Who Was Marjory Stoneman Douglas? A Defender of the Everglades, Feminist, Short Story Writer and A Presidential Medal of Freedom Winner

Who Was Marjory Stoneman Douglas? Had a High School Named After Her, A Defender of the Everglades, Feminist, Short Story Writer and A Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

"There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth; remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like them…"

These opening words from Marjory Stoneman Douglas' immortal book The Everglades: River of Grass crystallize the uniqueness of the Everglades. These words could also be used to describe Marjory herself, who was as rare and unique as the Everglades she worked so hard to protect.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas*, born April 7, 1890 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, graduated from Wellesley with straight A’s with the elected honor of 'Class Orator.' That title proved to be prophetic.

In 1915, following a brief and calamitous marriage, she arrived in Miami to live with her father, the founder and editor of the Miami Herald. Before long her father asked her to fill in temporarily for the society editor. Marjory soon took over the job full-time, much to her delight. A year later she began to write editorials and stories. During this time she met Carl Fisher, George Merrick, William Jennings Bryan, Cyrus H.K.Curtis, Henry Flagler and John Sewell, among others.

WORLD WAR I

It was 1917 and the First World War was raging in Europe. The Navy had sent a ship from Key West to Miami to enlist men and women into the Naval Reserve. Marjory went to cover the story of a local woman she heard about, who was to be the first woman to enlist. As it turned out, Marjory herself was the first woman to enlist. She joined the Navy, became a yeoman first class, and was stationed in Miami. After a year, she was discharged, joined the American Red Cross and went to Paris. The war ended, but Marjory stayed on in Paris. She traveled around Europe and wrote stories about the turning over of Red Cross clinics to the local authorities. As the Red Cross was closing down in Paris, her father cabled to offer her a job as an assistant editor of the Miami Herald.

THE MIAMI HERALD

Marjory arrived back in Miami in January, 1920. She worked on the editorial page and had a column called "The Galley" for three years. She wrote poetry at the head of every column. It was in her column that she began to talk about Florida as landscape and as geography, to investigate it and to explore it.

Toward the end of 1923 Marjory was feeling the pressure of friction between her and the publisher, disagreements with her father, and the demands of writing stories and her column. She began to experience blackouts. She was diagnosed with nerve fatigue. She left the Herald and lived at her father's new home. She recovered by being quiet, sleeping late and by beginning to write short stories. The Saturday Evening Post published her early stories, along with those of Fitzgerald and Hemingway. This was the beginning of her independence from the newspaper. As she said, writing fiction was the perfect job for her. She hadn't been a good employee, she hadn't liked regular hours, or being told what to do, or working for other people. She was a loner. She wanted to be an individual rather than an employee or merely a female.

HOUSE ON STEWART AVENUE

In 1926 Marjory, with some help from her friends, designed and built the cottage in which she lived for the rest of her life. It was a great influence on her life. Here, Marjory took on the fight for feminism, racial justice, and conservation long before these causes became popular. Her social life blossomed during these years. She loved to swim, and would frequent Tahaiti Beach, and later Matheson Hammock, in the big lagoon.

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK

One project that Marjory supported in print and by serving on the committee was the creation of Everglades National Park. Mr. Ernest F. Coe was the moving force behind this idea. David Fairchild, John Oliver LaGorce of National Geographic magazine and other notables served on this committee. She visited the Everglades often. In the Ten Thousand Islands at the edge of the Everglades, she saw "great flocks of birds, amazing flights of 30,000 to 40,000 in one swoop…" In 1934 the park was designated by Congress. It took another 13 years to acquire land and secure funding. The park officially opened in 1947.

THE EVERGLADES: RIVER OF GRASS

One of Marjory's long-time friends, Hervey Allen, dropped by her house to see her. He was the editor, for Rinehart and Company, of its Rivers of America series. He asked Marjory to write a book about the Miami River. She asked him if she could write about the Everglades as being connected to the Miami River. He agreed. Thus began Marjory's research into the Everglades ecosystem. The book took five years. It was published the same year Everglades National Park was dedicated, 1947. The Everglades: River of Grass has become the definitive description of the natural treasure she fought so hard to protect. After several reprints, the revised edition was published in 1987, to draw attention to the continuing threats — unresolved — to "her river."

In 1948 Marjory began to get money from her book. During this time she traveled, spent a little money and wrote. She corresponded with Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and they became friends. Marjory was asked by Rinehart Publishers to write another book, this one about hurricanes. It was published in 1958. Other books followed. At the age of 77 Marjory embarked on research to write a biography of W.H.Hudson. She traveled and wrote, but her eyesight failed, and it was given to an editor.

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