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HASTINGS — Dr. Michael Butler will explore the complex history of Confederate monuments in a free public lecture on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, at 6:30 pm in the lower level of the Daugherty Center for Student Engagement (716 N. Turner Avenue) at Hastings College.
The talk, titled “The Long Lost Cause: St. Augustine’s Confederate Monument and the Consequences of Historical Dishonesty,” marks the inaugural presentation for the Doerr Center for Civic Engagement.
Butler, a Flagler College professor specializing in Southern Cultural history, has been at the forefront of discussions surrounding Confederate memorials. His research reveals these monuments are more than simple remembrances, but deliberate attempts to reshape historical narratives about the Civil War and Reconstruction era.
Drawing from his extensive work in St. Augustine, Florida, Butler will discuss how Confederate monuments were strategically placed and maintained to communicate political messages about racial hierarchy and resistance to social change.
The lecture is free and open to the public, offering an opportunity for community members to engage with a nuanced historical perspective on a contentious national issue.
The Doerr Center for Civic Engagement, established through a generous donation from Karen and Roger Doerr, aims to foster critical thinking and community dialogue about important social topics.
While he is on campus, Butler will meet with students in a U.S. history class and host a faculty roundtable discussion on professional development.
Butler will also speak on Confederate monuments to members and guests of the Hastings Kiwanis Club during its noon meeting on February 6 at the YWCA in Hastings.
About Butler
Dr. J. Michael Butler is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of History at Flagler College, where he has taught since 2008. His work has appeared in many leading peer-reviewed academic publications, such as American Studies, the Journal of Southern History, Southern Cultures and, most recently, The Journal of African American History.
His book Beyond Integration: The Black Freedom Struggle in Escambia County, Florida, 1960-1980 won a 2017 Florida Book Award in nonfiction. Butler, who received his PhD in History from the University of Mississippi, specializes in southern cultural history with an emphasis on the Black freedom struggle, teaches a number of classes on the topics, and has spoken to dozens of teachers and community groups about the civil rights movement and African American history.
His work has been featured by PBS, NPR, C-Span, NBC News.com, Salon.com, Vanity Fair magazine, The Dan LeBatard Show and an Emmy-winning First Coast News documentary, among others. In 2024, the Organization of American Historians named Butler a “Distinguished Lecturer,” which he considers a career highlight.
