Did you know the City of Fellsmere was the first city in Florida to allow women to vote - five years before the 19th Amendment?

Mrs. Zena Dreier was the first woman in Fellsmere to cast a ballot. She also was the first woman in the State of Florida, and south of the Mason-Dixon Line, to vote in a municipal election. This historic event was made possible not just by a progressive municipal charter, but also by legislative oversight. When the city submitted its charter to the state Legislature for ratification in 1915, no one, including the governor, noticed it gave unrestricted voting rights to women. The charter was passed and Mrs. Dreier cast her vote on June 19, 1915. The election was also the first in the nation to allow corporations the right to vote. Mr. E. Nelson Fell of the Fellsmere Farms Company cast the first ballot for a corporation.

The City of Fellsmere unveiled a Florida Heritage site marker on August 28, 2004, to commemorate the historic election. The city's unveiling celebration was held to coincide with Women's Equality Day and the anniversary of the 19th Amendment. The amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting full voting rights to women was passed on August 26, 1920.

Reprinted from Quality Cities September/October 2004

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