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Civil Liberties Pioneer, Florence Morgenroth While living in Miami in the mid-60s she completed her master's degree at the University of Miami. She wrote her thesis under the direction of Dr. Charlton Tebeau, the Dean of Florida historians. Her thesis, " Organization and activities of the ACLU of Miami 1955 to 1966" chronicles the developments of the ACLU in Miami and Florida during its formative decade. Prompted by the anti-communist investigative hearings held by the House un-American activities committee in Miami in December 1954, and by a subsequent investigation led by state attorney, Gary Brautigam a courageous group of South Florida civil libertarians organized the first ACLU branch in Florida in 1955. Utilizing archival research in ACLU records, and a series of in-depth interviews with Florida ACLU Pioneers such as Howard Dixon, and Tobias Simon, Florence painstakingly reconstructed the struggle that eventually led to the creation of the Florida affiliate of ACLU in 1965. As an associate professor at the University in the 70’s she started the first domestic Violence Task Force. She and her husband, Jerry remained active in the defense of our liberties throughout their lives. In retirement, they contributed in substantial ways to such organizations as the Humanist Society, NOW, and Americans United for Separation for Church and State. She is survived by Jerry and their son, Robert. We are all indebted to Flo for her many contributions to civil libertarian causes. She died August 24th 2006. Raymond Arsenault |