longtime chronicler of local black history

was the patriarch of history for our county and all of his service will never be forgotten, said Evelyn Foxx, president of the Alachua County branch of the NAACP and a close friend of Buchanan. don think that we have another person in the county that is as dedicated as Joel was to preserving African American history. He is going to be missed. was born July 31, 1948, in Gainesville.

He was among the first three black students to integrate Gainesville High School in 1964, before desegregation orders came down from the courts and historically black Lincoln High was closed.

Foxx said Buchanan had volunteered himself to help integrate GHS and he carried out his mission under a barrage of verbal assaults and other resistance.

From Gainesville Wholesale Bags High, Buchanan continued to the University of Florida and became a teacher, molding young minds at Williams Elementary, Howard Bishop Middle and Fort Clarke Middle.

almost everything he did, he was a Wholesale Handbags teacher, said another close friend and former educator, Shelton Davis.

Buchanan was interested in oral history throughout his life, his niece said, but in the 1980s he began in earnest to record the experiences of elders in Gainesville black community, committing hundreds of hours of interviews to tape.

The Department of Special and Area Collections at UF Smathers Library brought him on in 2004 to compile for posterity the social, cultural and civic history of Gainesville African American community before the civil rights movement.

worked tirelessly in doing that, because he wanted the history recorded, and he also wanted it to be kept, Foxx said.

Buchanan was known for his ability to recall a pertinent story for any kind of ceremony or program he attended.

was excellent with a moment of black history in Gainesville, Foxx said.

Other than that, Buchanan was known for Cheap Sunglasses being a good friend.

Foxx met Buchanan about 18 years ago and he became one of her best friends, she said.

When he was in better health, the two would meet at 5:30 or 6 in the morning and spend an hour walking.

is a legend in his own time for what he did with history in Alachua County, to make sure that it was preserved, Foxx said. have lost a giant. suffered a stroke in 2008 but returned to his work as a history liaison with the Smathers Library, retiring in 2010.

During his time with the library, he had put together some remarkable collections, Foxx said, including an exhibit featuring A. Quinn Jones, a legendary Alachua County educator who was principal of Lincoln High from its establishment in the 1920s until his retirement in the late 1950s.

Throughout his life, Buchanan maintained an active connection with the Williams Temple Church of God in Christ, of which he was the historian.

His motto, said niece Reda Buchanan, went something like this: demanded excellence in everything, Wholesale Sunglasses and he thought that every child should have an education and strong confidence in themselves, she said.

Buchanan was preceded in death by a brother, Broward Buchanan. He is survived by another brother, Gregory K. Buchanan, and a sister, Uneeda L. Buchanan, both of Gainesville, nine nieces and nephews and 15 great nieces and nephews. He was 65.

was the patriarch of history for our county and all of his service will never be forgotten, said Evelyn Foxx, president of the Alachua County branch of the NAACP and a close friend of Buchanan. don't think that we have another person in the county that is as dedicated as Joel was to preserving African American history. He is going to be missed. was born July 31, 1948, in Gainesville.

He was among the first three black students to integrate Gainesville High School in 1964, before desegregation orders came down from the courts and historically black Lincoln High was closed.

Foxx said Buchanan had volunteered himself to help integrate GHS and he carried out his mission under a barrage of verbal assaults and other resistance.

From Gainesville High, Buchanan continued to the University of Florida and became a teacher, molding young minds at Williams Elementary, Howard Bishop Middle and Fort Clarke Middle.

almost everything he did, he was a teacher, said another close friend and former educator, Shelton Davis.

Buchanan was interested in oral history throughout his life, his niece said, but in the 1980s he began in earnest to record the experiences of elders in Gainesville's black community, committing hundreds of hours of interviews to tape.