Great Floridian is a title bestowed upon citizens in the state of Florida by the Florida Department of State. There were actually two formal programs. The Great Floridian 2000 program honored deceased individuals who made "significant contributions in the history and culture" of Florida (many times within a local community), [1] the new program is more restrictive by selecting persons, dead or alive, who made "major contributions to the progress and welfare" of Florida. [2]
The Florida Department of State and the Florida League of Cities created the program in 1998, and it ran to 2000. The process bestowed commemorative blue plaques in Florida to honor deceased individuals who significantly contributed to Florida, similar to the blue plaques that are found in the United Kingdom. A total of 385 persons were so honored. The historians on the Great Floridians 2000 Committee approved or rejected applications, which included a section for specifying an appropriate historical property on which the marker would be mounted.
In 2007, the legislature resurrected, revised, and formalized the program in a Florida statute: [3]
267.0731 Great Floridians Program.--The division (Florida Department of State) shall establish and administer a program, to be entitled the Great Floridians Program, which shall be designed to recognize and record the achievements of Floridians, living and deceased, who have made major contributions to the progress and welfare of this state. [3]
Under the Statute, each year at least two people who have had an outstanding impact on Florida are nominated by an ad hoc committee of representatives of the Governor, each member of the Florida Cabinet, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Director of the Division of Historical Resources. Subsequently, the Secretary of State chooses among them. [3]
Ten persons named in the new program were previously included in the Great Floridian 2000 program: Mary McLeod Bethune, Lawton M. Chiles, Henry Morrison Flagler, John Gorrie, Ben Hill Griffin, Jr., Spessard Holland, Zora Neale Hurston, May Mann Jennings, Dick Pope, Sr. and James Van Fleet.
As of 2013, 89 people had been honored.
On April 12, 2013, Governor Rick Scott presented Tim Tebow with the award at TPC at Sawgrass, just prior to Tebow's charity gala and golf tournament, attended by numerous celebrities and sports figures. Wayne Huizenga was similarly honored but with less fanfare. [4] Less than two weeks later, 21 additional persons were named in a press release on the governor's webpage. [5] Contrary to F.S. 267.0731, "Scott single-handedly chose most of the latest group," [6] according to an article in the Tampa Bay Times. [6]
Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. was an American businessman and entrepreneur. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League, and the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball.
Reubin O'Donovan Askew was an American politician, who served as the 37th governor of the U.S. state of Florida from 1971 to 1979. He led on tax reform, civil rights, and financial transparency for public officials, maintaining an outstanding reputation for personal integrity.
The government of Florida is established and operated according to the Constitution of Florida and is composed of three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the governor of Florida and the other elected and appointed constitutional officers; the legislative branch, the Florida Legislature, consisting of the Senate and House; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Florida and lower courts. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, and ratification.
The Nebraska Hall of Fame officially recognizes prominent individuals from the State of Nebraska. Twenty-six busts located on the second floor of the Nebraska State Capitol commemorate members of the Hall of Fame. Nebraska Medal of Honor recipients are also members of the Nebraska Hall of Fame. A plaque with the names of Medal of Honor recipients is located in Memorial Chamber—the fourteenth floor of the capitol.
The Ephriam M. Baynard House is a historic home in Auburndale, Florida, located at 208 West Lake Avenue. On November 10, 2001, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and houses the Baynard House Museum.
Lewis Alexander Hester, III was a public administrator in Jacksonville, Florida. He "was the consummate no-nonsense administrator, the very best in his field," according to M. C. Harden III, past chairman of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, influential in designing the city government of Jacksonville and managing it through the terms of three of Jacksonville's mayors. He served as the county Manager of Broward and Orange County and as City Manager of Duval County. He was largely responsible for the Blueprint for Consolidation which was a guide for cities all over the United States.
Lassie Moore Goodbread was an American farmer and educator who, in 1925, became the first woman to enroll at the University of Florida in the College of Agriculture. In 2000, Goodbread was named a Great Floridian by the State of Florida.
Jaquelin James Daniel, known professionally as J. J. Daniel, was an American lawyer, businessman, civic leader, and newspaper publisher. He was born and lived most of his life in Jacksonville, Florida, where he led the effort that resulted in the Jacksonville Consolidation of 1968, which combined city and county governments to improve services. He was known in his lifetime as one of the city's and state's most politically powerful people.
John Broward Culpepper was an important influence on university education in Florida. He was designated a Great Floridan in 2000.
Timothy Richard Tebow is an American professional baseball player in the New York Mets organization, former professional football quarterback, and broadcaster. He played college football for the University of Florida, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2007 and appearing on BCS National Championship-winning teams during the 2006 and 2008 seasons. In the National Football League, Tebow played for the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets. He is a minor league outfielder in the New York Mets organization. Tebow is known for his outspoken Christian faith as well as his athletic prowess; his practice of genuflecting in prayer on the football field has become known as "Tebowing".
May Austin Elizabeth Mann Jennings was one of Florida's most powerful and influential women. She was a leader of organizations, both civic and philanthropic, and founder of the League of Women Voters of Florida. Her father, Austin Mann, was a state senator and later, when he ran for and was elected state representative she worked as his assistant. She was the First Lady of Florida as wife of Florida Governor William Sherman Jennings and is credited with having advanced his political career significantly through relationships gained while working for her father and through her many activities.
Bert Fish was an American judge, real-estate operator, finance director, philanthropist, and ambassador.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Florida may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas on June 26, 2003, and same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since January 6, 2015. Florida statutes do not address discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. However, the Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia established that employment discrimination against LGBT people is illegal. In addition, several cities and counties, comprising about 55% of Florida's population, have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances. These include Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Tallahassee, among others. Conversion therapy is also banned in a number of cities in the state, mainly in the Miami metropolitan area.
The 2014 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014 to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Florida.
Jesse Michael Panuccio is an American attorney and government official. He served as the acting United States Associate Attorney General in 2017 and again from February 2018 to May 2019. He previously served as general counsel to Governor Rick Scott of Florida and as the executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
Louise Kelley Frisbie (1913–1989) was a newspaper columnist, author, historian and educator. She was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1913 and moved to Bartow, Florida in 1935 after graduating from Florida Southern College. She worked at Summerlin Institute for three years before joining the Polk County Democrat, where her husband worked.
The 2018 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the next Governor of Florida, alongside an election to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and other state and local elections. Incumbent two-term Republican Governor Rick Scott was term-limited and could not run for a third term.
Charlotte E. Maguire was the first woman doctor in Orlando, Florida, and opened the first pediatric practice run by a woman in Orlando in 1946. She was one of the founders of the University of Florida College of Medicine as well as the Florida State University College of Medicine. Maguire was denoted as a “Great Floridian” in a 2013 ceremony and was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame posthumously in 2015.
Felony disenfranchisement in Florida is currently a contentious political issue in Florida. Though the general principle of felony disenfranchisement is not in dispute, the disenfranchisement of people who had been convicted of a felony and have served their sentence — that includes prison, bail and parole — but continue being barred from voting if they have outstanding fines, fees or restitution obligations is in contention. Prior to January 8, 2019, when Amendment 4 came into effect, people convicted of a felony effectively lost their right to vote for life, as it could only be restored by the governor as an act of clemency, which rarely occurred. Florida was one of four states with a lifetime ban, the others being Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia.