Michael V. Gannon (April 28, 1927 – April 11, 2017) was a historian, educator, priest, and war correspondent.
Early life and education
Michael Valentine Gannon was born into a military family in
Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost .
The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...
. His family moved to Florida from Washington, D.C. after the death of his father in 1939.
Gannon attended high school at
St. Joseph Academy in
St. Augustine, Florida and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from
Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He received a Ph.D in history from the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
in 1962. His dissertation was o
''Augustin Verot and the emergence of American Catholic social consciousness'' He trained for the priesthood at the American College of the
University of Louvain in
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Career
During high school and college, he worked various jobs, including radio hosting at WFOY-Radio, contributing as a sportswriter to the
St. Augustine Record, and announcing shows at
Marineland.
He was ordained as a priest in 1959 in the Diocese of St. Augustine. He served as the chaplain o
St. Augustine Catholic Church and Student Centerin Gainesville, Florida. He also served as Director of
Mission Nombre de Dios in
St. Augustine, Florida from 1962-1967. It was during his directorship that St. Augustine's 400th anniversary was celebrated and the Great Cross commemorating the founding of the mission was installed.
Gannon became a faculty member in the history and religion departments at the University of Florida in 1967, beginning a teaching career of nearly 40 years. He resigned from the priesthood in 1976 and began teaching full-time at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
. Gannon directed the Institute for Early Contact Period Studies, which conducted research into the voyages of Christopher Columbus and early interactions between Europeans and Native Americans. He served as the Assistant Dean of the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1976 to 1984, and as Associate Dean beginning in 1984. He was appointed Distinguished Service Professor of History by the University in 1992. He retired as a professor emeritus of history in 1998, but continued teaching until 2003.
Gannon was a prolific author of books and articles on American history, religion, and military history. In 1968, he was a
war correspondent in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
for the Catholic magazine ''
America'' and the National Catholic News Service.
His childhood in St. Augustine inspired a lifelong interest in Spanish colonial history, particularly in Florida. His first two books, ''Rebel Bishop'' (1964) and ''The Cross in the Sand'' (1965) explore Florida's early years of settlement. His 1990 book ''Operation Drumbeat'' discusses the history of Germany's early
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s and became a national bestseller.
Gannon served as a member and chairman of several organizations on the local, state, and national level including the
Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board from 1969 to 1997, serving as its chairman twice; from 1975 to 1980 and 1976-77. He was a member of the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
Advisory Board for Southeastern States from 1972 to 1977 and served as its chairman from 1976 to 1977. He was appointed to the
National de Soto Expedition Trail Commission by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 1992. Gannon was also a board member of
Marineland of Florida
Marineland of Florida (usually just called Marineland), one of Florida's first marine mammal parks, is billed as "the world's first oceanarium". Marineland functions as an entertainment and swim-with-the-dolphins facility, and reopened to the pu ...
and
University of Florida Historic St. Augustine, Inc., a successor to the Preservation Board.
Personal life and legacy
Gannon was well known for his study of Spanish colonial history. He received numerous awards and honors including Knight Commander of the
Order of Isabel the Catholic
The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...
, granted by
King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Citizen of the Year from the City of Gainesville in 1972, and the
Order of La Florida from the City of St. Augustine in 2007, the city's highest honor.
Gannon died on April 11, 2017. He was married to Genevieve Haugen, who survived him.
[Obituary](_blank)
gainesville.com, April 11, 2017; accessed April 17, 2017.
Selected publications
* ''Pearl Harbor Betrayed: The True Story of a Man and a Nation under Attack Hardcover''. Holt, 2001. /
*
*
* ''Florida: A Short History''. University Press of Florida, 2003. /
* ''The Cross in the Sand: The Early Catholic Church in Florida, 1513-1870''. University Press of Florida, 1965. /
* ''Secret Missions''. Harpercollins, 1994. /
* ''Rebel Bishop: Augustin Verot, Florida's Civil War Prelate''. University Press of Florida, 1997. /
References
External links
staugustine.ufl.edu
clas.ufl.edu
See interviews and recordings by Michael Gannonfrom the
Samuel Proctor Oral History Program
The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (SPOHP) is the official oral history program at the University of Florida. With over 6,500 interviews and more than 150,000 pages of transcribed material, it is one of the premier oral history programs in ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gannon, Michael (historian)
1927 births
2017 deaths
American Roman Catholics
American historians
Catholic University of America alumni
Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni
Laicized Roman Catholic priests
University of Florida alumni
University of Florida faculty