| More: https://www.preservetheburg.org/blog/great-women-of-st-petersburg | Thank you to our research volunteer, Raissa Fitzgerald | ||
| Date | Name | Bio | Resource |
| 1880 | Sarah Williams | She persuaded Peter Demens to bring the Orange Belt Railroad to downtown St. Petersburg, instead of Gulfport. John C. William’s journey to become one of St. Petersburg’s founding fathers was not direct one. He first settled in Pinellas Point in 1876; after a failed farming venture, Williams moved back to his native Detroit. He returned to Florida, moving to Tampa’s Hyde Park with his second wife Sarah Williams in about 1886. In 1887, Sarah and John Williams resettled in Pinellas fleeing the Yellow Fever epidemic that hit Tampa. Peter Demens, Russian railroad man, and John Williams worked together to bring the Orange Belt Railroad to what would become St. Petersburg. (It would be named after Peter Demens’s hometown in Russia.) Sarah Williams was instrumental in the talks to extend the Orange Belt Railroad, as she was able to develop a rapport with fellow Canadian, Henry Sweetapple, Orange Belt’s treasurer. The Detroit Hotel built by Demens, was named after Williams’ hometown. Williams Park, formerly City Park was named after John Williams’ contributions to the city of St. Petersburg. The Williams Home is now located on USF St Pete campus on 2nd Street South between 5th & 6th Ave South. Considered “Mother of the City” She had two sons. | https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1999/04/28/1880s-1890s-mover-and-shaker/ |
| 1913 | Katherine Bell Tippetts | She moved to St. Petersburg with her husband and four children in 1902. When her husband died in 1909, she took over operations of the downtown Belmont Hotel and their other real estate holdings. She was involved in the Woman’s Town Improvement Association, The Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs, The YWCA, the American Forestry Association. She founded and was president of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society for over 31 years. She fought to legislate protections for wildlife and plants in Flordia that produced more than ten bird sanctuaries in Pinellas County alone. The Audubon Society was instrumental in establishing the Florida Fish & Game Commission and passage of the Migratory Bird Act of 1913. | https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1475&context=tampabayhistory |
| 1921 | Mary Wheeler Eaton | In 1920, Eaton and a number of pioneer families created the St. Petersburg Memorial Historical Society to preserve the young city’s history. Eventually Eaton convinced the Mayor and City Council to give the historical society a vacant building on the Pier Approach and the St. Petersburg Museum of History was born. The oldest museum in Pinellas County, the St. Petersburg Museum of History was formerly known as the St. Petersburg Memorial Historical Society when it first opened its doors to the adoring public in 1921. | https://www.preservetheburg.org/blog/great-women-of-st-petersburg |
| 1928 | Flora Wylie | She was the first woman to serve on St. Petersburg’s Planning Board in 1928. She was a founding member of the St. Petersburg Garden Club. She was a proponent of city parklands. In May 1962, Waterfront Park No. 3 was renamed Flora Wylie Park. | |
| 1928 | Ziola Hershey Misener | She was born October 22, 1878 and was an Indiana suffragist and politician. She was the first woman elected to state legislature from her district and one of the first in the state. Hershey Misener was a feminist and suffragist who helped organize Indiana’s League of Women Voters and for several years served as vice-president. She spoke at the League’s 1926 regional convention. She was elected to the Indiana General Assembly in 1928, the first woman to be elected from her district and one of the first in the state. She was one of three women in the Indiana State House in the 1928—1930 term. Charles Roll in his 1931 history of Indiana called her “one of the prominent Republican women of the state.” She has two children, Dorothy Louise, and Richard Hershey. She retired and died in St. Petersburg 1966. While in the legislature, Hershey Misener “was a leader in several stirring political battles. One daughter. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misener |
| 1942 | Mary Ellen Moylan | Mary Ellen Moylan was born on August 24, 1925, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to an Irish builder father and schoolteacher mother. Due to the Great Depression, the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1931, when she was six, to find work. Her mother sent her to a local ballet school. She was one of the first students of George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet, and made her New York stage debut in 1942. She had danced with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Ballet Society, Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre), Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and on Broadway. She was best known for performing Balanchine’s works, and was described as “the first great Balanchine dancer”. She retired from performing in 1957. One son | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ellen_Moylan |
| 1942 | Fannye Ayer Ponder | Fannye graduated from Florida A&M and taught at Gibbs High School for 20 years. She founded the St. Petersburg Metropolitan Section of the National Council of Negro Women as well as the City Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. She worked as a Republican Committeewoman and help build two community buldings: the Council House and the Melrose Clubhouse. | https://ncnwstpete.org/about-us |
| 1949 | Shirley Fry Irvin | You can place Shirley Fry’s name alongside Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Doris Hart, Billie Jean King, Martina Navaratilova, and Serena Williams. Fry is one of only 10 female players in history to win at least one of each of the majors in singles. Along with Court, Hart, Navratilova, and Serena and Venus Williams, Fry is one of only six players in history to also win a women’s doubles title at each major tournament. From 1951 to 1957 she won singles championships in Australia, Paris, London, and New York, and won another 13 major championships in both doubles and mixed doubles. She was a singles finalist on four occasions and a doubles and mixed doubles finalist eleven more times. Fry was ranked in the world Top 10 nine times (1946-1956), including the No. 1 position in 1956. She was among America’s Top 10 players 13 straight years, 1944-1956. Off the major tournament circuit, Fry was the Italian Nationals doubles champion in 1951 and a mixed doubles finalist that same year. Fry played for the United States in Wightman Cup in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956, compiling a 10-2 career record. She is the champion of the 1951 French Open, 1956 Wimbledon, 1956 US Open, and the1957 Australian Open. Fry is just one of 15 people to have won the career Grand Slam. Fry won 17 major championships including the French Open, Australian Open and Wimbleton in 1956. Upon her retirement, Fry moved to St. Petersburg, ostensibly to bask in warmer climates. She worked in the advertising department of the St. Petersburg Times. She had four children. | https://www.preservetheburg.org/blog/great-women-of-st-petersburg |
| 1950 | Dr. Johnnie Ruth Clarke | Born in 1919, she was an American activist, teacher and humanitarian. She was the first African American to obtain a doctorate from the University of Florida’s College of Education. She served as Dean of Gibbs Junior College in the 1950s, and as Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at St. Petersburg Junior College in the 1960s. The Johnnie Ruth Clarke Health Center was named in her honor. She had 5 children. | https://www.spcollege.edu/friends-partners/about/civic-partners/ncbaa/dr-johnnie-ruth-clarke |
| 1954 | C. Bette Wimbish | Born in 1924 in Perry, Fla., C. Bette Wimbish came from humble origins but rose to become an important activist for school desegregation and civil equality. She was a woman of many firsts: the first black person on the St. Petersburg city council, the first black person to hold elected office in the Tampa Bay area, and the first black female lawyer in Pinellas County. Wimbish and her husband, Ralph, fought for the desegregation of schools. Ralph was also a political activist who served as the branch president of the St. Petersburg NAACP. After the Pinellas County Board of Public Instruction refused to comply with the Brown v. Board of Education decision to desegregate schools in 1954, Wimbish ran for a seat on the board. She did not win, but it was only the start of her fight. She was involved in numerous sit-ins, boycotts and protests to fight against segregation and the problems that came with it, like the overcrowding of black schools. Wimbish never stopped fighting to improve the lives of people in her community. As a lawyer in St. Petersburg, she successfully ran for a city council seat, and served as vice-mayor of St. Petersburg from 1971 to 1973. She continued to hold public office and fight for the people of St. Petersburg and Florida until her retirement in 2003. Wimbish died in 2009, leaving behind a lasting legacy of equality and perseverance. She was an African American woman activist who promoted desegregation of schools and civil equality. She was denied admission to University of Pennsylvania because of her race. She received a degree from Florida A&M College. She was the first African American o the St. Petersburg City Council. She was also the first African American female lawyer in Pinellas County. She had three children. | https://pinellascf.org/news/inspirational-historic-women-pinellas-county/ |
| 1954 | Jennie Hall | Born December 13, 1869 in Missouri. As segregation was still enforced in St. Petersburg in 1953, Jennie Hall donated $25,000, a large share of her life savings, to build a city swimming pool for African Americans. This instigated a $35,000 matching appropriation from the City and the pool was dedicated the Jennie Hall Pool in the Spring of 1954. It was the city’s only African American pool. In 2012, it was designated as a historic landmark. | https://www.preservetheburg.org/blog/jennie-hall-pool-st-petersburg-history |
| 1961 | Rosalie Peck | Fifteen years after graduating from Gibbs High School, Rosalie was chosen by the Ambassador Club, along with Frankie Howard to promote integration by attending the all-white St. Petersburg Junior College (today’s St. Petersburg College) in 1961. Years later, Peck recalled both the anxiety and fear she felt, but knew after her first day of classes that she was, as she said, “in my element.” Her confidence eventually led her to Bethune-Cookman College and then to Atlanta University for her master’s degree followed by a successful social work career. Peck co-authored the excellent book, St. Petersburg’s Historic 22nd Street South, along with Jon Wilson. | https://theweeklychallenger.com/i-am-rosalie-peck/ |
| 1960s | Angela Bassett | Born August 16, 1958 in NYC. Moved to St. Petersburg at age 4 when her parents divorced. Attended Jordan Park Elementary School, Disston Middle School, and bused to Azalea Middle School. She Graduated from Boca Ciega High School. She received a BA from Yale and an MFA from Yale School of Drama. She has two children. | |
| 1965 | Margaret Acheson Stuart | Born 1896, Margaret contributed $150,000 to build the Musuem of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. She also contributed $1million for an endowment fund, and $300,000 for a new auditorium and sculpture garden. Stuart refused to place her name on the musuem or charge admission. She said during the planning phase of the museum: “If one child has a better life because he visited our museum, it will be worthwhile. The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg is home to a vast collection of iconic works. It’s thrilling to experience this kind of art that spans the ages, and we have Margaret Acheson Stuart to thank for bringing it to our community. Stuart admired fine arts and sought to build a museum that St. Petersburg residents would enjoy and cherish for years to come. In 1961, Stuart approached the city with a proposal and a promise to provide funds for construction, endowment and annual operating costs. Even though she was contributing incredible amounts of money to the project, she did not want her name attached to the museum. Instead, with doors opening in 1965, it would be named the Museum of Fine Arts. Still in operation today, the museum stands as a testament to the influence of great women in St. Petersburg’s history. The city now enjoys a reputation as an artistic and cultural center — a renown that would not have been possible without the vision of Margaret Acheson Stuart. | https://pinellascf.org/news/inspirational-historic-women-pinellas-county/ |
| 1984 | Michelle Elliott | Michele Irmiter Elliott OBE is an author, psychologist, teacher and the founder and director of child protection charity Kidscape. She has chaired World Health Organization and Home Office working groups and is a Winston Churchill fellow. She graduated from Dixie Hollins High School in 1964. She attended the University of South Florida and the University of Florida, gaining a BA in Science and Education and a Masters’s degree in Psychology. She began working with families and children in 1968 in London. Elliott founded Kidscape in 1984 to help children stay safe from sexual abuse and from bullying. Elliott has been a high-profile figure and Kidscape was named Charity of the Year in 2000. Writing in The Guardian, David Brindle suggested the award was “an undoubted reflection of the vibrancy of Michele Elliott”. She has two sons. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Elliott#:~:text=Michele%20Irmiter%20Elliott%20OBE%20is,is%20a%20Winston%20Churchill%20fellow. |
| 1985 | Lynn A. Barry | Born in 1959 in St. Petersburg, Barry is an American former Assistant Executive Director of USA women’s basketball and former adviser to the Women’s National Basketball Association.[1][2] Barry is also considered to be the most talented player in the College of William & Mary’s women’s basketball program history. One son, Canyon. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Norenberg_Barry |
| 1992 | Nicole Haislett | Born Dec. 16, 1972, Haislett is an American former competitive swimmer who was a three-time Olympic gold medalist, a former world and American record-holder, and an eight-time American national college champion. During her international swimming career, Haislett won twenty-two medals in major international championships, including fourteen golds. One daughter, Blake | https://flasportshof.org/fshofmember/nicole-haislette-bacher/ |
| 1999 | Shirley D. Coletti | Operation PAR’s President, Shirley D. Coletti, has distinguished herself as a leading advocate for substance abusing women and their children and families. As an outstanding contributor to the field of substance abuse treatment, prevention and education for more than 35 years, she was the driving force behind the founding of Operation PAR (Parental Awareness and Responsibility). Her vision, efforts and personal commitment helped develop the agency from a grass-roots organization to a large comprehensive behavioral healthcare provider that serves thousands of families in West Central Florida. To honor her life long commitment and achievements, Mrs. Coletti was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Humane Letters from the University of South Florida. Dr. Coletti is known nationally and internationally as an expert in the field. Among her many honors are appointments by former Presidents Reagan and Bush and in 1999 an appointment to the Statewide Drug Policy Advisory Council by Governor Jeb Bush. Locally Dr. Coletti is an inductee in the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Women’s Hall of Fame and has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of South Florida Mental Health Institute and WEDU’s Community Service Woman of the Year Award. | https://flwomenshalloffame.org/bio/shirley-d-coletti/ |
| 1997 | Justice Barbara J. Pariente | Justice Barbara J. Pariente of West Palm Beach and Tallahassee is only the second woman to serve on Florida’s Supreme Court and as its Chief Justice from 2004-2006. Throughout a legal career begun in 1973, she has shown a passionate commitment to improving the lives of women, children, and families in Florida, especially those whose disadvantages in life have brought them into courts. Since her appointment to the Court in 1997, she has championed drug courts, Florida’s nationally praised program to rehabilitate people who commit minor crimes because of substance abuse, rather than imposing the more expensive and less successful alternative of jail. She has been a driving force behind Florida’s Unified Family Courts, a judicial approach to help ensure that each family’s legal problems are managed comprehensively by a single judge or team. In her career, Pariente has mentored school-age children, has encouraged mentoring programs, and has worked directly to help juvenile offenders. In 2003, she turned a personal tragedy – breast cancer – into a public victory by sharing her successful treatment with Florida and national media. During this period, she never missed a court hearing, even appearing wigless in cases that were widely broadcast. Pariente graduated fifth in her law school class at George Washington University in 1973 and immediately began a successful twenty-year legal career, first as a Florida federal district court law clerk, then as one of South Florida’s pioneering women trial attorneys. She is married to Judge Fred A. Hazouri of Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal and is a mother and grandmother. | https://flwomenshalloffame.org/bio/justice-barbara-j-pariente/ |
| 2019 | The Woman of the City Council | Making history is the entire City Council. In 2019, St. Pete City Council has the first ever female majority in city history. These women include Gina Driscoll (District 6), Amy Foster (District 8) – one daughter, Lisa Wheeler-Bowman (District 7), Darden Rice (District 4)/Lisette Hanewicz 2022 – two children, and Brandi Gabbard (District 2) – one son. City Attorney Jacqueline Kovilaritch, Director of Urban Affairs Nikki Gaskin-Capehart, Director of Sustainability & Resiliency Sharon Wright, Director of Education and Community Engagement Leah McRae. | https://ilovetheburg.com/making-history-with-the-women-of-st-pete/ |
| 2023 | Dr. Kanika Tomalin | Dr. Kanika Tomalin is the current City Administrator/Deputy Mayor. She makes history as both the first woman and the first African-American Deputy Mayor in St. Pete. She has two children. | |
| Current | Dr. Sandra E. Braham | President and CEO, Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services. As president and CEO of Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services, one of Tampa Bay’s largest non-profit, human services agencies, Braham guides a workforce of 530 employees to support more than 37,000 individuals and families of all ages. Though she believes work remains to be done in the equity realm, she sees plentiful business, and networking, opportunities for women in St. Pete | https://bpwstpetepinellas.org/dr-sandra-braham-is-president-and-ceo-of-gulf-coast-jewish-family-and-community-services/ |