Gloria Jahoda, a novelist and Florida historian, was born Gloria Adelaide Love, in Chicago, Illinois on October 6, 1926, the daughter of Chase Whitney, a management engineer, and Adelaide Warren (Peterson) Love. She earned a B.A. in English in 1948 and an M.A. in Anthropology in 1950, both from Northwestern University. From 1950-1953, she attended the University of Wisconsin as a graduate student. In 1952, she married Gerald Jahoda, and the couple moved to Tallahassee, Florida in 1963, when her husband accepted a teaching position at Florida State University's School of Library Training and Service. After teaching anthropology at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, Gloria Jahoda retired in 1957 to write full time.
Among her writings are the novels Annie (1960), set in 17th Century England, and Delilah's Mountain (1963), about the Virginia frontier of the 18th Century. Her nonfiction works include The Trail of Tears (1976), an account of the uprooting of Indians in the Southeast; The Other Florida (1967), a social and natural history of the West Florida Panhandle; Florida: A Bicentennial History (1976); Florida: A History (1984), and a biography, The Road to Samarkand: Frederick Delius and His Music (1969). Her River of the Golden Ibis (1973), about the Hillsboro River, was named by the Society of Midland Authors as the "Best History Book" of 1973. She also contributed articles to magazines and newspapers, including Reader's Digest, the Florida Historical Quarterly, and the Chicago Tribune, and wrote many book reviews and speeches.
In addition to her literary activities, Jahoda was a president of the Tallahassee Historical Society and an elected registrar of the Creek Indian nation. She was also an associate member of the Florida Council of the Blind, and a member of the Delius Association of Florida and the Percy Grainger Library Society. In 1973, the Florida Senate passed a resolution honoring her for her works of literature depicting the history and culture and Florida. In 1975, she was presented with the D.B.McKay Award by the Tampa Historical Society, for her contributions to Florida history. She was also given an honorary doctorate by the University of West Florida in 1977. Gloria Jahoda died on January 13, 1980, in Tallahassee.
From the guide to the Gloria Jahoda Collection, 1884-1969, 1959-1969, (Florida State University Libraries)
