JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – March is Women’s History Month and all month long, News4JAX is sharing the stories of local women who have inspired and educated future generations.
From philanthropists to entertainers to political leaders, this week’s featured women led the way in Northeast Florida and beyond.
Jessie Ball duPont
Jessie Ball duPont and her husband, industrialist Alfred duPont, moved to Jacksonville in 1927, and she was named the director of the Florida National Bank in 1935, the same year her husband died.
He established a substantial trust that Ball duPont administered and later used to create the Nemours Foundation and the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust.
During her life, Ball duPont also provided scholarships for hundreds of college students and donated to colleges and universities.
And the bulk of her estimated $42 million estate became the Jessie Ball duPont fund when she died in 1970. The fund issues grants that aim to help and support underrepresented populations.
Two locations in Jacksonville bear Ball duPont’s name, the Jessie Ball duPont Park on the Southbank and the Jessie Ball duPont Center downtown.
Tillie K. Fowler
Tillie Fowler and her husband, L. Buck Fowler, moved to Jacksonville in 1968.
She was active across the city, serving as the president of the Jacksonville chapter of the Junior League from 1982 to 1983.
Fowler was later elected to city council in 1985 and became City Council president in 1989.
Fowler was elected to Florida’s 4th Congressional District in 1992, becoming the first Florida Republican woman elected to the House in her own right.
She was re-elected three more times and served on the Armed Services Committee.
Fowler did not run for re-election in 2000 and died in 2005.
Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park on Roosevelt Boulevard was named for the late Congresswoman in 2005. The Tillie K. Fowler Memorial in Riverside also bears her name and was dedicated in 2009.
Ashley Greene
Actress Ashley Greene, best known for her role as vampire Alice Cullen in the “Twilight” film series, was born in Jacksonville in 1987 and was raised between Jacksonville and Middleburg.
She went to University Christian School before transferring to Samuel W. Wolfson High School when she was in the 10th grade.
Greene later moved to Los Angeles at age 17 to pursue an acting career.
In addition to the “Twilight” series, she has also made appearances in the movies “Bombshell” and “The Retirement Plan” and the TV show “Pan Am.”
Leanza Cornett
Leanza Cornett graduated from Terry Parker High School in 1989 and is in the school’s Hall of Fame.
She later attended Jacksonville University before going on to win Miss Florida in 1992 and Miss America in 1993.
She was the first Miss America to make AIDS awareness and prevention her platform.
Cornett was the first actress to play a live-action Ariel in the “Little Mermaid” stage show at Walt Disney World Resort.
She also had a career in television and hosted shows such as “Entertainment Tonight” and “New Attitudes.”
Cornett died in 2020 when she suffered a head injury in a fall at her home. She was 49.
Donna Deegan
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan was born and raised in Jacksonville, graduating from Bishop Kenny High School in 1979.
She is the cousin of former mayor Tommy Hazouri, who served from 1987 to 1991.
Deegan graduated from Florida State University and began a career in broadcast journalism. She anchored at First Coast News from 1988 through 2012.
Deegan, a three-time breast cancer survivor, created “The Donna Foundation” in 2003. It provides financial assistance and support to families living with breast cancer.
The foundation later created the “Donna Marathon,” which raises money for breast cancer research.
Deegan ran for Florida’s 4th congressional district in 2019, but lost to Rep. John Rutherford.
She later ran for Jacksonville mayor in 2023 and won in a runoff election against Daniel Davis, making history as the city’s first woman mayor.
