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Florida Folklife Council

Florida FolklifeThe Florida Folklife Council consists of seven members appointed by the Secretary of State to provide geographical, ethnic, and professional representation. During their four-year terms, Folklife Council members advise and assist the Division of Historical Resources and the Florida Folklife Program with respect to the following goals: encouragement of statewide public interest and participation in folklife; the development and promotion of Florida folklife resources; recommendations for the identification, collection, preservation, and presentation of Florida cultural heritage throughout the state; developing proposals to fund projects.

 

Florida Folklife Council Members


Dr. Larry Crook Dr. Larry Crook
Music Department & Center for World Arts
PO Box 117900
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-7900

Term: 9/25/01 to 12/31/08
Reappointed by Secretary Hood

Associate Professor Larry Crook specializes in music history and ethnomusicology at the University of Florida's School of Music, where he directs the World Music Ensembles (Jacaré Brazil and Agbedidi Africa). Dr. Crook is also Co-director of the UF Center for World Arts and is actively involved in planning artistic residencies to bring renowned international musicians and performing artists to work collaboratively on projects with faculty, students, and community members. He is an affiliate member of the Center for Latin American Studies and Center for African Studies, and holds a joint appointment in the department of Anthropology. A percussionist, he has studied with many artists from Latin America and Africa. Dr. Crook's research focuses on Brazilian music, the African Diaspora, music and identity, popular music, and music and social movements. He is co-editor of Black Brazil: Culture, Identity, and Social Mobilization and author of Brazilian Music: Northeastern Traditions and the Heartbeat of a Modern Nation.


Dr. José B. Fernandez Dr. José B. Fernandez
Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida 32816-1990

Term: 1/1/06 to 12/31/14
José B. Fernández is Pegasus Professor of History and Foreign Languages and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Central Florida. He is the author of numerous books and articles on Spanish colonial letters of the United States and Hispanic literature of the United States. He is a former Chair of the Florida Folklife Council and past President of the Florida Historical Society. Additionally, he is a Presidential appointee to the National Museum of the American Latino Commission. He received his Ph.D. in Spanish from Florida State University.


Dr. Annette B. Fromm Dr. Annette B. Fromm
Coordinator/Assistant Professor Museum Studies
The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum Florida International University
10975 SW 17th Street
Miami, FL 33199

Term: 1/1/09 to 12/31/12
Annette B. Fromm is the Coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies program at Florida International University. Dr. Fromm, a folklorist and museum specialist, has over thirty years of experience in museums and community projects in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Florida. Her work has ranged from institutions which emphasize ethnic cultural diversity to historic preservation. Dr. Fromm has published articles on immigrant-ethnic groups in America, Native Americans in museums, multicultural museums, historic preservation and community, Jews in Greece, Sephardic folklore, Greek folklore, and folk art. Fromm serves as President of the International Committee of Museums of Ethnography, an international committee of the International Council of Museums.


Chris Machen Chris Machen
2151 W. University Avenue
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32603-1748

Term: 9/1/05 to 8/31/08
A former nurse and an avid horse enthusiast, Chris Machen became the first lady of the University of Florida when her husband, Bernie, became the university's president in January 2004. Mrs. Machen was born in St. Louis, where she graduated from St. Louis University with a degree in nursing. She worked at Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital for Children in St. Louis, taught nursing at the University of Iowa, and then worked 12 years in the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's University Hospital. When Dr. Machen became dean of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in 1989, Mrs. Machen switched to pediatric home health nursing. In 1996, she left nursing to spend more time with their children. The family moved to Salt Lake City in 1998, when Dr. Machen became president of the University of Utah. Mrs. Machen serves as a board member for the Western Folklife Center and is active in health-related community activities.


Dr. Jerrilyn McGregory Dr. Jerrilyn McGregory
Department of English
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1036

Term: 8/18/03 to 8/17/07
Jerrilyn McGregory, Associate Professor of Folklore in the Department of English at Florida State University, specializes in African-American literature and folklore. She is the author of Wiregrass Country, about the folklife of the wiregrass region of north Florida, as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals. Her specific research areas include: regional folklore, African American folklore, African American literature, African Diaspora Studies, onomastics, and Boxing Day celebrations.


Timothy F. Schmand Timothy F. Schmand
Executive Director, Bayfront Park Management Trust
301 N. Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, Florida 33132

Term: 1/1/07 to 12/31/10
Mr. Schmand is the Executive Director of the Bayfront Park Management Trust, a City of Miami agency responsible for managing 61 acres of urban waterfront parkland. The facilities under his management are among the most popular special event sites serving Miami's diverse communities. Mr. Schmand is also an award winning author whose fiction has appeared in both popular and literary journals. He possesses a B.A. in Political Science from State University College of New York at Buffalo and an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College.


Dana Ste.Claire Dana Ste.Claire
National Director of Museums
Historic Tours of America, Inc.
167 San Marco Avenue
St. Augustine, FL 32084

Term: 7/1/06 to 6/30/10
Dana Ste. Claire [St. Augustine] is currently National Director of Museums for Historic Tours of America, Inc., and a consultant in heritage tourism, historic preservation, and cultural resource management. Ste.Claire directed the 10-year restoration/development of Old St. Augustine Village Museum, and is designing and developing HTA museums and facilities in Boston, San Diego, St. Augustine, Washington D.C., Key West, and Savannah. He is the Chair of the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, Chair of the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) for the City of St. Augustine, on the Board of Directors of the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, and recently served on the Board of Trustees for the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. He is a former member of several state and national boards, including the Secretary of State’s Historic Preservation Advisory Council (1992–1999) and the Heritage Tourism Council (1999–2003), and was formerly was a City Commissioner for Lake Helen, Florida.

Ste. Claire wrote Cracker: the Cracker Culture in Florida History, Borders of Paradise: A History of Florida through New World Maps, and True Natives: Florida's First People. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in anthropology/archeology and public resource management from the University of South Florida. He was a featured columnist for the Orlando Sentinel and his "Florida Crackerbarrel" episodes continue to run on PBS channels throughout the state.