FRIENDS OF THE EVERGLADES
In the 1950s, in a major construction program, a complex system of canals, levees, dams, and pump stations was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers, to provide protection from seasonal flooding to former marshland — now being used for agriculture and real estate development. Long before scientists became alarmed about the effects on the natural ecosystems of south Florida, Mrs. Douglas was railing at officials for destroying wetlands, eliminating sheet flow of water, and upsetting the natural cycles upon which the entire system depends.
Early on, she recognized that the Everglades is a system which depends not only on the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the park but also upon the Kissimmee River which feeds the lake. In 1969 she formed Friends of the Everglades. She was 79 years old and due to her failed eyesight, wore dark glasses. When Marjory started Friends of the Everglades dues were $1.00. Her purpose was to create awareness of the potential destruction of a large portion of the Everglades by a huge airport being built in the fragile wetlands. Marjory, a born advocate, said "I'll do whatever I can" to stop the airport. The airport was stopped after one runway was built. The runway still exists in the Big Cypress.
As Marjory explains in her autobiography, Voice of the River, Art Marshall taught that much of the rainfall on which South Florida counts, comes from evaporation in the Everglades. The Everglades evaporate, the moisture goes up into the clouds, the clouds are blown to the north, and the rain comes down over the Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee is fed by these rains. The lake fills up, and the excess water drains down the Caloosahatchee River into the Gulf of Mexico to the west, or through the St. Lucie River and into the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The remainder spills over the southern rim of the lake into the great arc of the Everglades.
Marjory spent the rest of her life defending the Everglades. She expanded Friends of the Everglades into Broward, Palm Beach, Lee, St. Lucie, Osceola, Hendry, Glades, and Monroe Counties. She believed that the people who pollute the Everglades should clean it up.
In his introduction to her autobiography Voice of the River (1987), John Rothchild describes her appearance in 1973 at a public meeting in Everglades City: "Mrs. Douglas was half the size of her fellow speakers and she wore huge dark glasses, which along with the huge floppy hat made her look like Scarlet O’Hara as played by Igor Stravinsky. When she spoke, everybody stopped slapping [mosquitoes] and more or less came to order. She reminded us all of our responsibility to nature and I don't remember what else. Her voice had the sobering effect of a one-room schoolmarm's. The tone itself seemed to tame the rowdiest of the local stone crabbers, plus the developers, and the lawyers on both sides. I wonder if it didn’t also intimidate the mosquitoes. . . . The request for a Corps of Engineers permit was eventually turned down. This was no surprise to those of us who'd heard her speak.”
PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
Marjory received many awards and tributes for her work. We draw special attention to two. In 1977 she received a Wellesley College Alumnae Achievement Award. And in 1993, at the age of 103, she was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Its citation said, "An extraordinary woman who has devoted her long life to protecting the fragile ecosystem of the Everglades, and to the cause of equal rights for all Americans, Marjory Stoneman Douglas personifies passionate commitment. Her crusade to preserve and restore the Everglades has enhanced our Nation’s respect for our precious environment, reminding all of us of nature’s delicate balance. Grateful Americans honor the 'Grandmother of the Glades' by following her splendid example in safeguarding America’s beauty and splendor for generations to come." Mrs. Douglas donated her Medal of Freedom to Wellesley College.
Awarding Mrs. Douglas the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993, President Clinton recognized her achievements. Upon her death in 1998 at the age of 108, President Clinton said: "Long before there was an Earth Day, Mrs. Douglas was a passionate steward of our nation’s natural resources, and particularly her Florida Everglades."
In recognition of her tireless and successful struggle, the state of Florida named the headquarters of its Department of Natural Resources after her.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas died in 1998 at the age of 108. Her ashes were scattered in the Everglades she worked so tirelessly to preserve. Her memorial and legacy will be our preservation of her dream – for us and our children and our children’s children.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas was posthumously inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame on October 7, 2000.
Originally published in The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature Volume 8, 1997, 55-73. By Rosalie E. Leposky , Ampersand Communications, Miami, Florida
*Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
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