Marjory
Stoneman Douglas was an eminent conservationist and writer.
Marjory
Stoneman Douglas was born in 1890 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She
was raised in the state of Massachusetts. Her father Frank Stoneman
was the first publisher of the Miami Herald. She was educated
at Wellesley College.
She
was most associated with battles to save the Florida Everglades
from draining and overdevelopment, during which times she organized
benefits and various marches. Her book The Everglades: River of
Grass, written in 1947, has gone through numerous editions. It
galvanized people to protect the Everglades. At the age of 78,
she founded Friends of the Everglades, an organization which is
still at the forefront of Florida conservation.
She
continued to be active into her second century, and was honored
with the naming of a high school in her honor, Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In 1993, she was awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to
a civilian.
Marjory
Stoneman Douglas died at the age of 108 in 1998. Up until the
end, her mind was sharp and she closely followed the fate of her
beloved Everglades. |
