2008 marks the eleventh anniversary of the Women in Military Service Memorial in Washington D.C., the first such memorial in the nation. In honor of both the memorial's anniversary and of Women's History Month, the State Archives of Florida decided to recognize not only their military service, but also how women in Florida have served the state in numerous ways over the generations, from medical care to law enforcement to fire and rescue services.
Image Number: RC07216
Image Number: N042668
Image Number: N042706
Image Number: PR13442
Mary Catherine Lawhon Kahn was born January 14, 1919 and died February 14, 1992. Mary was born to Margaret Viola Harvey and John William Lawhon, in Arran, Florida. On 10/25/43 she enlisted in the Navy where she trained as a 2nd class mailman. While she was stationed in Key West she met and married her husband Paul Kahn in September of 1945. After her discharge she returned to Arran, then moved to Jacksonville where she raised her daughter Angela, and later returned to Wakulla County in the early 1970's.
Image Number: N035420
Image Number: PR30402
Native of Miami, Alice "Martha" Dorn (later Timanus) attended Ponce de Leon High School and the University of Miami.
She was the first Miamian to turn in an officer candidate application without indicating either "male" or "female" on the form, and the first female officer candidate in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve in the 3rd Naval District. Ms. Dorn achieved the rank of Company Commander then Battalion Commander and worked in the Women's Recruiting Depot.
Image Number: N044786
Third from left is Annie Haddock Posey of Crawfordville.
Image Number: N035236
Jackie Cochran grew up in the Florida panhandle. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier, the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic, and the first civilian woman to win a Distinguished Service Medal.
In 1942, Cochran headed the Women's Flying Training Detachment which merged with the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron in 1943 to become the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).
Image Number: PR12839
Students at the Florida State College for Women.
Image Number: N044897
Image Number: RC12654
Photographed in Bay or Bradford county.
Image Number: RC12657
Image Number: FPS1086
The boat with the Cuban immigrants was the "Dr. Daniels."
Image Number: PR20274
Evelyn Gonzalez was born on December 15, 1958. Married Metro-Dade police officer Gus Gort on January 5, 1985. She joined the Metro-Dade Police Department in 1985. On October 30, 1993 Evelyn Gort was shot while attempting to arrest an armed robber (Wilbur Leroy "Jit" Mitchell). Her name is inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial (West Wall, Panel 59, Line 19) in Washington, D.C.
Image Number: MF1012
Florida Governor Bob Graham watches Theresa Allen, right, in the Florida Highway Patrol pins the badge on her daughter Angel while Sergeant James Johnson, left, pins the badge on his son James Darren Johnson after graduation exercises of the 70th recruit class of the Florida Highway Patrol here Friday. The Allens are the first mother-daughter to be in the Patrol and are from Gainesville. The Johnson's are from Miami.
Image Number: PR20275
Born on August 4, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. She moved to South Florida after graduation from high school in 1982. She joined the Opa-locka Police Department in 1990. She became a North Miami Police Department officer in early 1993. Officer Hodge died in an automobile accident on November 16, 1993 while rushing to the aid of a fellow officer. Her name is inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial (West Wall, Panel 50, Line 19) in Washington, D.C.
Image Number: PR20649
Image Number: Sbh0024
Image Number: PR20650
For more photographs of women in Florida, see Images of Women's History in Florida.
TOP