In the 1960s, women at UF had to wear dresses and skirts in public. They also had to be back in their dorms by 10 p.m. and could not be seen kissing men in public.
If they failed to do any one of these things, they were issued an offense slip.
Three offense slips and she was locked in her dorm for the weekend while men did what they wanted.
In 1967, fed up with what she called "male supremacy," Judith Brown, a 27-year-old UF graduate, sat in her Gainesville home on Northwest 15th Street and began writing a pamphlet that helped nationally spark the second-wave feminist fight for women's liberation.
The 32-page pamphlet called "Toward a Female Liberation Movement," published in 1968, empowered women to speak up for themselves, their bodies and their role in society beyond domesticity and the control of men.
The pamphlet was co-authored with Beverly Jones, another feminist-activist pioneer.
"It was one of the single most important pamphlets of the newly resurgent women's liberation movement," fellow feminist activist Kathie Sarachild said in an April 2010 Gainesville panel discussion on local women's activism.
On Saturday, members of National Women's Liberation, a national activist organization, are holding a commemorative luncheon for the civil rights activist and pioneering radical feminist. The event is co-sponsored by the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at UF.
Brown, a Gainesville native, died in 1991 after a three-year battle with breast cancer. Every year since, activists from Gainesville and all over the United States come back to pay her tribute.
"Women were oppressed back then, and Judy made me see that," said Carol Giardina, the event's featured speaker and a fellow women's activist. "She made me see that a traditional housewife life just wasn't fulfilling."
A professor of U.S. history and women's studies at Queens College in New York and a published author, Giardina, now in her mid-60s, will talk about Brown, her legacy and ways to strengthen the women's liberation movement.
Brown and Giardina were good friends who founded Gainesville Women's Liberation, the first women's liberation group in the South, when the pamphlet was published. Giardina said the organization served as an outlet for women to help one another realize their potential. They could achieve more than their roles as housewives.
Today, it has two chapters: one in Gainesville and one in New York City, together known as National Women's Liberation.
In the mid-'70s, Brown, also a UF law school graduate and civil rights attorney, successfully sued the Alligator for sexual discrimination and won equal pay for women journalists at the newspaper.
She was a UF Ford Fellowship scholar, but after picketing to integrate a racially segregated movie theater in Gainesville, UF revoked the fellowship. She was later reinstated.
"Judith was calling for a women's movement from all the other movements going on at the time - mainly the civil rights movement and the black power movement," said Jessica Lancia, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in women's studies at UF. "These women inspire me. We can go to college and be independent because of them."
Brown was arrested about 20 times during her activist days in the 60s and 70s, Giardina said. Giardina was fired from her job for participating in feminist protests in the late 60s.
"They wanted to change the way society viewed and treated women, and that is still our main purpose today," said 31-year-old Natalie Maxwell, chairwoman of Gainesville Women's Liberation. "We are standing on the shoulders of women, like Judith and Carol, who came before us; we have to continue their work."
"Judith Brown: Freedom Fighter" will be held from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the Pride Community Center on Northwest 13th Street and costs $20 at the door. Lunch is included.
"She was the bravest and smartest person I have ever known," Giardina said. "I value her influence on my life more than anything."
