Fowler, Tillie K. (Tillie Kidd), 1942-2005

<p>Tillie Kidd Fowler (December 23, 1942 – March 2, 2005) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from Florida's 4th congressional district from 1993 to 2001.</p>

<p>Tillie Kidd was born in Milledgeville, Georgia on December 23, 1942. Her father, Culver Kidd Jr., served in the Georgia General Assembly for 46 years, including 16 years in the state house and 30 in the state senate. Her brother, Rusty Kidd, served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2009 to 2017. She graduated from Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1960 before earning her undergraduate degree from Emory University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, in 1964.[1] She earned a law degree from the Emory University School of Law three years later. Her father had encouraged her to attend law school because she was a fairly outspoken woman by the standards of the time. She was admitted to the bar soon after getting her degree. No Atlanta-area law firm would hire a woman at the time, but U.S. Representative Robert G. Stephens Jr. of Georgia hired her as a legislative assistant for three years. She then worked as general counsel in the White House Office of Consumer Affairs until 1971.</p>

<p>In 1971, she married and moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where she changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, to her father's chagrin. She was active in volunteer activities and the area Junior League, serving as the Jacksonville chapter's president from 1982 to 1983, and was elected to the Jacksonville City Council in 1985. In 1989, Fowler became the council's president.</p>

<p>Tillie Fowler, whose roots in Florida politics ran deep, rose to become one of the highest-ranking Republican women in the House. Representative Fowler served on the influential Armed Services Committee, a key assignment since her district encompassed the Jacksonville naval facilities, before honoring a pledge to retire after four terms.</p>

<p>Tillie Kidd was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 23, 1942, daughter of Culver and Katherine Kidd. She was raised in a politically active family; her father served for more than 40 years in the Georgia state legislature. Kidd received an AB in political science from Emory University in 1964 and a JD from the Emory University School of Law in 1967; she was admitted to the bar that year. She moved to Washington, DC, to work as a legislative assistant to Representative Robert Grier Stephens Jr. of Georgia from 1967 to 1970. In 1968 she married L. Buck Fowler, and the couple lived in Washington as Tillie Fowler accepted a position as a counsel in the Richard M. Nixon White House Office of Consumer Affairs from 1970 to 1971. The Fowlers moved to Jacksonville in 1971, where they raised two daughters: Tillie Anne and Elizabeth. After more than a decade as a mother and housewife, Tillie Fowler re-entered politics. She was elected to the Jacksonville city council and served from 1985 to 1992 as its first female and, later, as its first Republican president in 1989 to 1990. She also served as chair of the Duval County tourism development council from 1989 to 1990 and chair of the Florida Endowment for the Humanities from 1989 to 1991.</p>

<p>In 1992, when Democrat Charles Edward Bennett, a 22-term Representative, announced his retirement from the House, Fowler entered the race for the northeast Florida seat, which encompassed Jacksonville and portions of St. Johns and Duval counties. Her opponent in the general election was Mattox Hair, a prominent state legislator. With a well-financed campaign that focused on congressional reform and term limits, Fowler won with 56 percent of the vote. She ran unopposed in the succeeding three elections. When she entered the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), Fowler was appointed to the Armed Services Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.</p>