Katherine Bell Tippetts

Emily Katherine Bell Tippetts (March 11, 1865 – December 20, 1950) was an American businesswoman, clubwoman, and conservationist based in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was one of the first women to run for a seat in the Florida legislature, in 1922. As the founder and president of the St. Petersburg chapter of the National Audubon Society for over 30 years, and in various statewide and national leadership positions with women's clubs, Tippetts helped establish protective legislation and bird sanctuaries throughout Florida.

Early life Emily Katherine Bell was born in Marion Station, Maryland, the daughter of Nathaniel Thomas Bell and Julia Frances Hawkes Bell. through Isaac Allerton, a lieutenant-governer under William Bradford.

Career Audubon Society and conservation work Tippetts moved to Florida in 1902, one of the city's "pioneers" and proprietor of the Belmont Hotel. holding the first meeting in her hotel, and was the chapter's president for over 30 years, until she retired from the post in 1940. She was also the first woman president of the Florida Audubon Society, serving from 1920 to 1924. she successfully petitioned the state to form the Florida Fish and Game Commission, "Mrs. Tippetts said that she would rather have a tree named for her, than anything else, except perhaps her child and grandchild," according to a 1928 account. She was chair of the Nature Study and Wildlife Refuges committee (1924 to 1928) and chair of the Division of Conservation (1928 to 1932) of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. In 1922, Tippetts became one of the first two women to run for a seat in the Florida legislature. She was defeated finishing second out of four. She was vice president of the American Forestry Association, and president of the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs from 1926 to 1928. She chaired the Florida Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the Florida State Reclamation Board, and served as a trustee of both the National Park Association and the National Camp Fire Girls. She also organized the city's first Boy Scout troop and renamed the nearby Reservoir Lake to Mirror Lake in honor of her late husband's newspaper, the Lake George Mirror.

Writing Under the pen-name "Jerome Cable", Tippetts published a novel, Prince Arengzeba: A Romance of Lake George (1892).

Personal life Bell married newspaperman William Henry Tippetts in 1890, and moved to Florida for his health in 1902; he died in 1909. They had three sons and a daughter. There is a park in St. Petersburg named in her memory.