Florida
Florida’s Fight for Suffrage
Women worked for over 70 years to get the vote. Divisions over race, tactics, and strategy did not stop suffrage efforts. Women kept their eyes on the prize . . . suffrage. Learn more about the fight for suffrage in Florida in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Florida’s Suffrage Timeline
1883
Native Iowan and teacher Ella Chamberlain founded the Florida Equal Suffrage Association (FESA), and wrote a weekly Tampa Tribune column on women’s rights.
1913
Jacksonville’s newly-formed Florida Equal Franchise League (JFEFL) petitioned Florida’s Legislature to consider a suffrage bill. Suffragists spoke at a legislative committee session prior to the vote, but the bill failed. The Florida Legislature rejected suffrage bills and state constitution amendments several times.
1914
May Mann Jennings, whose husband served as Florida governor from 1901-1905, served as president of the Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs from 1914-1917. As the Federation’s president, Jennings spoke of women voting as a vital component of education and social reform to counter arguments that women voting would be too radical for the state to consider.
1917-1918
The women of Fellsmere, Orlando, Florence Villa, Moore Haven, Palm Beach, and Pass-a-Grille, Deland, Aurantia, Daytona Beach, and Orange City won the right to vote in local elections.*
1920
After the required two-thirds of states ratified the 19th Amendment and it became federal law, Florida still declined to ratify the amendment—even though women in the state had the right to vote under federal law.
May 13, 1969
The Florida Legislature voted to ratify the 19th Amendment.
* Jim Crow laws were enforced in Florida until passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and Black women were not able to vote post-1920.
References
Beyond the Vote: Florida’s Women’s Activism. (2020). Museum of Florida History. https://www.museumoffloridahistory.com/explore/exhibits/previous-exhibits/beyond-the-vote-florida-women-s-activism/
Burke, A. (2020, July 9). Six historic women’s suffrage sites in Jacksonville. The Jaxson. https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/six-historic-womens-suffrage-sites-in-jacksonville/
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Simmons, N. (n.d.). Biographical Sketch of Eleanor “Ella” Chamberlain. Alexander Street. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1010940184
Florida and the 19th Amendment. (2019, September 5). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/florida-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Redd, K. (2020, June 19). Suffrage: Long Road for Florida Women. Panama City News Herald. https://www.newsherald.com/story/news/education/2020/06/19/suffrage-long-road-for-florida-women/112578264/
Taylor, A. Elizabeth (1957). The Woman Suffrage Movement in Florida, Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 36: No. 1, Article 8. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol36/iss1/8/