Abraham Lavender

Dr. Abraham D. Lavender (born in Sumter, South Carolina, November 14 1940) is a professor of Sociology at Florida International University, and is president of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies.

Lavender was born and raised in South Carolina, receiving his B.A. and M.A. degrees in psychology from the University of South Carolina at Columbia in 1963 and 1965 respectively. He earned a PhD in sociology in 1972 at the University of Maryland, College Park, writing his dissertation on "The Generational Hypothesis of Jewish Identity: The Return of the Third Generation".

Lavender taught at the University of Miami before moving to FIU. He has been a prolific author, publishing six books (two of which are focused on Jewish studies), and dozens of journal articles on a wide variety of sociology-related topics.

From 1992-1995, he was also an advisor to Miami Beach mayor, Seymour Gelber.

Books published

*"Miami Beach in 1920: The Making of a Winter Resort." Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2002.
*"Black Communities in Transition: Voices from South Florida." Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1996 (edited, with Adele S. Newson).
*"Jewish Farmers of the Catskills: A Century of Survival." Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1995 (with Clarence Steinberg).
*"French Huguenots: From Mediterranean Catholics to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants." New York, Bern: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1990.
*"Ethnic Women and Feminist Values: Toward a 'New' Value System." Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1986.
*"A Coat of Many Colors: Jewish Subcommunities in the United States." Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1977 (edited).

External links

* [http://www.fiu.edu/~lavender/ FIU webpage of Dr. Abraham D. Lavender]
* [http://news.fiu.edu/releases/2003/07-24_lavender.htm Miami Beach social history reveals a homogenous population with little resemblance to today’s diverse city]