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ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Lawton Chiles Center for ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ History welcomes University of ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Charlie Fanning to the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Lecture Series. On November 14, Fanning will discuss “Building an Empire of the Everglades: How Industrial Agriculture Transformed South ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s ‘River of Grass.’” The lecture will start at 7 p.m. in Branscomb Auditorium 202 on the FSC campus. The event is free and open to the public. 

In “Building an Empire of the Everglades,” Charlie Fanning will discuss the decades following World War II and how industrial growers transformed South ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s environment, workforce, and communities to build a regional agricultural hub that led the United States in sugarcane and winter vegetable production. As ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s agricultural sector grew to claim the nation’s highest concentration of corporate farms by the 1960s, exiled Cuban sugar barons rebuilt their fortunes in the Everglades. Diversified farming operations flourished in the region at the expense of the environment and impoverished farmworkers. South ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s agribusiness growth and profits relied on reengineering the Everglades, controlling farm labor, and shaping U.S. foreign policy to secure concessions and protections. 

“We are delighted to host ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Southern alum Charlie Fanning for our November program of the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Lecture Series, produced by the Lawton Chiles Center for ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ History. Charlie’s presentation on the transformation of the Everglades from the ‘River of Grass” to a regional agricultural hub during the 1960s is a story that will be of interest to students, faculty, and the general public,” noted James M. Denham, Professor of History and Director of the Lawton Chiles Center for ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ History. 

As a graduate of ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ and Georgetown University, Fanning earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2023.

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