"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead - Historical Fiction Book Club - Past Titles

About the Author: Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead is a highly acclaimed American author known for his diverse body of work, which includes novels, essays, and reviews. Born on November 6, 1969, in New York City, he has received numerous awards and accolades for his contributions to literature. Here is a brief biography of Colson Whitehead:

Early Life and Education:
- Colson Whitehead was born to a biracial family. His father, Arch Colson Whitehead, was a prominent figure in the business world. Colson attended the Trinity School in Manhattan and later studied at Harvard University, where he graduated in 1991.
Journalism and Early Writing:
- After completing his education, Whitehead initially pursued a career in journalism. He wrote for publications such as The Village Voice, Newsday, and The New York Times Magazine. During this period, he also began to establish himself as a fiction writer.
Debut Novel - "The Intuitionist" (1999):
- Colson Whitehead gained literary recognition with the publication of his debut novel, "The Intuitionist." The novel, blending elements of speculative fiction and detective fiction, explores themes of race, identity, and societal expectations.
Subsequent Novels:
- Whitehead continued to receive critical acclaim with novels like "John Henry Days" (2001), "Apex Hides the Hurt" (2006), and "Sag Harbor" (2009). Each novel showcased his versatility and ability to tackle a wide range of subjects.
"Zone One" (2011):
- Whitehead delved into the zombie genre with "Zone One," a novel set in a post-apocalyptic New York City. The book explores themes of trauma, survival, and the nature of humanity.
"The Underground Railroad" (2016):
- One of Whitehead's most celebrated works is "The Underground Railroad," a historical novel that reimagines the network of safe houses and routes used by African American slaves seeking freedom. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award.
"The Nickel Boys" (2019):
- Whitehead continued his success with "The Nickel Boys," a novel inspired by the real-life abuses at a reform school in Florida. The book received widespread acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, among other honors.
Literary Accolades:
- Colson Whitehead's works have received numerous awards and nominations. In addition to the Pulitzer Prizes for "The Underground Railroad" and "The Nickel Boys," he has been recognized with the National Book Award, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, among others.
Literary Themes and Style:
- Whitehead's writing often explores themes of race, identity, historical injustices, and the human condition. His novels exhibit a rich and distinctive narrative style that engages with various genres and forms.
Influential Voice:
- Beyond his fiction, Colson Whitehead is recognized for his essays, reviews, and contributions to literary and cultural discussions. His insightful commentary addresses a wide range of social and political issues.

Colson Whitehead's impactful and thought-provoking contributions to literature have established him as a prominent and influential voice in contemporary American letters.

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Synopsis

1960s Florida. Kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood Curtis is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South, one mistake is enough to destroy the future. He is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men." In reality, the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." He meets Turner, who knows that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. A decision creates repercussions that will echo down the decades.

Historical Timeline

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys was a reform school in Marianna, Florida, with a controversial and troubled history. The institution operated for more than a century, from its establishment in 1900 to its closure in 2011. The school gained notoriety due to allegations of physical and sexual abuse, as well as unmarked graves discovered on its premises. Here is an overview of the history of the Arthur G. Dozier School:

Establishment (1900):
- The school was founded as the Florida State Reform School in 1900, initially intended to provide a rehabilitative environment for juvenile offenders.
Name Changes:
- The institution underwent several name changes over the years, including the Florida School for Boys and later the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, named after Arthur G. Dozier, who served as the superintendent from 1914 to 1967.
Early Decades:
- In its early years, the school housed both juvenile offenders and children deemed "delinquent" or in need of a structured environment. The goal was to provide education and vocational training to help the boys reintegrate into society.
Allegations of Abuse:
- Over the decades, the Dozier School faced numerous allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Former students, known as the "White House Boys," claimed to have been subjected to severe corporal punishment in a building on the campus referred to as the "White House."
Investigations and Closure (2011):
- Investigations into the alleged abuses gained momentum in the early 2000s. In 2008, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) launched an investigation into the allegations. The inquiry confirmed instances of abuse and mistreatment.
- In 2011, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice announced the closure of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, citing budgetary reasons and a shift in the state's approach to juvenile justice.
Discovery of Unmarked Graves:
- Subsequent investigations revealed the presence of unmarked graves on the school's property. The exact number of graves and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the boys buried there remain subjects of controversy and ongoing research.
Apologies and Reparations:
- In 2017, the Florida Legislature issued a formal apology to the survivors of the Dozier School and their families. Efforts were also made to provide reparations and compensation to those who had suffered abuse at the institution.
Historical Reckoning:
- The history of the Arthur G. Dozier School has led to a broader societal reckoning with the treatment of juveniles in reform institutions. The revelations sparked discussions about the need for justice, accountability, and the protection of the rights of vulnerable populations.

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys stands as a dark chapter in the history of juvenile justice in Florida, raising awareness about the systemic issues related to the treatment of young individuals in such institutions. Ongoing efforts aim to uncover the full extent of the abuses and provide justice for those who suffered.

The 1960s in Florida, like much of the United States, was a decade of significant social, political, and cultural changes. Here is a brief timeline highlighting key events in Florida during the 1960s:

1960:
- January 1: Fidel Castro's Cuba establishes diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, leading to increased Cold War tensions in Florida.
1961:
- April 17-19: The failed Bay of Pigs Invasion takes place, where Cuban exiles attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. Many Cuban refugees settle in Florida following the failed invasion.
1962:
- October 22-28: The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. Florida's proximity to Cuba makes it a significant location during this crisis.
1964:
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law, marking a major milestone in the struggle for civil rights. Florida experiences changes and challenges related to desegregation.
1965:
- March 7: Civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., lead the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The civil rights movement impacts Florida, leading to changes in racial segregation policies.
1968:
- April 4: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. The news of his death sparks protests and mourning across the United States, including in Florida.
1969:
- July 16: Apollo 11, with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, is launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission successfully lands the first humans on the moon on July 20.
Late 1960s:
- The counterculture movement, characterized by anti-establishment sentiments and a focus on social change, influences Florida and other parts of the U.S. The state sees an increase in cultural and political activism.
Environmental Concerns:
- The 1960s marks the beginning of heightened awareness about environmental issues. Efforts are made to address pollution, protect natural resources, and preserve Florida's unique ecosystems.
Cultural Changes:
- Florida experiences cultural shifts, including changes in music, fashion, and lifestyle influenced by the broader cultural changes of the 1960s.
Educational Reforms:
- Efforts are made to reform education, including increased attention to desegregation and improvements in educational opportunities for all students.
Tourism and Development:
- Florida's tourism industry continues to grow, and the state experiences urban development and population increases, especially in coastal areas.

This timeline provides a snapshot of key events in Florida during the 1960s. It's important to note that the decade was a period of transition and change, with Florida being influenced by both national and international events.

Establishment (1900):
- The school was founded as the Florida State Reform School in 1900, initially intended to provide a rehabilitative environment for juvenile offenders.
Name Changes:
- The institution underwent several name changes over the years, including the Florida School for Boys and later the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, named after Arthur G. Dozier, who served as the superintendent from 1914 to 1967.
Early Decades:
- In its early years, the school housed both juvenile offenders and children deemed "delinquent" or in need of a structured environment. The goal was to provide education and vocational training to help the boys reintegrate into society.
Allegations of Abuse:
- Over the decades, the Dozier School faced numerous allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Former students, known as the "White House Boys," claimed to have been subjected to severe corporal punishment in a building on the campus referred to as the "White House."
Investigations and Closure (2011):
- Investigations into the alleged abuses gained momentum in the early 2000s. In 2008, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) launched an investigation into the allegations. The inquiry confirmed instances of abuse and mistreatment.
- In 2011, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice announced the closure of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, citing budgetary reasons and a shift in the state's approach to juvenile justice.
Discovery of Unmarked Graves:
- Subsequent investigations revealed the presence of unmarked graves on the school's property. The exact number of graves and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the boys buried there remain subjects of controversy and ongoing research.
Apologies and Reparations:
- In 2017, the Florida Legislature issued a formal apology to the survivors of the Dozier School and their families. Efforts were also made to provide reparations and compensation to those who had suffered abuse at the institution.
Historical Reckoning:
- The history of the Arthur G. Dozier School has led to a broader societal reckoning with the treatment of juveniles in reform institutions. The revelations sparked discussions about the need for justice, accountability, and the protection of the rights of vulnerable populations.

1960:
- January 1: Fidel Castro's Cuba establishes diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, leading to increased Cold War tensions in Florida.
1961:
- April 17-19: The failed Bay of Pigs Invasion takes place, where Cuban exiles attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. Many Cuban refugees settle in Florida following the failed invasion.
1962:
- October 22-28: The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. Florida's proximity to Cuba makes it a significant location during this crisis.
1964:
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law, marking a major milestone in the struggle for civil rights. Florida experiences changes and challenges related to desegregation.
1965:
- March 7: Civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr., lead the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The civil rights movement impacts Florida, leading to changes in racial segregation policies.
1968:
- April 4: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. The news of his death sparks protests and mourning across the United States, including in Florida.
1969:
- July 16: Apollo 11, with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, is launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission successfully lands the first humans on the moon on July 20.
Late 1960s:
- The counterculture movement, characterized by anti-establishment sentiments and a focus on social change, influences Florida and other parts of the U.S. The state sees an increase in cultural and political activism.
Environmental Concerns:
- The 1960s marks the beginning of heightened awareness about environmental issues. Efforts are made to address pollution, protect natural resources, and preserve Florida's unique ecosystems.
Cultural Changes:
- Florida experiences cultural shifts, including changes in music, fashion, and lifestyle influenced by the broader cultural changes of the 1960s.
Educational Reforms:
- Efforts are made to reform education, including increased attention to desegregation and improvements in educational opportunities for all students.
Tourism and Development:
- Florida's tourism industry continues to grow, and the state experiences urban development and population increases, especially in coastal areas.

Establishment (1900):
- The school was founded as the Florida State Reform School in 1900, initially intended to provide a rehabilitative environment for juvenile offenders.
Name Changes:
- The institution underwent several name changes over the years, including the Florida School for Boys and later the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, named after Arthur G. Dozier, who served as the superintendent from 1914 to 1967.
Early Decades:
- In its early years, the school housed both juvenile offenders and children deemed "delinquent" or in need of a structured environment. The goal was to provide education and vocational training to help the boys reintegrate into society.
Allegations of Abuse:
- Over the decades, the Dozier School faced numerous allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Former students, known as the "White House Boys," claimed to have been subjected to severe corporal punishment in a building on the campus referred to as the "White House."
Investigations and Closure (2011):
- Investigations into the alleged abuses gained momentum in the early 2000s. In 2008, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) launched an investigation into the allegations. The inquiry confirmed instances of abuse and mistreatment.
- In 2011, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice announced the closure of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, citing budgetary reasons and a shift in the state's approach to juvenile justice.
Discovery of Unmarked Graves:
- Subsequent investigations revealed the presence of unmarked graves on the school's property. The exact number of graves and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the boys buried there remain subjects of controversy and ongoing research.
Apologies and Reparations:
- In 2017, the Florida Legislature issued a formal apology to the survivors of the Dozier School and their families. Efforts were also made to provide reparations and compensation to those who had suffered abuse at the institution.
Historical Reckoning:
- The history of the Arthur G. Dozier School has led to a broader societal reckoning with the treatment of juveniles in reform institutions. The revelations sparked discussions about the need for justice, accountability, and the protection of the rights of vulnerable populations.

The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys

We Carry Their Bones by Erin Kimmerle
Call Number: 365.42 Kimmerle
The Arthur G. Dozier Boys School was a well-guarded secret in Florida for over a century, until reports of cruelty, abuse, and "mysterious" deaths shut the institution down in 2011. Established in 1900, the juvenile reform school accepted children as young as six years of age for crimes as harmless as truancy or trespassing. The boys sent there, many of whom were Black, were subject to brutal abuse, routinely hired out to local farmers by the school's management as indentured labor, and died either at the school or attempting to escape its brutal conditions. In the wake of the school's shutdown, Erin Kimmerle, a leading forensic anthropologist, stepped in to locate the school's graveyard to determine the number of graves and who was buried there, thus beginning the process of reuniting the boys with their families through forensic and DNA testing. The school's poorly kept accounting suggested some thirty-one boys were buried in unmarked graves in a remote field on the school's property. The real number was at least twice that. Kimmerle's work did not go unnoticed; residents and local law enforcement threatened and harassed her team in their eagerness to control the truth she was uncovering--one she continues to investigate to this day.
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Call Number: FICTION Due
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he's sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead. Gracetown, Florida June 1950 Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie's journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it's too late. The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award-winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.
Dear Miss Metropolitan by Carolyn Ferrell
Call Number: FICTION Ferrell
Introducing an extraordinary and original writer whose first novel explores the intersections of grief and rage, personal strength and healing--and what we owe one another. Fern seeks refuge from her mother's pill-popping and boyfriends via Soul Train; Gwin finds salvation in the music of Prince much to her congregation's dismay and Jesenia, miles ahead of her classmates at her gifted and talented high school, is a brainy and precocious enigma. None of this matters to Boss Man, the monster who abducts them and holds them captive in a dilapidated house in Queens. On the night they are finally rescued, throngs line the block gawking and claiming ignorance. Among them is lifetime resident Miss Metropolitan, advice columnist for the local weekly, but how could anyone who fancies herself a "newspaperwoman" have missed a horror story unfolding right across the street? And why is it that only two of the three girls--now women--were found? The mystery haunts the two remaining "victim girls" who are subjected to the further trauma of becoming symbols as they continuously adapt to their present and their unrelenting past.
Delicious Foods by James Hannaham
Call Number: FICTION Hannaham
Held captive by her employers -- and by her own demons -- on a mysterious farm, a widow struggles to reunite with her young son in this uniquely American story of freedom, perseverance, and survival. Darlene, once an exemplary wife and a loving mother to her young son, Eddie, finds herself devastated by the unforeseen death of her husband. Unable to cope with her grief, she turns to drugs, and quickly forms an addiction. One day she disappears without a trace. Unbeknownst to eleven-year-old Eddie, now left behind in a panic-stricken search for her, Darlene has been lured away with false promises of a good job and a rosy life. A shady company named Delicious Foods shuttles her to a remote farm, where she is held captive, performing hard labor in the fields to pay off the supposed debt for her food, lodging, and the constant stream of drugs the farm provides to her and the other unfortunates imprisoned there. In Delicious Foods , James Hannaham tells the gripping story of three unforgettable characters: a mother, her son, and the drug that threatens to destroy them. Through Darlene's haunted struggle to reunite with Eddie, through the efforts of both to triumph over those who would enslave them, and through the irreverent and mischievous voice of the drug that narrates Darlene's travails, Hannaham's daring and shape-shifting prose infuses this harrowing experience with grace and humor. The desperate circumstances that test the unshakeable bond between this mother and son unfold into myth, and Hannaham's treatment of their ordeal spills over with compassion. Along the way we experience a tale at once contemporary and historical that wrestles with timeless questions of love and freedom, forgiveness and redemption, tenacity and the will to survive.
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Call Number: FICTION Krueger
1932, Minnesota. The Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent's wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds.