Lecture at FSC in Lakeland will cover book on Spanish influence on Florida's formation

Kevin Kokomoor, a professor at Coastal Carolina University, will speak Thursday in the Florida Lecture Series at Florida Southern College. Kokomoor will discuss his book, “La Florida: Catholics, Conquistadors, and Other American Origin Stories.”

The lecture, presented by FSC’s Center for Florida History, begins at 7 p.m. in Branscomb Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

A Florida native, Kokomoor holds a master’s degree from the University of South Florida and a doctorate from Florida State University. He teaches early American history at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.

In “La Florida,” Kokomoor explores a Spanish thread to early American history that is unfamiliar or even unknown to most Americans, FSC said in a news release. He argues that it was Spanish influence, and not English, which drove America’s early history.

“Kevin’s exploration of the Spanish thread to early American history will be interesting and provocative,” James M. Denham, professor of history and director of the Lawton Chiles Center for Florida History, said in the release. “Like all good history it complicates and sometimes challenges how Americans view their past. And as usual Florida is at the center of that process.”

For more information, contact Isabelle Cyr at 863-680-3001.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: FSC lecture will cover Spanish influence on Florida's formation