The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.
Correspondence, speech, and newspaper files are chronological. Other files are alphabetical by subject.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
WPLG/TV-10 (Miami, Florida) retains copyright to any and all audio or video material produced by that station and grants use of such material strictly for non-commercial and non-promotional activities.
Biographical/Historical:
Molly Turner (1923-2016), a pioneering television broadcaster and feminist, is a legend in Florida broadcasting history. She was among the first women television reporters and the first woman broadcaster in Florida. Her television career began in 1951 as Cousin Effie, a hillbilly comedienne-singer on the Uncle Martin show. Among the many jobs she held in the television industry are interviewer, show hostess, copywriter, salesman, newswoman, anchorwoman, program specialist, consumer advocate, and public service director.
Turner often had to break down barriers for women journalists in Florida. She is credited with "integrating" Miami's political Tiger Bay club, previously open only to male reporters. She served as founding president of the Gold Coast Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television. In 1975 she was named that organization's "Woman of the Year" and in 1986 received its "Florida Legend" award. She remained active throughout her life in many civic organizations and in the women's movement in south Florida.
During the last 15 years of her career, Turner was the premier consumer reporter in south Florida. Among the many awards she received for her work are three Emmy awards for investigative series; one on water quality, another on health clubs, and one on the Women's Rights Movement. In addition to her active television career, she served on the boards of many community agencies and civic organizations and was in the forefront of the feminist movement in south Florida. Her accomplishments would take several pages to list; the biography folder in this collection provides a comprehensive listing of her many activities, accomplishments, and awards.
Summary:
This collection contains speeches, correspondence, scripts, newspaper articles, newsletters, magazine articles, awards and photographs documenting the professional broadcasting career of Molly Turner from the beginning of her career in radio and television in the late 1940s and continues through her retirement in 1989 and subsequent years. The collection documents nearly a 40-year period of Turner's career as entertainer, TV personality, reporter and broadcaster, as well as her involvement in many civic organizations and in the women's movement in south Florida. This collection would be especially valuable to researchers studying the role of women in the television broadcasting industry and to researchers studying the development of consumer reporting in Florida.
Of special importance are the speech files and the newspaper article files. Turner's speech files include many speeches on the role of television in society, the role of women in the television industry, and consumer advocacy. The newspaper articles cover women's issues, consumerism, and Turner's career as the first woman reporter and broadcaster in Florida.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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Subject Access Fields:
Consumer protection Florida Mass media Florida. Television Florida. Television broadcasting Florida. Television personalities Florida. Women Awards Women Florida Women's rights Florida Women broadcasters Florida. Women in the broadcasting industry Florida.
Television scripts. aat
Dade County (Fla.) Miami (Fla.)
Added Entries
WPLG-TV (Television station : Miami, Fla.)
WPST-TV (Television station : Miami, Fla.)
for detailed listing.