Florida's State Song: "Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sea)"

Florida's official state song has a remarkable origin story connecting literature, music, and civic activism.

Literary Roots

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)—Jacksonville native, NAACP leader, Harlem Renaissance figure—wrote the lyrics while living in New York, expressing homesickness for Florida's landscapes.

Musical Setting

Johnson enlisted composer Will Marion Cook, a prominent African American musician, to set the poem to music. The resulting ballad captured Florida's natural imagery: sawgrass, palms, and the meeting of wetlands and sea.

Adoption Campaign

The Florida Federation of Women's Clubs championed the song, lobbying the legislature. Their efforts succeeded on March 7, 1913, when the Florida Legislature officially designated it the state song.

Enduring Legacy

Over a century later, "Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sea)" remains a beloved symbol of state identity, performed at official functions and cherished by Floridians as a musical portrait of their home.