Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Marjory Stoneman Douglas, champion of the Florida Everglades and founder of Florida's environmental movement, passed away on May 14, 1998, at the age of 108. Her lifetime achievements include work as a civil rights activist, a crusader for women's rights, a journalist and playwright, and the first Florida woman in the U.S. Naval Reserves. Her greatest legacy, however, is the profound impact she had on the environment, notably in South Florida. Her book entitled "The Everglades: River of Grass," published in 1947, served to bring public attention to the Everglades at a time when people looked upon the Everglades as little more than a swamp. The book took five years to research, but as she later wrote, it was "an idea that would consume me for the rest of my life." Ms. Douglas was one of America's greatest conservationists and the first editor of Fairchild's magazine. The existence of the Everglades National Park is largely due to her efforts. She also lobbied extensively for the formation of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
This life-size sculpture of Ms. Douglas took over a year to create by sculptor and Fairchild volunteer Freda Tschumy and was unveiled at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Key Biscayne Nation Center in April 2005. Tschumy says that her idea was to "create a teaching device to show that even if you're not big and strong, even if you're not young, if you have devotion to an idea, you can make a wonderful difference in the world."
