Beluthahatchee, defined by Zora Neale Hurston as a mythical Florida Shangra-la where all unpleasantness is forgiven and forgotten, became a wildlife sanctuary when Florida author and activist Stetson Kennedy moved there and named and set aside the site. After World War II, Kennedy infiltrated and exposed the KKK and other groups. His books included Palmetto Country (1942), Southern Exposure (1946), Jim Crow Guide (1956), and The Klan Unmasked (1957), and the latter two were translated around the world. The site served as headquarters for his pioneering 1950 total equality write-in bid for the U.S. Senate. His book, After Appomattox, was completed there in 1955 with the help of his then wife Joyce Ann, and that year he won the Gustavus Meyer Award for doing the most to combat bigotry. In April 2005, Kennedy was inducted into the Florida Artist's Hall of Fame. Beluthahatchee also served as a Florida hangout for Woody Guthrie, who completed his autobiographical book, Seeds of Man, there and wrote more than 80 songs, including "Beluthahatchee Bill."