Florida NOW chapters across the state are invited to take part in our Women’s Heritage Trail Picture Contest.
This is an opportunity to bring your chapter together, explore women’s history across Florida, and help document the stories of women who have shaped our communities, movements, and collective future.
The Florida Women’s Heritage Trail includes more than 100 women and historic sites across the state, offering chapters countless opportunities to participate and learn.
Use the Florida Women’s Heritage Trail guide provided by the state of Florida, which organizes sites across North, Central, and South Florida, to help plan your visits.
Visit as many eligible sites as you can and take a photo with chapter member(s) at each location.
A minimum of 3 pictured sites is required to participate.
The chapter that visits the most eligible sites by June 30, 2026 will be named the winner.
Why This Matters
Documenting the Women’s Heritage Trail is about more than a contest.
At a time when public history, education, and community memory are increasingly under attack, it is critical that we continue to preserve and uplift the stories of women, feminists, organizers, and movement leaders across Florida.
Official records and government institutions do not always fully reflect the histories of grassroots activism, reproductive justice, labor organizing, racial justice, and feminist leadership that shaped our state.
By visiting these sites and sharing photos, chapters help create a living community record that exists beyond government institutions and official narratives.
This project identifies over 100 sites and women significant to the state’s development, including activists, authors, and reformers.
- Civil Rights & Suffrage: Black women leaders like Mary McLeod Bethune and Eartha M. M. White worked to register voters despite intimidation following the 19th Amendment.
- Environmentalists: Conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas worked to preserve the Everglades.
- Native & Spanish Heritage: The Women of Fort Mose (1738–1763) were part of the first free African settlement, and figures like Paulina Pedroso in Ybor City supported Cuban independence.
- Military & Wartime Service: During WWII, thousands of women trained in Daytona Beach, marking an important chapter in Florida women’s history. (We are excluding the Confederate monuments.)
- Many “Firsts” in Florida History:
- Betty Mae Jumper: First female chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
- Gwendolyn Sawyer Cherry: First Black woman legislator in Florida.
- Rhea Grossman: First woman on the Florida Supreme Court.
- Jacqueline Cochran: First woman to break the sound barrier.
Important Note on Eligible Sites
Please note that Confederate-related monuments or sites listed in the state guide will not be counted as part of this contest.
We ask chapters to please do not visit or submit photos from Confederate-related sites for the contest.
Participation Perks
Every participating chapter that completes visiting and photographing 3 sites will receive:
- 10 purple and yellow scarves
- A free table at the Florida NOW Conference
Grand Prize for the Winning Chapter
The chapter with the most sites visited by June 30, 2026 will receive:
- Free ad in the Conference Program
- Free table at the Conference
- $150 donation to the chapter
- Recognition at the August 2026 Florida NOW Conference Luncheon
- 10 purple and yellow scarves
- 10 purple umbrellas
How to Participate
- Use the Florida Women’s Heritage Trail guide
- Visit at least 3 eligible sites
- Take a photo with chapter member(s) at each site
- Submit your photos: here
- Continue visiting sites through June 30, 2026
Ready to Hit the Trail?
Gather your chapter, plan your route, and start documenting Florida’s women’s history.
Whether it’s a local outing or a chapter road trip, every site visited helps preserve the stories of women and movements that shaped our state.
The more sites your chapter visits, the better your chance of winning.
We can’t wait to see your photos from across Florida!