Nina Hawkins was a pioneering woman editor for The St. Augustine Record and a leader in encouraging women newspaper journalists.
She began her newspaper career as a bicycle-riding society reporter for The St. Augustine Record in 1910.
During her 43-year career with the Record, she became the first hired, female journalist to be named editor of a Florida newspaper.
She was widely admired for her high editorial standards and community committment.
Her love of St. Augustine was reflected in her editorials, which she began writing in 1920. She strongly supported preservation of the city and its historic landmarks and urged readers to take an active role in that countinuing effort.
She helped start the Florida Women’s Press Club and was widely recognized for her pioneering role in encouraging and helping young women enter the field of newspaper journalism.
She was well loved in the community as a working journalist who did not let titles stand in her way. She was known as “Miss Nina” by most of St. Augustine.
