St. Petersburg is celebrated for its fabulous weather, beautiful vistas, world-class food scene, and thriving cultural atmosphere, but the people of St. Pete truly make this city something special. In appreciation, each month Green Bench Monthly shines a light on one of the many people who make our city unique.
This month we’re doing something different by reaching back into history. In honor of Women’s History Month, we are turning our attention to Katherine Bell Tippetts. Privately educated, fluent in five languages, and a published author, Tippetts arrived in St. Petersburg with her husband and four children in 1902. But it was her path after her husband’s death in 1909 that brought her to our attention.
“The most remarkable woman”
Historian Ray Arsenault once described Katherine Tippetts as “the most remarkable woman in St. Pete.” It’s easy to see why. After her husband’s death, she took over the operations of the downtown Belmont Hotel and the couple’s other real estate holdings. As a savvy businesswoman with extensive experience in public affairs, she also was the first woman to run for the Florida Legislature. In 1921, she noted: “The time is not far distant when a generous sprinkling of women will grace the two houses…as the people’s representatives.” Tippetts placed second in that race, but the loss didn’t stop her. Instead, she continued working tirelessly to protect what was special about St. Petersburg, and Florida as a whole, while also pushing for quality-of-life reforms. She accomplished this through leadership roles in groups ranging from the Woman’s Town Improvement Association and the Florida Federation of Woman’s Clubs to the YWCA and American Forestry Association.
A Visionary
Tippetts’ most enduring legacy is the St. Petersburg Audubon Society (SPAS). She founded and directly presided over the organization for 31 years, helping to lead the movement to preserve and protect the environment. Concerned about the impact of growth on natural resources, she fought to legislate protections for wildlife and plants in Florida and beyond, from pelicans, robins, and the pied-billed grebe to a swath of the Everglades. Locally, this lobby produced more than 10 bird sanctuaries by 1920 in Pinellas County alone. The Audubon Society also was instrumental in the 1912 establishment of the Florida Fish & Game Commission and passage of the Migratory Bird Act of 1913. Seeking to gain support through education, Tippetts also spearheaded the campaign that added mandatory bird study to Florida public education, and she penned a lengthy pamphlet called Birds of the States. More than 50 years before the first Earth Day in 1970, Tippetts committed her considerable talents and energy to protecting our environment. We still owe a debt of gratitude for that foresight.
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