Navigation The Early Years – The Florida State Bar Association (1907–1949)
The 1908 annual meeting of the Florida State Bar Association was held at the Continental Hotel in Atlantic Beach on June 25-26. President Robert L. Anderson was in the chair. The treasurer reported a balance on hand of $712.10. For the subject of his annual address Anderson chose “Education in Citizenship,” and stressed the obligation which civilization owes to the legal profession in the development of democratic institutions and the protection of human rights. Continental Hotel in Atlantic Beach/State Library and Archives of Florida
As The Florida Bar celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025, we take this opportunity to look back — not only to the historic integration in 1950 that created our modern Bar — but even further, to the lawyers and organizations that laid the foundation for that momentous change.
The precursor to The Florida Bar was the Florida State Bar Association, a voluntary organization formed in 1907 by pioneering lawyers determined to elevate and organize the legal profession in Florida. For more than four decades, the voluntary association would advocate for legal reform, professionalism, ethics, and education — ultimately paving the way for the establishment of the unified, mandatory Bar in 1950.
