Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

People, Site

Location

117 W Duval St, Jacksonville, FL 32202, USA

Lat/Long

30.330105, -81.6592408

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

In 1912, suffragist Florence Murphy Cooley helped to establish the Florida Equal Franchise League, serving as chair of the committee charged with writing the league’s constitution and by-laws and being named first vice-president of the league. A July 10, 1912 edition of the Tampa Times reported on the formation of the league and noted:

…the object of the organization shall be to advance the industrial, legal and educational rights of women, to study civics, to promote civic improvements and to secure the equal franchise by appropriate state and national legislation.

The league worked for women’s suffrage by organizing local suffrage groups throughout the state, distributing suffrage literature, hosting suffrage speakers, and lobbying state legislators.

By circa 1914, the Florida Equal Franchise League was headquartered in the Cohen Bros. Store on Duval Street in Jacksonville, Florida. A September 7, 1914 edition of the Pensacola News Journal explained that the league was given the space “through the courtesy of Mr. J. E. Cohen of Cohen Bros.” and claimed that this was the “first Suffrage headquarters in Florida.”

As of 2022, the former Cohen Bros. Store on Duval Street served as the location of City Hall for the City of Jacksonville.