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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.

Folklife Council Meetings (March 29-29, 2007)
  • March 2007 Schedule of Meeting Activities (.pdf)
  • March 2007 Meeting Agenda (.pdf)

  • Folklife Council Meetings (2006)
  • March 2006 Schedule of Meeting Activities (.pdf)
  • March 2006 Meeting Agenda (.pdf)
  • March 2006 Meeting Minutes (.pdf)
  • December 2006 Meeting Minutes (.pdf)

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    Florida Folklife Council Members


    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
    Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
    University of Central Florida
    Orlando, Florida 32816-1990

    Term: 1/1/02 to 12/31/09
    Reappointed by Secretary Hood

    José B. Fernández is Pegasus Professor of History and Foreign Languages and Associate 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 current President of the Florida Historical Society. He received his Ph.D. in Spanish from Florida State University.


    Dr. Annette B. Fromm
    Manager, Charles Deering Estate at Cutler
    Miami-Dade Parks & Recreation
    16701 SW 72nd Avenue
    Miami, FL 33157

    Term: 1/1/05 to 12/31/08
    Annette B. Fromm is Manager of the Deering Estate at Cutler, in Miami. Dr. Fromm, a folklorist and museum specialist, has over twenty-five 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.


    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
    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
    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
    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.