| Florida women were central agents in the rise of environmentalism in the state during the twentieth century, using their talents, energy, and organizing skills to respond to rising crises in the natural world. From protecting birds to creating the first state park to opposing water and air pollution, women helped set the environmental agenda in Florida, often a reaction to problems created by male-dominated industry, development, and government. This narrative focuses on the public and personal strategies women employed to create civic awareness, political action, and fundamental change in how Floridians viewed their relationship to the landscape as it underwent massive growth and changes.;Their work corresponded with the rising national environmental movement, and, importantly, with dramatic changes in women's roles and rights during the same era. Women used a variety of tactics to operate within the strictures of different decades, expanding their roles and power from grassroots workers operating largely within same-sex clubs and organizations to leading bi-gender campaigns for environmental reform to running governmental bureaucracies. At the beginning of the century, women had no vote---by the end of it they advised presidents and set national policy.;Although they took cues from environmental efforts across the country, Florida's unique biota and natural systems and the unbridled post-World War II development forced the state's women to fashion creative solutions to stop environmental ills and deal with male- and development-dominated political bodies. Citing numerous archival sources and new interviews with activists, this study shows how the interplay of increasing ecological understanding and environmental activism informed and propelled women's agendas to the forefront of public sentiment. In doing so, this dissertation demonstrates many dynamics at work in environmentalism, painting historical developments in a fresh light that contributes to a broader understanding of the history of women, Florida, and the environment. |
