The Resume

(October 15, 1916-August 27, 2011)
Born in Jacksonville, Florida
Birth name was William Stetson Kennedy
Folklorist, author and civil rights activist
Founding member of the Florida Folklore Society
Infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups during the 1940s
Provided information about KKK rituals to the writers of the Superman radio series for the 16-episode 'Clan of the Fiery Cross' story arc (1946)
Wrote 'Palmetto County' (1942), 'Southern Exposure' (1946), 'The Klan Unmasked' (1954), 'The Jim Crow Guide to the USA' (1959), 'South Florida Folklife' (1994) and 'After Appomattox: How the South Won the War' (1995)

Why he might be annoying:

He said, 'I’ll leave it to the historians to decide how many times I’ve been married,' but admitted it was more than five.
He ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for governor of Florida (1952).
He embellished events in 'The Klan Unmasked.' (For example, he claimed that when he appeared as a witness at the trial of several members of the white supremacist Columbians, one of them tried to stab him in the throat -- a detail oddly missing from all newspaper accounts of the trial.)
Some of the most dramatic events in the book (such as the KKK murdering a black cab driver for having a white passenger) were actually witnessed by other undercover agents.
Even some of his defenders said he should have clarified his actual role when 'The Klan Unmasked' was republished in the 90s.

Why he might not be annoying:

During the Depression, he collected oral histories in Florida with Zora Neal Hurston.
The Library of Congress called him 'one of the pioneer folklore collectors during the first half of the 20th century.'
When he ran for governor, Woody Guthrie wrote his campaign song.
During the campaign, his pro-integration stance got his house firebombed.
He helped draft the brief used by the state of Georgia to revoke the KKK's national corporate charter (1947).
He said he had to write 'The Klan Unmasked' as a first-person thriller in order to get it published. ('I wanted to show what was happening at the time. Who gives a damn how it was written?')
Georgia Assistant Attorney General Daniel Duke said about exposing the Klan, 'Stetson didn't do it all, but he did plenty.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 38]
• Civil Rights Activists
• College Drop Outs
• I Attended University of Florida
• I Died in 2011 (Ranked: 94)
• I Died in the City I Was Born In
• I Married at Least Five Times [I Do! I Do! I Do! I Do! I Do!]
• I Married in 2006
• I Sought Political Office
• Known By a Middle Name
• Profiles 31751-32000 (Ranked: 31764)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 32 Votes: 18.75% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 101 Votes: 50.50% Annoying