Gene Stratton-Porter

Gene Stratton-Porter
Born (1863-08-17)August 17, 1863
Lagro, Wabash County, Indiana
Died December 6, 1924(1924-12-06) (aged 61)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Naturalist, Author, Photographer
Nationality American
Period 1900–1920
Genre Natural History
Subject Nature

Gene Stratton-Porter (August 17, 1863 – December 6, 1924) was an American author, early naturalist, nature photographer, and one of the first women to form a movie studio and production company, Gene Stratton-Porter Productions, Inc. She wrote several best-selling novels and well-received columns in national magazines, such as McCall's. Her works were translated into several languages, including Braille, and Stratton-Porter was estimated to have had 50 million readers around the world.[1] She used her position and income as a well-known author to support conservation of Limberlost Swamp and other wetlands in the state of Indiana. Her novel A Girl of the Limberlost was adapted four times as a film, most recently in 1990 in a made-for-TV version.

Early life and education

She was born Geneva Grace Stratton in Wabash County, Indiana near Lagro. She was the twelfth and last child born to Mary and Mark Stratton.[2] Early on, her family shortened her name to Geneve and she later shortened it further to Gene. Stratton-Porter's novel Laddie corresponds in many particulars with her early life, and Gene herself described this as the most auto-biographical novel. For example, the narrative takes place in the first person, with the story being related by the twelfth child of the "Stanton" family. The name of the beloved older brother (title character) "Laddie" is identical with Stratton-Porter's own treasured brother who died in an accident when she was young. As in Stratton-Porter's own family, the novelized Laddie is connected with the land and identifies with their father's vocation.[3] Despite not finishing high school, Gene became an avid reader and lifelong scholar of ecology and wildlife.

One of Gene Stratton-Porter's early nature photographs. Owls were one of her favorite birds to study and photograph.

Adult life

Gene's Cabin at Wildflower Woods, also called Limberlost North, is now the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site. Located on Sylvan Lake in Rome City, Noble County, Indiana.

Stratton married Charles Dorwin Porter in 1886. Of Scots-Irish descent, he was the son of a doctor and became a pharmacist, with stores in Geneva and Fort Wayne, Indiana.[4] They had one daughter, Jeannette, born in 1887.

To be closer to his businesses, the Porters built a large home in Geneva. The Queen Anne-style rustic home, which they named "Limberlost Cabin", was later designated the "Limberlost State Historic Site" in honor of Stratton-Porter.[5] From here, Stratton-Porter spent much time exploring the nearby Limberlost Swamp, where she set two of her most popular novels and many of her works of natural history. She became known as "The Bird Lady" and "The Lady of the Limberlost" to friends and readers.[6]

Development saw the draining of her beloved Limberlost Swamp by a steam-powered dredge between 1888 and 1910. The area was farmland from 1910 to 1992, and it frequently flooded, destroying crops along with the flora and fauna documented in Stratton-Porter's books. In 1992, the marshland was purchased by five foundation and organizations, and restoration began with a new name, the Loblolly Wetlands.[7]

After the Limberlost Swamp was ruined, Gene sought new inspiration. In 1912, she used profits from her best-selling novels to purchase 120 acres on Sylvan Lake in Rome City (Noble County), Indiana. She constructed her beloved "Cabin at Wildflower Woods" which she also called "Limberlost North". Today this home and the surrounding 150 acres are known as "The Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site" and open to the public. In addition to Gene's Cabin, guests can explore the one acre formal garden, hike trails through woods and explore a newly restored 99-acre wetland and prairie (under construction as of 12/1/15).[8] The Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site is supported by the Gene Stratton-Porter Memorial Society, Inc.

Seeking a more temperate climate (both environmentally and socially), Gene began spending winters in Los Angeles, California, around 1919 after battling serious illnesses. Once there, she found that she was dissatisfied with movie studios' translation of her novels and wanted more control. She founded Gene Stratton-Porter Productions, Inc., one of the first female-owned studios and began her own film versions.

With increased business dealings and enjoying the company of many writers, artists, sculptors and musicians, Gene moved to California permanently in 1923. She maintained her home at Rome City although she and husband Charles had long since sold the Limberlost Cabin in Geneva. She owned homes in Los Angeles, built a workshop on Catalina Island and was constructing a mansion in Bel-Air at the time of her death in 1924.

Gene's life and career was ended tragically when a streetcar hit her car while traveling through Los Angeles to visit her brother, Jerome. She was only 61 years old.

Career

In addition to writing works of natural history, Stratton-Porter became a wildlife photographer, specializing in the birds and moths in the Limberlost Swamp, one of the last of the wetlands of the lower Great Lakes Basin. The Limberlost Swamp and Cabin at Wildflower Woods of Northeastern Indiana were the laboratories for her studies and inspiration for her stories, novels, essays, photography, and movies.

There is evidence that Stratton-Porter's first book was The Strike at Shane's which was published anonymously. Her first attributed novel, The Song of the Cardinal, met with great commercial success. Her novels Freckles, A Girl of the Limberlost, and The Harvester are set in the wooded wetlands and swamps of the disappearing central Indiana ecosystems. She knew and loved these, and documented them extensively.[1] Stratton-Porter wrote more than 20 books, both novels and natural history.[5]

Although Stratton-Porter wanted to focus on nature books, it was her romantic novels that gained her fame and revenue. These generated the income that allowed her to pursue her nature studies. She was estimated to have more than 50 million readers, as her novels were translated into several languages, as well as Braille.[1] She was an accomplished author, artist and photographer.

One of Stratton-Porter's last novels, Her Father's Daughter (1921), was set outside Los Angeles. She had moved about 1920 for health reasons and to expand her business ventures into the movie industry. This novel presented a unique window into Stratton-Porter's feelings about World War I-era racism and nativism, especially relating to immigrants of Asian descent. The lead character, Linda Strong, displays an ugly philosophy regarding Japanese immigrants, portraying them as pawns of the Japanese government, sent here to "steal" an American education, even though highly educated in Japan and far too old for the High School she attends. The Japanese are portrayed as copying American inventions, and the Japanese villain Oka Sayye, goes so far as to try to kill a classmate (Donald Whiting) to prevent being bested in the competition for first place. As encouragement to Donald to study harder, Linda describes a terrifying future where the other races, being only capable of imitating the innovations of the white man, will learn all the white man knows by studying harder, and by breeding at a higher rate, will remove the white man from his superior position in the world.

It is important to note that Gene Stratton-Porter incorporated every day occurrences and acquaintances into her works of fiction. Many of her works delve into difficult subject matter that was timely, and her writing reflected sentiments of the day which were not necessarily her own beliefs.

Legacy and honors

Film adaptations of her works

Novels

Nature books

Poetry and essays

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gene Stratton Porter Cabin", Indiana State Museum, accessed 11 Jan 2010
  2. ↑ "Gene Stratton-Porter & her Limberlost swamp", Gene Stratton-Porter Website, accessed 11 Jan 2010
  3. ↑ http://www.bsu.edu/ourlandourlit/literature/authors/portergs.htm#laddie
  4. ↑ Albert D. Hart, Jr., "Our Folk: Porter Family" Genealogical information, Renderplus, accessed 11 Jan 2010
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Authors: Gene Stratton-Porter", Our Land, Our Literature, Ball State University, accessed 11 Jan 2010
  6. ↑ Gaither, Mary E. (1988). Introduction. Laddie, A True Blue Story. By Stratton-Porter, Gene. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. ix. ISBN 9780253331137.
  7. ↑ "Loblolly Marsh Preserve" (PDF). Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site Rome City, Indiana". Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site Rome City, Indiana. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  9. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  10. ↑ BIESEN, ROBIN. "History helps dedicate PUC building of". Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  11. ↑ "Facilities Services, 1950-2002 | Archive Repository". pucarch.purduecal.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  12. ↑ "Indiana Natural Resources Foundation". www.in.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-29.
  13. ↑ "The Indiana Historian" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "Authors: Gene Stratton Porter", Our Land, Our Literature, Ball State University, accessed 11 Jan 2010
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