Past News - Women's History Month 2022
Did you know that the FSU Alumni Association has been a part of campus for over 100 years?
It was founded in 1909 and was originally known as the FSCW Alumnae Association. Any graduate could join the Association -- annual dues were $1 -- life memberships were $10 !
Pictured are members of FSCW's first graduating class
Maebel Fort ('09) - Effie Pettit ('09) - Blanche McKnight ('09) at their 50th class reunion in 1959
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1921 to the Ringling Brother's tentmaker William Hobson and his wife Anna Hobson, Alice Hobson attended the Florida State College for Women (FSCW) at the age of 16 years old. She graduated in 1941 with a degree in mathematics, leading her to a career in aerodynamics, designing planes for World War I and eventually the head of the drafting department for the Army Corp of Engineers in Jacksonville, Florida.
While she was 'Hobbie' to her classmates, she has always been 'Mema' to recent FSU graduate Kiara Hansen (B.A. '21). Mema recently made her way back to Tallahassee to see her granddaughter graduate and turned 100 years old just two months later. She is one of the last living graduates of FSCW and left her legacy alongside her granddaughter with a Westcott Brick.
07 Mar 2022 - FSU Alumni Association
Patricia A. Dore
First woman to serve as a law professor at FSU in the early '70s. When Professor Dore served on the admissions committee, she lifted the cap on women law students and eliminated quotas for women applicants.
In addition to inspiring generations of lawyers, Dore motivated many of her students to teach. In 1996, FSU College of Law honored her with the establishment of the Patricia A. Dore Professorship in Administrative Law.
'Remembering Professor Dore' article in FSU Law Focus - 22 Mar 2022
A playwright and political activist, strove to ensure that women benefited just as much from equality as their male counterparts.
After the storming of the Bastille in 1789, her activism accelerated. Building on the 'Declaration of the Rights of Man', she published 'The Declaration of the Rights of Woman' in 1791, a truly radical document asserting the absolute legal equality of women on issues like property ownership as well as taxation.
De Gouges stands as a key figure in the development of modern feminism.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia
Wells was born into slavery and became a passionate activist for civil rights.
She was especially noted for shedding light on lynching and mob violence through her investigative journalism. Wells also helped establish several civil rights organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Twelve women sit laughing on steps outside a building at the Florida State College for Women in the 1930s.
While March is home to a number of celebrations, observations and recognition of the influence of women in our history and future, it is important to note that we can acknowledge and support the rights and contributions of women 365 days a year.
Best known for founding Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, a progressive social settlement striving to improve the lives of immigrants and laborers.
She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 for "assiduous effort to revive the ideal of peace and to rekindle the spirit of peace in their own nation and in the whole of mankind".
While she was demonstrably involved in political action for peace, Addams also emphasized the importance of rediscovering humanity's ability to foster compassion and goodness in light of large-scale warfare.