A
Brief History of FCSW:
     
1961:
President John F. Kennedy created the
Presidential Commission on the Status of
Women (PCSW).
1964:
Florida Governor Farris Bryant created
the Governor’s Commission on the Status
of Women (COSW) to study laws and
regulations pertaining to women in
Florida and make recommendations to the
legislature based on their findings.
Click here to read the first
Annual Report of the Governnor's
Commission on the Status of Women.
1966:
The Commission presented its first
report to Governor Farris Bryant.
1967: Florida
Governor Claude Kirk announced the
appointment of 14 new members to the
COSW, bringing the total number of
commissioners to 24.
1971:
Governor Reubin Askew reestablished the
Governor’s Commission on the Status of
Women by executive order.
1974:
Governor Reubin Askew appointed an
executive director to help coordinate
the Commission’s activities.
1977: The
Commission’s budget is cut and its fate
between 1977 and 1978 are not known.
1979: Governor
Bob Graham reactivated the Governor’s
Commission on the Status of Women (still
referred to as the COSW) by means of
Executive Order 79-60.
1982:
The first Florida Women’s Hall of Fame
ceremony and reception was held by the
Commission at the Governor’s Mansion in
Tallahassee in May of 1982.
1991: Governor
Lawton Chiles lobbied the Florida
Legislature to statutorily create the
Florida Commission on the Status of
Women after he took office in 1991. The
leading sponsor in the House of
Representatives for CS/CS/HB 109 was
Representative Elaine Gordon, while
Senator Carrie Meek sponsored the
companion bill, SB 1324. The
Commission’s legislative authority now
exists in
Section 14.24, Florida Statutes.
Since 1991, the Florida Commission on
the Status of Women has been fully
supported by the Governor, the Cabinet
and the Florida Legislature.
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