Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Marjory Stoneman Douglas papers
Date(s)
- 1890-1998 (Creation)
Extent
79 Boxes and 1 flat oversized item
Name of creator
Biographical history
Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born April 7, 1890 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was raised in Taunton, Massachussets after the divorce of her parents. Marjory attended the public school in Tauton, and Wellesley College, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where she majored in English composition, graduating in 1912 with an A. B. degree. After her mother's death and the end of her brief marriage, Douglas moved to Miami to work with her father, Frank Stoneman, then the editor of The Miami Herald. Douglas left the Herald in 1923 after many years working on the Galley, a daily column that always included a poem. As an assistant editor on the paper, Douglas also wrote editorials urging protection and development of Florida's unique regional character in the face of rapid commercial development. After leaving the paper, she devoted herself to her literary career, writing of short stories, forty (40) of which were published in the Saturday Evening Post and other magazines between 1923 and 1938, many winning O. Henry and other awards. In 1947, Douglas published "The Everglades: River of Grass", a best-selling guide and natural/political history that not only raised public consciousness regarding the Everglades but also helped to diminish the national misperception of wetlands in general as swamps. Douglas also became a leader of the successful campaign for the establishement of Everglades National Park and in 1969 helped to found the conservation organization, Friends of the Everglades. Marjory Stoneman Douglas died in her home in Coconut Grove, Florida, on May 14, 1998 at the age of 108.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Papers consist primarily of typescripts, correspondence, photographs, diaries, scrapbooks, clippings and other primary source materials documenting the life and career of Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
The collection is open for research.
Physical access
Items from this collection are kept on-campus and may be requested from the first floor Kislak Center in the Otto G. Richter Library at University of Miami. Please contact asc.library@miami.edu to request materials from this collection.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Papers Finding Aid©2003 University of Miami. Requests to reproduce or publish materials from this collection should be directed to asc.library@miami.edu.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, 1987
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Selected materials from this collection have been digitized:
https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/asm0060
Related archival materials
Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. (1973). Adventures in a green world - the story of David Fairchild and Barbour Lathrop. Miami: Field Research Projects. Inscription and autograph by author on flyleaf.
Douglas, Marjory Stoneman. (1975). The Everglades: river of grass. Atlanta: Mockingbird Books. Inscription and autograph by author on front cover verso.
Pardue, L., Freeling, J., Greenfield, L.J., Gannon, P.T. (1982). Who knows the rain? Nature and origin of rainfall in South Florida. Miami: Friends of the Everglades. Inscription and autograph by Marjory Stoneman Douglas on t.p. verso.
James M. Carson Papers, 1887-1950.
Oliver Griswold Papers, 1957-1960.
Augustus Seymour Houghton Collection, 1866-1948.