Marjory Stoneman Douglas was an American journalist, author, women’s suffrage advocate, and conservationist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development.
As a young woman, Douglas was outspoken and politically conscious of the women’s suffrage and civil rights movements.
Marjorie moves to Miami in 1915 when it was still a wild frontier to work for The Miami Herald. She became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines.
She passionately opposed the governor of Florida, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, and his attempts to drain the Everglades. She promoted responsible urban planning when Miami saw a population boom of 100,000 people in a decade. She wrote supporting women’s suffrage, civil rights, and better sanitation while opposing Prohibition and foreign trade tariffs.
Her most influential work was “The Everglades: River of Grass” published in 1947, which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp. She spent five years researching what little was known about the ecology and history of the Everglades and South Florida.
The book’s first line, “There are no other Everglades in the world,” is widely considered the most famous passage ever written about the Everglades, and the line welcomes visitors to the Everglades National Park website.
Marjorie characterized the Everglades as an ecosystem surrounding a river worthy of protection, inescapably connected to South Florida’s people and cultures. She also forewarned its imminent disappearance in the last chapter, “The Eleventh Hour.” Douglas lived to 108, working until nearly the end of her life for Everglades restoration. Her tireless efforts earned her the nickname “Grande Dame of the Everglades.”
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