| February 11, 1916: |
Born Florynce Rae Kennedy in Kansas City, Missouri, to
Wiley and Zella Kennedy; 2nd daughter of 5 |
| 1934: |
Graduates at the top of her class from Lincoln High School
in Kansas City; works a variety of jobs including owning a
hat shop, singing on a radio show, and operating an elevator. |
| 1942: |
Her mother dies; she moves to New York City to live with
her sister Grayce |
| 1944: |
enrolls at Columbia University |
| 1948: |
graduates from Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in pre-law
with an “A” average |
| 1948: |
applies for admission to Columbia Law School; institution
initially rejects her;
she argues that her denial was because of her race and
threatened to fight it; the
university changes its decision and admits her. |
| 1951: |
obtains law degree and works as a clerk in a law firm |
| 1954: |
establishes her own office |
| 1957: |
though not a strong supporter of marriage, marries Charles
Dudley Dye; marriage quickly dissolves due to his alcoholism;
no children were born to this marriage and Kennedy never remarries |
| 1959-60: |
begins to doubt law profession; felt the courts were
racist and bigoted and that justice could never be found; “Not
only was I not earning a decent living, there
began to be a serious question in my mind whether practicing
law could ever be an
effective means of changing society or even of simple
resistance to oppression. " —Florynce Kennedy, 1976 on her law profession |
| 1960s: |
begins political involvement |
| 1966 |
founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) |
| 1966: |
creates the Media Workshop, the purpose of which was
to fight discrimination
in and through the media |
| 1967: |
Attends an anti-war convention in Montreal, became angry
because they
wouldn’t let Bobby Seale speak (radical who wanted to
talk about racism, instead of limiting the discussion to the war),
decides to take the platform and started protesting; as a result,
she was invited to speak out in Washington (*marks the beginning of her
speaking career) |
| 1968: |
protests with Radical Women (organized in 1967)
at the Atlantic City Miss
America pageant during which feminists were labeled
“bra burners” |
| 1971: |
forms the Feminist Party whose first order of business
was to support Shirley
Chisholm as a presidential candidate |
| 1972: |
moves to San Francisco, CA |
| 1972: |
files complaint against the Catholic Church;
she believed that the catholic
church violated the tax-exempt requirements in
that it spent money to influence
political decisions, particularly those that dealt
with the abortion issue; her complaint was that the church’s
activities were unconstitutional in that they violated the basic principles
of the first amendment regarding the separation of church and state and
they denied the same type of equal protection under the law by denying
tax-exempt status to groups who did less lobbying; nothing more is
known about the outcome of this lawsuit |
| 1975: |
founded the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO);
delivers speech at
their first conference |
| 1976: |
co-authored one of the first books on abortion, Abortion
Rap |
| 1976: |
autobiography is published, Color Me Flo: My Hard
Life and Good Times
1976-today: still on the speaking
scene |
