How Woody Guthrie and Billy Bragg Introduced Me to Stetson Kennedy
Stetson Kennedy in his office on the second floor of his home, Beluthahatcheehe, in Fruit Cove, Florida, south of Jacksonville. This portrait of Stetson is in the permanent collection of the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Photo © Mark Petty 2006
Text © Mark Petty 2024
The year is 2006. I am working on a solo exhibit entitled Wipe Your Feet, Please. As a photographer I’m allowed access into the private lives of my subjects. Therefore, I must always wipe my feet before entering. The relevance of that title soon becomes very apparent.
While working diligently on the exhibit I am listening to a CD entitled Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II, comprised of never-before-heard lyrics by Woody Guthrie set to new music by British singer/political activist Billy Bragg and the band Wilco. They are singing about a guy I’ve never heard of, Stetson Kennedy, and Woody Guthrie is writing in Stetson’s name on his ballot for president of the United States.
Who the hell is Stetson Kennedy?
Reading Wikipedia I learn Stetson is a native Floridian, born in Jacksonville in 1916, and he’s alive and well as he approaches his 90th birthday. I learn he’s an advocate for social justice and that he infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s to expose its secrets, leading to revocation of its corporate charter in Georgia. He opposed the Jim Crow laws, he was a good friend of Woody Guthrie’s, and he participated in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. It is said that Stetson cares about everything.
Being a big fan of Woody Guthrie, I’m very intrigued about Kennedy. The Wikipedia article references his webpage. I visit it. I send him an email about me being from Oklahoma, my love of Woody Guthrie’s music, and about my upcoming exhibit. I’m shocked at how quickly he responds. Within days I am knocking on his door at his beloved home, Beluthahatchee, in Fruit Cove, FL, a five-hour drive from my home. According to Stetson the word Beluthahatchee describes an almost mythical Florida version of Shangri-La where unpleasant things are forgotten and/or forgiven.
Kennedy is busy with legal matters, yet he’s finding time for me to photograph him. He graciously gives me a tour of his home, including his framed letters from Guthrie, on which Woody has drawn images in his very distinctive style.
Suddenly I am alone, upstairs, in his private office, having suggested I can set up my 4” x 5” view camera and strobes there while he continues working on his legal matters downstairs. Am I sweating because it is so hot up here, or because everything is happening so quickly? One day I’ve never heard of this guy and a few days later I’m alone in Stetson’s private office.
Once I’ve set up my camera and strobes, he immediately stops what he is doing downstairs and sits for his portrait. He’s relaxed and affable in conversation, but once he takes his seat for the portrait his demeanor changes somewhat. He’s earnest about how he will be portrayed. I chose the location and the lighting so he gets to decide his demeanor. I want to see the man himself, or his version of himself, not a version I create by getting him to react to something I say or do during the session. When I think we’re done he suggests we take more portraits on his back deck, overlooking Lake Beluthahatchee. If he has more time, so do I. I am honored.
Stetson dies August 27, 2011 but his Stetson Kennedy Foundation lives on, fighting for social justice. His beloved Beluthahatcheehe is now Beluthahatchee Park, and is doubly-designated a national literary landmark: once for the music Woody Guthrie wrote while staying there with Stetson, and again for the books Stetson wrote while living there. The public is allowed on the first floor of Stetson’s former home, but is not allowed upstairs in his former office where we took his portrait. I’m glad I wiped my feet before going up there.
His ashes were scattered on Beluthahatchee Lake.
P.S. If you want a list of every book title on Stetson’s bookshelves in this portrait I can supply you with it. I was able to read all of them off of the 30” x 40” print I made. Gotta love the detail in large format negatives.