Edna Giles Fuller (1874 – December 28, 1952) was the first woman to serve in the

Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

. Edna Giles Fuller was born in 1874 on a farm near

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. When she was 14, she would move to Orlando to live with her uncle

James LeRoy Giles James LeRoy Giles (June 16, 1863 – May 3, 1946) was the twenty-second, twenty-fourth, and twenty-sixth Mayor of Orlando, serving non-consecutively from 1916 to 1920, 1924 to 1926, and 1929 to 1932. He also served as an alternate delegate to ...

, a businessman and a real estate investor who would be the future mayor of Orlando. She would go to high school in Orlando and later attended

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

for a year before going to "Centenary" in Columbus, Ohio where she finished her Bachelor of Arts degree. Edna would end up going to

Starke, Florida Starke is a city in and the county seat of Bradford County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,796 at the 2020 census. The origin of the city's name is disputed. Starke may have been named in honor of local landowner George W. Cole's ...

to be a teacher for a year before returning to Orlando where her uncle lived at resuming her teaching activities there. In 1904 she would marry John T. Fuller a lumberman from Tennessee who was a real estate partner of her uncle whom he met while she was away. She had two daughters before her husband died in 1912. Prior to going into office, Fuller would serve in a variety of leadership roles. During World War 1 she served as the assistant food administrator for Florida and was the president of the Florida Woman Suffrage Association. She was also a member of several women's clubs and community boards. In 1919 she ended up becoming a trustee of Rollins College. In 1928 she would run for the Florida House of Representatives under the name of "Mrs. J. T. Fuller" in the Democratic primary defeating her opponent in the primary, J.D. Beggs and was unopposed in the general election. She would be reelected for a second two-year term in 1930 with no opposition. She ran for another term in 1932 but lost to a judge named J. J. Dickinson. She died on December 28, 1952, in Orlando, Florida, and was interred at Greenwood Cemetery.

References

1874 births 1953 deaths Women state legislators in Florida Members of the Florida House of Representatives Rollins College alumni {{Florida-politician-stub