A seventh-generation Tallahassee resident, Doby Flowers attended Florida State University (FSU), receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 1971 and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning in 1973. Doby Flowers is best known for being crowned FSU’s first African American homecoming queen in 1970.
In her words, “It wasn’t a beauty contest… We broke the barrier to education with the first Black student, we broke the barrier to athletics with Fred being the first black athlete in Southern majority university, but for social mores, which the homecoming queen was the epitome of and recognition of beauty.”
It wasn’t about looking pretty, it was a political statement, saying we’ve got to break this last bastion.”
Doby Flowers Becomes Homecoming Queen
Flowers aimed to make a significant impact and bring about change, and she succeeded. In 1970, of the 18,000 students enrolled in the university, only 35 were Black. It was impossible for her to win solely based on votes from the Black student population. Though the odds, demographically, were not in her favor, she achieved a historic victory.
After graduating, the Flowers siblings decided to stay in Tallahassee. In 1995, Doby purchased the Magnolia Leaf House in Thomasville, Georgia, and worked to preserve the home and its history. Shortly after, she opened the Magnolia Leaf Bed and Breakfast, which is still in operation today. Then, in 1997, she joined her brother at his law firm, Flowers Law, LLC, as firm manager.
FSU’s Civil Rights Institute
In more recent news for Doby Flowers, in 2018, she along with her brother Fred, co-founded the Civil Rights Institute at FSU. Located in the Gus A Stavros Center, this institute is committed to researching civil rights in America and encouraging social change.
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