Billy Townsend

Age of Barbarity: the Forgotten Fight for the Soul of Florida Billy Townsend

Marc Notes: A near civil war swept Florida and much of America in the wake of World War I and Prohibition. It pitted white versus black, Protestant versus Catholic, wet versus dry, and savagery versus civilization. Florida's conflict climaxed in an unlikely place: the small river city of Palatka. The Florida Ku Klux Klan reached the peak of its power there in 1926. And it was there that men and women of bravery and desperation dealt the Klan its most significant defeat. The multi-racial, multi-faith Florida we know today emerged from the crucible of the extraordinarily violent period between 1915 and 1930. The men and women of Palatka, Florida did far more than their share to bring it about. It's time we remembered their names.--[p. 4] of cover.; Includes bibliographical references.