Dates

• Existence: 1916-2011

Biography

Writer and political activist Stetson Kennedy was born in Florida in 1916. He graduated from Lee High School and attended the University of Florida. One of his first jobs after college was as the state editor for the WPA Florida Writers Project. In 1941, Kennedy published his first book, Palmetto County. In the 1940s he infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan, out of which came his book Southern Exposure. During World War II, he was director of intelligence for the Anti-Nazi League. He was active in pre- and post-war peace movements and was a delegate to the World Peace Conference. In 1950, Stetson Kennedy ran for the U.S. Senate from Florida as an Independent. He was endorsed by the Progressive Voters League but received only 914 votes. Kennedy has worked as a newspaper writer and columnist for papers such as the New York Times and the New York Post. Most of his papers are deposited at the Southern Labor Archives at Georgia State University. Kennedy died August 27, 2011.

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