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FIRST WOMAN GATOR >> LASSIE GOODBREAD-BLACK
UF FAMILY
(From left) Sara Uhrig, Edna Black Hindson and Hallie Uhrig hold a picture of the late Lassie Goodbread-Black during an interview on July 29, 2016. The photo was taken in Smathers Library at the University of Florida.
THE FIRST FULL-TIME FEMALE STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
A Lady Gator Legacy WRITTEN BY K ACEY FINCH
The first time Lassie Goodbread-Black tried to register at the University of Florida in September of 1925 she was told to step aside. Born on Aug. 24, 1904, in Lake City, Goodbread-Black’s parents instilled in her the importance of education. So, when she fell in love and wanted to marry Arthur Keith Black, a UF law student, before she was done with her college degree, her mother was hesitant. Women were only allowed to take classes at UF during the summer, but, in the spring of 1925, the Florida legislature passed a law changing that. The act allowed women to enroll in UF as long as they met three criteria: They were 21 years old, had finished two years of college and wanted to study in a major not offered at Florida State College for Women, presently known as Florida State University. 94 |
OUR TOWN MAGAZINE
MARCH/APRIL 2018
Goodbread-Black met all of the criteria: She was a junior in home economics at the all-girl college and, having grown up on a farm near Lake City, which is now a historic district, had an interest in agriculture. The new law would allow her to marry Black and stay in school. On June 20, 1925, the couple became married, promising her mother she would finish college, and moved to Gainesville. In September, Goodbread-Black waited in a long line of boys with $31 to register for fall semester classes. The first time she tried to register, she was turned down by the registrar. However, she went back the next day and successfully enrolled as the first PHOTOGRAPHY: UF PHOTOGRAPHY