May Mann Jennings

• American

May Mann Jennings was an influential force in Florida, both in politics and in conservation. She was born April 25,1872 in Centerville, New Jersey. In the mid 1870s, her father Austin moved the family to rural central Florida, near Crystal River. Austin had May educated at St Joseph's Academy in St Augustine, a cosmopolitan school that helped broaden her interests and interpretation of life.

After graduating from St Joseph's in 1890, May moved to Brooksville to be with her father, who was at the time representing Hernando County in the state legislature. Austin introduced his daughter to Judge William Sherman Jennings, who was a rising star in Hernando County and state politics. Jennings was attracted to May's intelligence and soon began a courtship. On May 12,1891, May and William were married in a grand Tallahassee wedding. After the wedding, the couple returned to Brooksville and lived in William's residence.

From the residence, the couple cultivated their standing in the county and in the state. May and William were a very active couple in Brooksville, with May heading the Brooksville Woman's Club. Her work in the club cultivated her gift as a natural leader and organizer, a trait that would help in her later campaigns for women's rights and Everglades conservation. During William's campaigns for county representative, May also took an active role in her husband's work, advising him on current issues. During his gubernatorial campaign, May went on the campaign trail, currying votes for her husband from the contacts she had made through her father. After her husband's election as Governor, May became an even more influential force.

May became active in women's rights and Everglades conservation during her years as First Lady to Florida and after the term of her husband. While William envisioned development for the Everglades, May saw the need for conservation. Prior to William's death, May began her crusade for the Everglades through purchasing an isolated hammock on the outskirts of Miami that contained the only natural grove of Royal Palm trees in Florida. In 1916, the purchase became an 1,800 acre park, called the Royal Palm Hammock State Park. Later, the park became the east entrance to the 1.5 million acre Everglades National Park. May Mann Jennings worked to conserve the Everglades for thirty-three years.

From her home in Jacksonville after William's death, May organized an "old girl network" where she garnered support for her various causes, including better treatment of prisoners and children, historic preservation, and highway beautification. One of her most important campaigns was women's rights, mainly in the form of suffrage. May headed the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs and co-founded the Florida League of Women Voters, two organizations that helped with the cause of women's suffrage. As a prominent female leader in Florida, the University of Florida at its 1953 centennial named the all-female dormitory Jennings Hall for her accomplishments. May Man Jennings died in Jacksonville in 1963 at the age of 90. Today, May Mann Jennings is recognized as one of the 50 Most Important People in Florida during the twentieth century. - NRHP