In Her Own Words: Remarkable Women in 20th-Century Florida

State Library Reading List

To learn more about the 15 women featured in this exhibit, check out these resources from the State Library of Florida. See the State Library’s women’s history bibliography for additional recommendations.

Mary McLeod Bethune
  • Bethune, Mary McLeod. Mary McLeod Bethune: Building a Better World: Essays and Selected Documents. Edited by Audrey Thomas McCluskey and Elaine M. Smith. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001.
  • McCluskey, Audrey Thomas. "Ringing up a School: Mary McLeod Bethune's Impact on Daytona." The Florida Historical Quarterly 73.2 (1994): 200-217.
  • Robertson, Ashley N. Mary McLeod Bethune in Florida: Bringing Social Justice to the Sunshine State. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2015.
Thelma Boltin
  • Basse, Craig. "Storyteller, Folk Singer Thelma Boltin Dies." Tampa Bay Times, Dec 8, 1992.
  • Johnson, Ron. “‘Cousin’ Thelma Boltin and the Florida Folk Festival.” In North Florida Folk Music: History and Tradition, 79-88. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2004.
Roxcy O’Neal Bolton
  • Laufenberg, Kathleen. “The ‘Burr in the Saddle’: In Florida, Pioneering Activist Roxcy Bolton ‘Brought Women into the Light.’” Tallahassee Democrat, March 14, 2004.
  • Roberts, Sam. “Roxcy Bolton, Feminist Crusader for Equality, Including in Naming Hurricanes, Dies at 90.” New York Times, May 21, 2017.
Marjorie Harris Carr
  • Breton, Mary Joy. Women Pioneers for the Environment. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1998.
  • Davis, Frederick R. “‘Get the Facts — And Then Act’: How Marjorie H. Carr and Florida Defenders of the Environment Fought to Save the Ocklawaha River.” The Florida Historical Quarterly 83.1 (2004): 46-69.
  • Macdonald, Peggy. Marjorie Harris Carr: Defender of Florida's Environment. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2014.
Gwen Cherry
  • Anderson, Marie. Julia's Daughters: Women in Dade's History. Miami, FL: Herstory of Florida, Inc., 1980.
  • Fields, Dorothy. “Black in Time: Gwen Cherry’s Enduring Legacy Creates Opportunities.” The Miami Herald, September 24, 2015.
  • Waters, Roderick Dion. “Sister Sawyer: The Life and Times of Gwendolyn Sawyer Cherry.” PhD diss., Florida State University, 1994.
Bernyce Clausell
  • Clausell, Bernyce. No Time to Die: An Autobiography. Tallahassee, FL: Father & Son Publishing, Inc., 2012.
  • Ensley, Gerald. “Trailblazer Pastor, Activist Bernyce Clausell Dies at 98.” Tallahassee Democrat, June 29, 2015.
  • Rauch, Sharon. “Women of the Word.” Tallahassee Democrat, July 11, 2004.
Carita Doggett Corse
  • Corse, Carita Doggett. Dr. Andrew Turnbull and the New Smyrna Colony. Florida: Drew Press, 1919.
  • Corse, Carita Doggett. The Key to the Golden Islands. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1931.
  • Powell-Brant, Evanell K. WPA Federal Writers' Project: With Emphasis on the Florida Writers and Carita Doggett Corse. Lake Panasoffkee, FL: E. K. Powell-Brant, 1990.
Dorothy Dodd
  • “Dorothy Dodd, New Librarian, Chosen Successor to Late W. T. Cash.” Tallahassee Democrat, February 22, 1952.
  • Montgomery, Robert. “Retired Librarian Uses Power of Spoken Word.” Tallahassee Democrat, March 27, 1977.
  • Tripp, Stephanie. “Devoted to the Spread of Knowledge.” The Tampa Tribune, September 9, 1991.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
  • Davis, Jack E. An Everglades Providence: Marjory Stoneman Douglas and the American Environmental Century. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2009.
  • Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. The Everglades: River of Grass. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2017.
  • Douglas, Marjory Stoneman, and John Rothchild. Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1987.
Zora Neale Hurston
  • Hurston, Zora Neale. Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1984.
  • Hurston, Zora Neale. Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters. Edited by Carla Kaplan. New York, NY: Doubleday, 2003.
  • Moylan, Virginia Lynn. Zora Neale Hurston's Final Decade. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2011.
May Mann Jennings
  • Vance, Linda D. May Mann Jennings: Florida's Genteel Activist. Gainesville, FL: University Presses of Florida, 1985.
  • Vance, Linda D. "May Mann Jennings and Royal Palm State Park." The Florida Historical Quarterly 55.1 (1976): 1-17.
Betty Mae Tiger Jumper
  • Harakas, Margo. “The Story of Betty Mae Jumper: Living History.” Sun Sentinel, March 23, 1997.
  • Jumper, Betty Mae Tiger, and Patsy West. A Seminole Legend: The Life of Betty Mae Tiger Jumper. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2001.
  • Robison, Jim. “Betty Mae Jumper: Legend and Fount of Seminole Lore.” Orlando Sentinel, November 8, 1998.
Ruth Bryan Owen
  • Dickinson, Joy Wallace. "Trailblazer Forged Path to Congress." Orlando Sentinel, Mar 30, 2003.
  • Vickers, Sally. "Ruth Bryan Owen: Florida's First Congresswoman and Lifetime Activist." The Florida Historical Quarterly 77.4 (1999): 445-474.
Patricia and Priscilla Stephens
  • Dobson, Byron. “Student Sit-Ins Intersected With King: Lunch Counter Actions in Tallahassee Remembered.” Tallahassee Democrat, January 20, 2020.
  • Due, Tananarive, and Patricia Stephens Due. Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. New York, NY: Ballantine, 2004.
  • Harakas, Margo. “From Crusader to Curator.” Sun Sentinel, August 17, 1991.

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