Emma Quintilla Geer Bruton (1907-1989) was a philanthropist, author, library advocate, the namesake for the Bruton Memorial Library in

Plant City, Florida Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 39,764 at the 2020 census. Despite ma ...

, as well as that for Bruton-Geer Hall at the

University of Florida Levin College of Law The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

Early life

Geer was born in

Walton, Kentucky Walton is a home rule-class city in Boone and Kenton counties in the U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmenta ...

, and moved to Florida in 1923. She graduated from Plant City High School as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

in 1926 and attended Tampa Business College and Brewster Vocational School. She married James Bruton Jr. in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, in 1932. He worked as a county judge for Hillsborough County. The two of them purchased 50 acres of land northwest of Plant City, Florida, and named it Audubon Acres. There they created a peaceful bird and wildlife sanctuary. Bruton was president of Woman's Club of Plant City, and when

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis ...

was built through the middle of Audubon Acres, she turned her attentions to library advocacy.

Library advocacy

As chairman of the Plant City's Woman's Club, Bruton started the Plant City library, and then went on to develop the countywide library in Hillsborough County. She set up the county's first library board and served as committee's chairman on that board for 12 years. The Tampa library was built in 1960 during her tenure, as well as many satellite branches, including Ruskin, Brandon and

Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mai ...

. Prior to 1960, Tampa's only library was a 2000 volume collection in a former house to serve a city of over 100,000 people. Bruton served on the Florida State Library Board from 1961 to 1969 and as the board's chairman in 1961 and 1962. For her work with library advocacy she received the Book of the Month Club's Dorothy Canfield Fisher Library award for Florida on behalf of the Plant City Public Library in 1963.

Legacy

Bruton was a founder of the East Hillsborough Historical Society, which maintains the Quintilla Geer Bruton Archives Center. The Plant City Public Library was named the Quintilla Geer Bruton Memorial Library between 1989 and 1994 when the name was changed to the Bruton Memorial Library to encompass the contributions of both her and her husband. She and her husband gave $1.13 million to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in 1982 after selling Audubon Acres, on which I-4 was eventually built. Bruton-Geer Hall at the

Levin College of Law The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...

, completed in 1984, is named in honor of her and her husband. She also was a well-noted local author in Plant City, FL. Mrs. Geer co-authored the book
Plant City: Its Origin and History
'' Her other works, including many papers, are currently held at the Special Collections Department at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

Works

* ''Plant City: Its Origin and History''. Plant City, L: East Hillsborough Historical Society, 1984. With David E Bailey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruton, Quintilla Geer 1907 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American philanthropists Clubwomen People from Plant City, Florida People from Walton, Kentucky