The Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (FLIC)
During the civil rights era, members of the black community were subject to increased scrutiny. For example, Collins sent correspondence to Campbell concerning FAMU faculty involved in the bus boycott (below). Attached is a survey from a FAMU professor, Emmett W. Bashful, to members of the Florida State Teachers Association (a black teacher's union) on the topic of registration and voting.
Letter from Governor LeRoy Collins to President Doak Campbell, warning of rumors surrounding FAMU faculty involved in the bus boycott. (Florida State University Heritage & University Archives, HUA 2018-062, Florida State University Office of the President: Doak Campbell Administrative Files, 1941-1957. Folder 30, item 9).
In 1956 state lawmakers created the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (FLIC). The committee, headed by former Governor Charley Johns, was a product of the infamous “Pork Chop Gang,” a band of twenty, conservative lawmakers who dominated the state legislature as a result of chronic malapportionment. Its members believed that integration was a communist plot designed to undermine U.S. democracy.
The Board of Control and university administrators worked closely with the FLIC. Notice below, on page 11 of the FLIC's report, the Committee’s own words: “It should be noted, and indeed stressed, that the Committee’s activities were carried out with the full knowledge and excellent cooperation of the Board of Control and Council of Presidents of the university system.”
Report of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee. 1965.
The FLIC called President Campbell to testify before the committee in relation to the John Boardman incident and to bring information about other students involved in civil rights activities.
Subpoena for Doak S. Campbell (inside). January 30, 1957. (Florida State University Heritage & University Archives, HUA 2018-062, Florida State University Office of the President: Doak Campbell Administrative Files, 1941-1957. Box 20, folder 41, item 15).
Subpoena for Doak S. Campbell (outside). January 30, 1957. (Florida State University Heritage & University Archives, HUA 2018-062, Florida State University Office of the President: Doak Campbell Administrative Files, 1941-1957. Box 20, folder 41, item 15).
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the FLIC targeted and harassed civil rights activists and integration supporters in Tallahassee and throughout Florida. However, once it became clear that integration could not be stopped, the FLIC turned its attention towards gay and lesbian teachers. Those suspected of homosexual activity were pulled from classrooms, detained, and interrogated. The committee drove dozens of students and faculty out of state universities and public schools. Many careers were destroyed and some victims committed suicide.
The Board of Control adopted some of the FLIC's attitudes in their employment screening policies. The document below was distributed during a meeting of FSU deans and instructs them to monitor faculty and students for "antisocial or immoral behavior."
Florida Board of Control. December 9, 1961. Policy on morals and influences. Florida State University Council of Deans Minutes (00-MSS 2007-017, box 2, folder 2).
