Florida's Female Citrus Angels

            It’s no secret that the majority of the inductees in the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame are male. That’s why I was so intrigued to find a few women within the sea of citrus industry loving men. There are four women who shine just as brightly as the rest of their male colleagues. So far, Anita Bryant, Lena Hughes, Thelma C. Raley, and Nancy Gurnett Hardy are the only four female inductees in the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, and they made some amazing contributions to Florida’s citrus industry.

In 1988, Anita Bryant was the first female to be inducted to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. She was the longest spokesperson for the Florida citrus industry, serving for twelve years. With numerous appearances on television commercials, print advertisements, and the use of her song, “Come to the Florida Sunshine Tree” as the theme for Florida Citrus, it is no surprise that Bryant earned the nickname, “The Sunshine-Tree Girl.” Florida orange juice sales increased significantly thanks to her work and dedication to the citrus industry.¹

Bryant wasn’t the only woman with firsts when it came to the citrus industry, though.

Lena Hughes, inducted in 1993, had several firsts in the citrus industry world to be proud of. She was the first woman to serve on the Orange Citrus Extension Advisory Committee, as well as the Growers Administrative Committee, and even the only woman on the fund-raising committee for the Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Hall at the Citrus Research and Education Center. Hughes contributed and “conducted valuable horticultural research to improve breeding strains of Valencia oranges.” Thanks to her donation of time and money, the Hughes Valencia orange budwood strain was able to continue developing, eventually accounting for about a half of Florida Valencia oranges since 1973.²

So, if you’ve enjoyed Valencia oranges, you can thank Hughes.

Then Thelma C. Raley came along, inducted in 1998, and she is recognized as one of the top women citrus growers in all of Florida’s history. She ran her own citrus grove, as well as her late husband’s grove, by herself at a time when the citrus business had no place for women. As a reward to her perseverance, though, Raley eventually owned and ran over 1,000 acres of citrus groves and a booming business. She also served as member of Florida Citrus Mutual and on the Board of Directors of organizations like Dundee Citrus Growers Association. Raley was called a top female grower, largest female grower of tangerines, and one of the only females to be involved at the grower level of running a citrus business.³

Even if Raley wasn’t one of the first women, she was definitely a top one.

Last, but certainly not least, there was Nancy Gurnett Hardy, inducted in 2002. From the age of seven, Hardy was involved in the citrus industry, helping her father, Jack Gurnett, with the Florida Citrus Reporter. After her father’s death, Hardy continued his work, eventually being known as the best citrus reporter. Her work appeared in several newspapers, from the Winter Haven News Chief and Lakeland Ledger, to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. She even became the senior writer for the Citrus Industry Magazine. She received many awards for her work, even being named Woman of the Year in Florida Agriculture in 1998. When she was inducted to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, though, she joined her dad and made the first and only father-daughter pair, so far. ⁴

Hardy could sure write about citrus!

            Although there are certainly many respectable men who made extraordinary contributions to the Florida citrus industry in the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, these women definitely stand out. The contributions that Anita Bryant, Lena Hughes, Thelma C. Raley, and Nancy Gurnett Hardy made to the citrus industry were completely different from one another, but they were surely important to the history of the Florida citrus industry.

Hopefully, we haven’t seen the last woman to be inducted to the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame.

Who knows? Maybe even I will be! (Though I highly doubt it…)

Written by Selys Rivera

Student Fellow at the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame

In partnership with Florida Southern College’s McKay Archives Center

For more information on the inductees, please visit the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame website Inductees section.

Sources:

¹ Rebecca Meyer, “Anita Bryant (1940),” Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, accessed October 10, 2014, http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=629.

² Ashleah Zigmond, “Dr. Lena Smithers Hughes (1905-1987), Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, accessed October 10, 2014, http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=743.

³ Susan Roberts, “Dr. Thelma C. Raley (1912-2006),” Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, accessed October 10, 2014, http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=734.

⁴ Rebecca Meyer, “Dr. Nancy Gurnett Hardy (1932-2003),” Florida Citrus Hall of Fame, accessed October 10, 2014, http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=722.