Dr. J. Stanley Marshall donates his new book to the Seneca Falls Library

Was Florida State Really the "Berkeley of the South" in the 1960s and 1970s?

The Tumultuous Sixties: Campus Unrest and Student Life at a Southern University by J. Stanley Marshall.

Dr. J. Stanley Marshall was a teacher and coach at Mynderse Academy from 1947 to 1952. He has recently written a book entitled, The Tumultuous Sixties: Campus Unrest and Student Life at a Southern University a copy of which he has donated to the Seneca Falls Library in honor of the Mynderse Academy Class of 1949.

Stanley Marshall went on to be president of Florida State University from 1969 to 1976, during one of the most fascinating periods in the university's history. These years were a period of conflict between the old and new, when student life at the university changed dramatically. As president, Marshall faced student and faculty activism on a variety of issues, including free speech, the Vietnam War, civil rights, the status of women, environmental concerns, labor, and the nomination of a Tallahassee judge to the U.S. Supreme Court. Beyond this, there was streaking, and famous and controversial visitors to campus, including the Jordanian King, Helen Hayes, Jane Fonda, and Abbie Hoffman. From the perspective of FSU today, it was also the beginning of the Bobby Bowden era. There can be little doubt that this was a tumultuous period in the university's history and reading this book helps to explain why Marshall became one of FSU's more controversial presidents.

The library is grateful to Dr. Marshall for the donation now available for patrons to borrow. The book has been reviewed by David Lee McMullen, Department of History, University of South Florida at St. Petersburg. Go to http://www.h-net.org/ to read more.