Great Floridian is a title bestowed upon citizens in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

by the

Florida Department of State The Secretary of State of Florida is an executive officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established since the original 1838 state constitution. Like the corresponding officials in other states, the original charge of th ...

. There were actually two formal programs. The Great Floridian 2000 program honored deceased individuals who made "significant contributions in the history and culture" of Florida (many times within a local community), the new program is more restrictive by selecting persons, ''dead or alive, who made "major contributions to the progress and welfare" of Florida.

Great Floridians 2000

The Florida Department of State and the Florida League of Cities created the program in 1998, and it ran to 2000. The process bestowed commemorative blue plaques in Florida to honor deceased individuals who significantly contributed to Florida, similar to the

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

s that are found in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. A total of 385 persons were so honored. The historians on the Great Floridians 2000 Committee approved or rejected applications, which included a section for specifying an appropriate historical property on which the marker would be mounted.

Great Floridians Program

In 2007, the legislature resurrected, revised, and formalized the program in a Florida statute:

267.0731 Great Floridians Program.--The division (Florida Department of State) shall establish and administer a program, to be entitled the Great Floridians Program, which shall be designed to recognize and record the achievements of Floridians, living and deceased, who have made major contributions to the progress and welfare of this state.

Under the Statute, each year at least two people who have had an outstanding impact on Florida are nominated by an ad hoc committee of representatives of the Governor, each member of the Florida Cabinet, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Director of the Division of Historical Resources. Subsequently, the Secretary of State chooses among them. Ten persons named in the new program were previously included in the ''Great Floridian 2000'' program:

Mary McLeod Bethune Mary Jane McLeod Bethune ( McLeod; July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was an American educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, womanist, and civil rights activist. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935, established the organi ...

, Lawton M. Chiles,

Henry Morrison Flagler Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...

John Gorrie John B. Gorrie (October 3, 1803 – June 29, 1855) was a Nevisian-born American physician and scientist, credited as the inventor of mechanical refrigeration. Early life Born on the Island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands of the West Indies t ...

Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Ben Hill Griffin Jr. (October 20, 1910 – March 1, 1990) was a prominent American businessman, citrus producer, politician, and philanthropist who was a native and resident of Florida. He was an alumnus of the University of Florida, a former le ...

Spessard Holland Spessard Lindsey Holland (July 10, 1892 – November 6, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 28th Governor of Florida from 1941 to 1945, and later as a US senator for Florida from 1946 to 1971. He would be the first per ...

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on hoodoo. The most popular of her four n ...

May Mann Jennings May Mann Jennings (born May Austin Elizabeth Mann; April 25, 1872 – April 24, 1963) was an American activist who was the first lady of Florida from 1901 to 1905. As one of Florida's most powerful and influential women, she was a leader ...

Dick Pope, Sr. Richard Downing Pope Sr. (April 19, 1900 – January 28, 1988), better known as Dick Pope, was the founder of Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida. He was also known as "Mr. Florida" and "Mr. Water Skiing." He played a key role in the develop ...

and

James Van Fleet General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and gradu ...

. As of 2013, 89 people had been honored.

Scott actions

On April 12, 2013, Governor Rick Scott presented Tim Tebow with the award at TPC at Sawgrass, just prior to Tebow's charity gala and golf tournament, attended by numerous celebrities and sports figures.

Wayne Huizenga Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr. (; December 29, 1937 – March 22, 2018) was an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He founded AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., and was the owner or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the Miami ...

was similarly honored but with less fanfare. Less than two weeks later, 21 additional persons were named in a press release on the governor's webpage. Contrary to F.S. 267.0731, "Scott single-handedly chose most of the latest group," according to an article in the

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Florida Division of Historical Resources: Great Floridians 2000 Program

Great Floridian Program
Government of Florida 1998 establishments in Florida