Book for All Ages” was recently published.
Blackshear-Cowins is a member of a family of authors. All are members of The Ralph Hogges and Benjamin Cowins Writers Group of South Florida, which mentors beginning and emerging writers of color. Hogges and Cowins were administrators at Florida International University, Florida Memorial University and Nova Southeastern University.
A former kindergarten teacher and entrepreneur, Blackshear-Cowins attended Miami Dade College, Biscayne College and Florida International University. She and her husband Ben are the co-authors of “The Cowins History and Heritage” and “Blessed and Too Smart to Fail.”
The Cowins’ grandchildren, Kyrie Samuel and Klarke Cowins, are also published authors. Kyrie wrote “Kyrie Loves Granma Soooo Much”, and Klarke is the author of “Klarke’s Little Blue Duckie: She’s Smart, Fun and Lovable Too.”
Their books can be purchased at cobethbooks.com.
Klezmer concert
Lovers of authentic Klezmer, Yiddish and other Jewish music will be happy to know that cantors Zevy Steiger and Aryeh Leib Hurwitz will appear in a Grand Klezmer Concert with the Miami Klezmer Band at 2 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Julius Litman Performing Arts Theater at 1701 NE 19th Ave. in North Miami Beach.
The musical event is being presented by United Jewish Generations, a Chabad organization with the mission of enhancing the quality of life for Jewish senior citizens.
“We want everyone to be able to enjoy this beautiful music with the highest caliber musicians and cantors. We are therefore providing the most incredible entertainment, while offering tickets at a price that everyone can afford,” said Rabbi Menachem Smith, director of United Jewish Generations.
Tickets are $10, $15, $20, $25, $36, $50 and $100 and can be purchased online at: www.MiamiKlezmer.com, or in North Miami Beach/Aventura at Aspaclaria Judaica, 18240 W. Dixie Highway, Aventura, from 10 a. m. to 2 p.m. Tickets may also be purchased in Miami Beach at Torah Treasures, 524 Arthur Godfrey Road.. Persons who need transportation, or help in purchasing tickets should call 954-458-6000. For more information please email: admin@unitedjewishgenerations.com.
This column was corrected to say that Rosewood is southwest of Gainesville. An earlier version incorrectly stated it was north.
