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Six named to Florida Women's Hall of FameTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Thefirst six recipients of the FloridaWomen s Hall of Fame Awards were named Thursday by a selection committee of the Governor’s Commission on the Status ofWomen.Two of the women were named posthumously: Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, and Paula Mae Milton, chairman of the Creative Arts Department at Miami-Dade Community College New World Center at her death in 1980.The other four inductees are state Rep. Elaine Gordon. D-North Miami , Barbara Palmer, women’sathletic director at Florida State University in Tallahassee; Helene Coleman, a Jacksonville community leader, and Monroe County Commissioner Wilhelmina Harvey of Key West.Gov. Bob Graham hosted a reception and presented the awards at the Governor’s MansionThursday night. Shollie Milton, mother of Paula Mae Milton, and Albert Bethune, grandson of Mrs.Bethune, represented theposthumous recipients.A five-member selection panel picked the winners from among 226 nominees.“All of the women who were nominated are winners and the recipients of the honor should beextremely proud for being judged from among so many outstanding women,” Graham said.J. Leigh Rubinas-Brooks, thecommission’s executive director, said an actual hall of fame doesn’t yet exist, but that the commission is looking for space in the Florida Capitol where plaques could be hung to honor each year’s newinductees.Mrs. Coleman was selected as the humanities recipient and Ms. Gordon, Mrs. Harvey and Miss Palmer were named to represent achievement in the arts, business, industry, science, medicine, government, education and other areas.Ms. Gordon, 51, has served in the legislature for 10 years. She is a nationally-recognized feminist and sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment in the Florida legislature. She also is known for her leadership in obtaining programs for neonatal care and mentally ill, physically abused andretarded people.Mrs. Harvey, 70, is the first women to serve on the county commission in the 157-year history of Monroe County. She also has served as chairman of the Monroe County School Board and has been an educator, environmentalist, real estate broker, and civic leader.Miss Palmer, 33, has pioneered the development of female athletes in Florida and lobbyed for legislation to give women equal opportunities in college athletics, including funding. Her sports teams at Florida State have won numerous championships.Mrs. Coleman was cited for her efforts to establish a volunteer guardian program for abused and neglected children as chairman of Jacksonville’s Court Appointed Special Advocate Program, which has become a model for similarprograms around the state. She also has served as president of the National Council of Jewish Women and headed a Jacksonville screening program for the Tay-Sachsdisease.Mrs. Bethune won international renown as an educator, business woman, author and founder of National Council of Negro Women She served and was honored by presidents from Calvin Coolidge to Harry STruman and she is the first woman and first black to have a statue erected in her honor in thepublic parks of the nation’s capital.Ms. Milton died after a brief illness in 1980 at the age of 41. She was an established educator, poet, dramatist and television producer. She was a professor at Miami-Dade since 1963 and was selected as the college’s outstanding teacher in1969.
Newspaper Details
Fort Walton Beach Playground Daily News
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, US
Tue, Jul 20, 1982
Page 14
Full Page
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USA 13 Dec 2019
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