Billy Bowlegs III was born in 1862. His father was African-American and his mother was Seminole. He took the name Billy Bowlegs as an adult after the great Seminole chief who led his people through the Seminole Wars.
Bowlegs befriended a couple of amateur historians who became advocates for the Seminole. It was with his help they published The Seminole of Florida in 1896. The couple later advocated on the tribe's behalf to gain a reservation in the Everglades.
He died in 1965.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is my effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013. Copyright 2013.
