Becoming Broward
Local politics, a real estate boom and Prohibition all helped create Broward County. It was a long time coming, but not so easy to carve out Broward County. The area’s…
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John Dolen
102 posts
John Dolen writes for several Fort Lauderdale area publications. Previously, he was an editor and supervisor for 27 years at the Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
The Graduate Maker
Clarence Walker fought for black students at a time when they were denied even the right to attend a full four years of high school. When educator Clarence Walker arrived…
Undefeated Sam Jones
A famous Seminole leader with a unique nickname, Sam Jones kept his promise to stay in Florida. “Sam Jones, leader of the Seminoles, fought a crucial battle against Major William…
A League of Their Own
From its beginnings, the local branch of the Junior League was led by women determined to help raise up Fort Lauderdale. I asked a few local young millennial women, do…
Countess Lauderdale’s Floranda Dreams
British aristocracy, the king of Greece and the new Monaco that almost was. “This sketch is of the charming villa planned for the King of Greece,” read the pamphlet. The…
Before the Bloodshed
William Cooley’s name is synonymous with one of the grisliest acts in local history. But there’s more to his story than the massacre. William Cooley settled on the New River…
The Barefoot Mailmen
Over the water and on the sand, South Florida’s famous early mailmen made sure the mail got to what was then still untamed subtropical frontier. In the early 1880s, if…
The Little Doctor
He wasn’t even a real doctor when he first arrived on the New River, but Tom Kennedy spent his life serving the people of Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale’s first doctor,…
Plume Bird Martyr
Guy Bradley was a poacher‑turned-gamekeeper who gave his life in defense of some of South Florida’s most colorful creatures. Popular in women’s fashion, plumes were the ivory of the turn…
When Eula Waded In
Eula Johnson fought to desegregate many Fort Lauderdale places – including the famous, sandy one. It’s been 55 years since Eula Bandy Johnson led her courageous and now legendary civil…