LaShawn D. Riggans Presented the 2023 Rose Deeb Kitchen Award

December 1, 2023

Rose Deeb Kitchen (1909-1993) was born to Lebanese immigrants and raised in a traditional Arab household as the 5th of 11 children. The Deeb children were traditionally taken out of school by third or fourth grade, but Rose-with the help of her brother Charles-convinced her father to allow her to continue her education. After high school, she attended law classes and secretly continued her studies, often studying at night by flashlight. In 1937 Rose Deeb Kitchen was one of the first women admitted to the Florida Bar, but did not practice until 1949 when she became an Assistant Attorney General. In addition to her work and raising three children as a single mother, Rose was a founding member of Tallahassee Women Lawyers (TWL) in 1980.

Tallahassee Women Lawyers and the Deeb Kitchen family now honor Rose’s legacy with this annual award presented to a woman in the Second Judicial Circuit who has overcome significant adversity on her path to becoming an attorney. The 2023 Rose Deeb Kitchen Award was presented to LaShawn D. Riggans, November 9, 2023.

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