Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Marjory Stoneman Douglas (April 7, 1890 – May 14, 1998) was an American journalist, writer, feminist, and environmentalist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades against efforts to drain it and reclaim land for development. Moving to Miami as a young woman to work for The Miami Herald, Douglas became a freelance writer, producing over a hundred short stories that were published in popular magazines. Her most influential work was the book The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river. South Miami's SW 72nd street, aka Sunset Drive was also named Marjory Stoneman Douglas Drive in her honor.

Douglas lived until age 108, working until nearly the end of her life for Everglades restoration. In the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, a statue of her is found sitting here. If you could come close to her bench, you would see that she was a very petite woman and her statue is holding her famous book "The Everglades: River of Grass."