"I’m a bold woman, so I persisted."

-Vivian Filer

This exhibition highlights the lives and accomplishments of eleven women from Alachua County. Women's voices can be hard to find in historical records. Often their names are lost and we only remember them by their husband's name. In some cases we could not even find a photograph of our subject. We tell their stories here to call attention to the oft forgotten contributions of women in our history. Sadly, we cannot call attention to every woman who has made an impact. These eleven women help tell the many stories of Alachua County's women.

This exhibit is dedicated to all Alachua County women. There are so many incredible women who have helped shape this area that we were hard pressed to narrow the list to the women featured here.

Thank you to all of our partners for opening their collections to us and helping to tell the stories of eleven remarkable women. We are incredibly grateful to the Department of Special & Area Studies Collections at George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida; the Robb House Medical Museum and Alachua County Medical Society; Gainesville Women’s Liberation; National Women’s Liberation; the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center; the University of Florida Levin College of Law; and the Alachua County Library District.

A special thanks to Mrs. Vivian Washington Filer for graciously welcoming us into her home and sharing her memories and photographs for this exhibition.

Lead Curator: Mackenzie Pizzio

Assistant Curator: Daniela Lopez

Curator of Collections: Kaitlyn Hof-Mahoney

Graphic Designer: Suzanne Gentilhomme

This exhibition has been sponsored in part by funding from Visit Gainesville – Alachua County, FL; The City of Gainesville; and the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council of the Arts and Culture, and the State of Florida.