Gwendolyn Sawyer Cherry, school teacher, author, attorney, and a Florida legislator, was born August 27, 1923, in Miami, Florida, to Dr. William B. and Alberta Sawyer. Dr. Sawyer was one of the first African-American physicians in Dade County and Alberta Sawyer was a hotel owner at a time when businesswomen were exceptional. Therefore, Cherry's trailblazing parents had a profound effect on her adult life. / Cherry was a trailblazer in her own right for she opened doors of opportunity previously closed to African-Americans and women. Her most noteworthy "first," occurred in 1970, when she became the first African-American woman ever to serve in the Florida legislature. / In the legislature, Cherry submitted bills and supported legislative issues for African-Americans, women, and the disadvantaged. However, Cherry's greatest, yet most underrated achievement, was her ability to be both a civil rights activist and a feminist at a time when the leaders of both movements were at odds with each other. Unfortunately, her life was cut short on February 7, 1979, in an automobile accident behind Doak Campbell Stadium on the Florida State University Campus in Tallahassee. She was fifty-five years old. / The purpose of this dissertation is to show how the progress made by the civil rights and women's movements and Cherry's background enabled her to be elected to the Florida house. Also discussed are the challenges and achievements she had as a legislator, and the progress made by African-American politicians since her untimely death. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-08, Section: A, page: 2524. / Major Professor: Joe M. Richardson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77215 |
| Contributors | Waters, Roderick Dion., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 260 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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