The collection was created by Daisy Parker Flory

Daisy Parker Flory was born February 8, 1915 in Charlotte, N.C., the daughter of Julius Monrie and Daisy (Kidd) Parker. She attended Florida State College for Women (FSCW) in 1933, and earned her Bachelor's degree in History from that institution in 1937.

While she attended FSCW, she was elected to the 1936-37 Mortar Board, the first national organization honoring senior college women. Flory was editor of the Mortar Board Quarterly from 1950 to 1956, served on the Katherine Wills Coleman Fellowship Committee from 1959 to 1965, and was Parliamentarian for the Mortar Board Conventions in 1961, 1964, 1967, and 1970. In 2001, she was named the recipient of the Eighth Distinguished Lifetime Mortar Board Award.

In 1937, she began her professional career as a teacher of government and history at Leon High School. Some of her students at FSU included former governor Reubin Askew, former Supreme Court Justice Alan Sundberg, and Attorney General Jim Smith. She attended the University of Virginia, where she received her M.A. in Political Science in 1940 and Ph.D. in 1959. Flory came to FSCW in 1942, where her career took her through the academic chairs of Instructor (1942), Assistant Professor (1947), Associate Professor (1957), Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs (1969), and Dean of the Faculties (1973). In 1973, she also married Claude R. Flory, an FSU professor of English, who retired in June 1978.

In those days, it was most unusual for a woman to serve as Dean of the Faculties, but her wisdom and the respect she earned from her colleagues made her a leader in the academic world. She served during a very difficult time of student unrest (and sometimes violence) on college campuses. As Dean of the Faculties, she was responsible for coordinating University-wide academic matters including faculty promotion and tenure, administration of faculty appointments, curricular approvals, faculty and professional development programs and responses to requests from the Florida Board of Regents on academic matters.

As Dean of the Faculties, Flory was directed by President Bernard Sliger to secure for FSU "Title Nine Certification," and FSU became the first university in Florida to do so. For this achievement, she was elected to the FSU Athletic Hall of Fame-to the great amusement of family and friends who knew her lack of athletic prowess! In 1981, she received the Ross Oglesby Award for outstanding service; in 1982, the Moore-Stone Award for outstanding support of athletics; in 1983, the Herbert Morgan Award for individual service to further women's athletics and the Distinguished Service Award; and in 1984, the Seminole Award for outstanding leadership and service.

When Flory retired at the end of 1984, a special "Daisy Parker Flory Day" was declared in her honor. During the festivities, the Department of Political Science, in which Flory taught a course on Florida Government for over 40 years, conferred upon her the title of Professor Emeritus. The University also established the Daisy Parker Flory Professorship in her honor. In 1986, she received an honorary Doctoral Degree from FSU. She was very active with The Emeritus Club (graduates of 50 years or more), serving as President and Program Committee Chair. She also helped the Club raise $600,000 to establish the Edward Conradi Eminent Professorship to honor President Conradi, who served from 1909 to 1941.

For a number of years, Flory served on the Committee of Thirty whose charge is to secure funds from corporations, alumni, and others to support women in organized athletic activities in the Atlantic Coast Conference (basketball, volleyball, softball) and also to solicit increased support from the University for women in organized athletics. She and her husband Claude personally established a full scholarship for women's volleyball.

Flory has been a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Sigma Alpha, Phi Alpha Theta, and Pi Gamma Nu. She has been President of the Tallahassee Branch of AAUW and the Tallahassee Historical Society, Secretary of the Southern Political Science Association, and a member of the Governor's Study Committee on Personnel. Even at 86, she still attended the meetings of the Sesquicentennial Committee on her campus, planning for the celebration of FSU's 150th Anniversary Celebration on January 24, 2001.

Flory also served the residents of Westminster Oaks, a retirement community where she and her husband lived. She provided outstanding speakers for their Friday night Lecture Series and for the Women's Breakfasts, such as FSU Eminent Professor Dr. Leo Sandon, nationally-known professor of religion; Dr. William Warren Rogers, well-known writer of southern and regional history; Dr. James O'Brien, a meteorologist nationally-known for his research on the weather phenomena El Nino and La Nina, as well as hurricanes; Dr. Donald Horward, internationally-known expert on Napoleonic strategy who has taught at FSU and at West Point on Napoleonic campaigns; and former Governor Reuben Askew, a former Flory student and now Eminent Professor.

Her writings include:

- Background for Public Decision-Making

- Proceedings of the Pre-Session Conference for Florida Legislators held at the Florida State University, January 26-28, (Tallahassee, Fla: Institute of Governmental Research, The Florida State University 1967)

- Executive Branch in the Florida Constitution, Prepared for the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (Created by Senate Bill No. 977, Approved June 24, 1965) (Tallahassee, Fla: Institute of Governmental Research, The Florida State University, 1966)

- The Florida Executive and Constitutional Revision (Tallahassee, Fla.: Institute of Governmental Research, The Florida State University, 1967)

- John Milton, Governor of Florida (Thesis: Honors Paper, Florida State University, 1937).

FSU's Reichelt Oral History Program includes a recorded interview (with transcript), with Claude and Daisy Parker Flory.

From the guide to the Daisy Parker Flory Papers, 1929-1990, 1961-1979, (Florida State University Libraries)