C. Bette Wimbish

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C. Bette Wimbish was one of the leading African American woman activists in Florida promoting the desegregation of schools and civil equality. She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Tampa, Florida, and soon applied for school at the University of Pennsylvania. However, Wimbish was turned down as a result of her race. Discouraged but determined, Wimbish began working towards a degree at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes, which is now known as Florida A&M. She was the first African American on the St. Petersburg City Council.  As well as being the first African American to hold a modern elected office in the Tampa Bay area, Wimbish was also the first African American female lawyer in Pinellas County, Florida.