by Natalie Kahler, Executive Director of Brooksville Main Street
From left to right: Floride Lydia Pearson Fleming, May Mann Jennings, Elizabeth Robins and Hazel Land.
What do the Mother of Florida Forestry, the writer who inspired a flood of women’s suffrage literature across the globe and the first African American woman to graduate from University of Florida Law School have in common? They all called Brooksville home.
Brooksville can claim two Florida First Ladies in Floride Lydia Pearson Fleming and May Mann Jennings. Both women’s connections allowed them to help their husbands win their positions and both carved out their own projects, as well: Jennings is most revered for advocating for legislation that created the Division of Forestry and creating a plan for protecting the Everglades. Jennings and Fleming provide great examples of advocacy for causes that lead to substantial change, even though they could not vote.
Brooksville has been known for its tangerines and its hilly terrain; it should equally be known for its tenacious women who made life better for us all.
Writer and actress Elizabeth Robins was commissioned by the Women’s Political and Social Union (WSPU) to write a play on suffrage to be performed on the London Stage. Her play, Votes for Women! was so successful in winning support for the cause that Elizabeth and other writer friends created the Women Writers’ Suffrage League. Their goal was to flood the market with suffrage literature of all types, from editorials to novels. Elizabeth served as President and within a decade, both the U.S. and UK governments were writing and debating bills in support of women’s suffrage.
Hazel Land grew up in Brooksville prior to desegregation, attended Tuskegee University was the first African American woman to join the University of Florida Law School program. Her graduation caused record-breaking attendance at the ceremony. As Hazel said, “half of Brooksville [attended] – the largest group at that time, and probably still today.”
Brooksville has been known for its tangerines and its hilly terrain; it should equally be known for its tenacious women who made life better for us all.