Book Title: African Americans in the Making of Alachua County: Past, Present, and the Future
Edited by Jacob U'Mofe Gordon
Book Description: African Americans in the Making of Alachua County explores the central role of African and African American people in shaping Alachua County and Florida, from Native American history and European colonization through slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights era. Drawing on scholarship from the Alachua County Bicentennial Symposium, the book blends historical research, community memory, and calls for truth, reconciliation, and a more just future.
Contents
Book Information
Book Description
Discover the untold stories and enduring legacy of Africans and African Americans in shaping Alachua County and Florida in this powerful new book. Rooted in the groundbreaking Alachua County Bicentennial Symposium—held December 7, 2024, at the Matheson History Museum—this volume brings together compelling scholarship, community memory, and a vision for the future.
Produced by the African & African American Historical Society, Inc. in collaboration with the Alachua County Commission, the book opens with a sweeping introduction that synthesizes the most current research on Native American, European, and African American history in the region. Twelve dynamic chapters follow, tracing a journey from Native American societies through European colonization, free African explorers, enslavement of Africans, the rise of the plantation system, and the long struggle for freedom—from the Civil War and Reconstruction to Jim Crow, and the Human and Civil Rights Movement for desegregation and equity. Expert authors analyze contributions and conditions in education, public health, housing, employment, and political action.
This is not just a look back—it’s a call to action. Through honest reflection on past injustices and present realities, the book asks: Where do we go from here? With insight into initiatives like the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project and Truth and Reconciliation efforts, it offers hope and challenge in equal measure.
African Americans in the Making of Alachua County is more than a historical account—it’s a tribute, a reckoning, and a challenge to build a better, more just future for all.
License
African Americans in the Making of Alachua County: Past, Present, and the Future Copyright © 2026 by Jacob U'Mofe Gordon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Subject
History of the Americas
Metadata
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African Americans in the Making of Alachua County: Past, Present, and the Future Copyright © 2026 by Jacob U'Mofe Gordon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Except where otherwise noted, this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. You are free to copy, distribute, and transmit this work for noncommercial purposes if you credit the authors and the LibraryPress@UF. The front cover artwork was created using generative AI tools, modified by the designer, and is excluded from this license, as purely machine-generated elements lack copyright protection under applicable law.