A History of Living in Harm’s Way on the Gulf

Amid the anxious wait for Hurricane Milton last week, I asked Professor Jack E. Davis if he’d come back on Skipped History to review some storm history. In The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea, Professor Davis explores how and why Americans began to build on the Gulf Coast. The aftermath of one hurricane in particular generated a practice of trying to overcome, rather than retreat from, extreme weather. Over 120 years later, Professor Davis insists we need a moratorium on building near the water.

Jack is a history professor at the University of Florida specializing in environmental history and sustainability studies. He’s the author or editor of ten books, including The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird, which we discussed last year, and The Gulf, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2018.