David Nolan is an American author,
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
activist, and historian.
Biography
Nolan was born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
in 1946, the son of journalist Joseph T. Nolan and his artist wife Virginia.
He attended public schools in
Bayside, New York
Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meado ...
and
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...
, studied at the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
, and was active in the
American Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
of the 1960s.
Since 1977 he has made his home in
St. Augustine, Florida, known as the "nation's oldest city." From 1978-1980 he worked on the first official survey of old buildings in the Ancient City.
His first book, ''Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida,'' dealing with the booms and busts in the state's colorful real estate history, was published by
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City a ...
in 1984, and he received the annual author's award from the Council for Florida Libraries.
He was a contributor to a literary tour guide of the state called ''The Book Lover's Guide to Florida'' that was published by Pineapple Press in 1992.
In 1995 he collaborated with artist Jean Ellen Fitzpatrick and photographer Ken Barrett to produce ''The Houses of St. Augustine'', which has become the bestselling book about the Ancient City and its historic buildings.
He was a founder in 2002 of ACCORD (an acronym for "Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations"), a group designed to honor the participants in the
St. Augustine movement during the Civil Rights Movement. Demonstrations in
St. Augustine in 1963 and 1964 led by Dr.
Robert Hayling and Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
resulted in the passage of the landmark
Civil Rights Act of 1964, one of the two great legislative accomplishments of the movement. ACCORD has launched a permanently marked Freedom Trail of historic sites of the civil rights movement that has gained international publicity. On July 2, 2014--the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964--ACCORD opened the first civil rights museum in Florida, at 79 Bridge Street in St. Augustine, the former dental office of Dr.
Robert Hayling.
During
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...
in 2009, Nolan received the Governor's Points of Light Award for outstanding community service.
St. Augustine Record, March 6, 2009 Governor salutes St. Augustine historian, accessed October 2, 2009
/ref>
On July 2, 2009, the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he received the President's Volunteer Service Award from Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
.
He has served as president of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953)
accessed December 8, 2014. was an Society and trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...
of the Fort Mose
Fort Mose Historic State Park (originally known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, and later Fort Mose; alternatively, Fort Moosa or Fort Mossa), is a former Spanish fort in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1738, the governor of Spanish Florida, M ...
Historical Society.
He is a lecturer on historic, architectural, and literary subjects.
Works
* Nolan, David, ''Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida,'', New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984,
* Nolan, David, with paintings by Jean Ellen Fitzpatrick and photographs by Ken Barrett, Jr., ''The Houses of St. Augustine'', Sarasota: Pineapple Press, 1995,
*Summary Information
Title: David Nolan Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1960-1987
Creator:
Nolan, David, 1946-
Call Number: Mss 773; PH 3905; PH 3906
Quantity: 2.4 c.f. (6 archives boxes) and 104 photographs
Repository:
Wisconsin Historical Society, Library-Archives Division
References
External links
*http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/75102
*http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20463868/ns/travel-destination_travel/t/st-augustine-marking-civil-right-sites/
*https://www.staugustine.com/news/20181230/10-who-make-difference-called-national-treasure-david-nolan-helped-shine-light-on-citys-black-history
*https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/12/16/american-slavery-traces-roots-st-augustine-florida-not-jamestown/4205417002/
*https://digital.stpetersburg.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=forum_magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, David
1946 births
Living people
People from Bayside, Queens
University of Virginia alumni
People from Cambridge, Massachusetts
American male writers