Guardians of the Glades: How Women’s Clubs Saved Florida’s River of Grass
- Milly Perez-Crespo
- Aug 17, 2025
- 4 min read
On Friday, August 15th, the GFWC Miami Springs Woman's Club Environmental Committee chaired by Judy Walton, invited members and friends to watch the PBS documentary Women of the Watershed, a film that “focuses on women in the conservation of the Florida Everglades.” We left that evening filled with pride in the extraordinary work our federation did in the past, and pride in the women who continue to fight today to save the River of Grass.
At the dawn of the 20th century, Florida’s Everglades were seen as little more than a swamp to be drained. Developers dreamed of farmland. Politicians promised progress. Canals were cut deep into the marsh, and flocks of wading birds were slaughtered for the feathers that adorned fashionable women's hats. Yes, hats and it was called the Plume Wars. By 1900, millions of birds were killed annually for the feather trade. Clubwomen lobbied for laws that ended plume hunting.
But while men in office halls and boardrooms pressed for conquest, another force began quietly mobilizing in clubhouses across the state: women’s clubs. Without the right to vote, they wielded influence through community activism. And it was their vision, persistence, and fundraising that helped set the stage for the preservation of one of the world’s most unique ecosystems.
Before women had the right to vote, they had the power to save the Everglades
May Mann Jennings: Between Two Legacies
Few figures embody this paradox better than May Mann Jennings.
Her husband, William Sherman Jennings, Florida’s 18th governor (1901–1905), was one of the earliest advocates for draining the Everglades, promoting canals and reclamation projects as symbols of progress.
But May’s story took a different turn. After his governorship, she became one of Florida’s most powerful civic leaders. From 1914 to 1917, she served as president of the Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs (FFWC), and under her leadership, the group transformed into an environmental powerhouse.
Her defining triumph came in 1916, when the FFWC established Royal Palm State Park near Homestead, the first state park in Florida. Women across the state raised money through teas, luncheons, and small donations, proving that conservation could be a grassroots cause. The park later became the heart of Everglades National Park.
As Jennings herself told her fellow clubwomen in 1916:
“We must make the people of Florida realize that it is their duty to save what is left of the Seminole’s hunting ground, the Royal Palm hammock, the paradise of birds and flowers, for future generations.”
Jennings never publicly opposed her husband’s drainage legacy, but her later work marked a profound shift. Her life traced the fault line between two Floridas: one bent on draining the Glades, the other determined to defend them.
A letter written by May Mann Jennings on June 14, 1930, calling upon members of the FFWC to make donations for the upkeep of Royal Palm State Park.
Honoring Jennings Today
Over a century later, May Mann Jennings’ impact continues to be recognized. In 2023, thanks to the advocacy of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Florida, Jennings was posthumously inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. This honor placed her among the state’s most influential women, ensuring her contributions to conservation, civic leadership, and women’s activism will not be forgotten.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas:
The Voice of the Glades
A generation later, Marjory Stoneman Douglas gave the Everglades its anthem. Her 1947 book, The Everglades: River of Grass, reframed the wetlands as a living, breathing ecosystem.
“There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth.”
To spread the word, Douglas toured Florida tirelessly, speaking to women’s clubs all over the state, and yes, she even visited our own Miami Springs Woman’s Club. With humor and conviction, she explained why the Everglades were not a wasteland but a wonder.
She found eager listeners. Many of the women in her audience had already spent decades protecting Royal Palm State Park or raising funds for conservation causes. Douglas gave them language and science to match their instincts, and together they built the cultural momentum that helped establish Everglades National Park in 1947.
“Perhaps even in this last hour, in a new relation of usefulness and beauty, the vast, magnificent, subtle and unique region of the Everglades may not be utterly lost.”— Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Douglas lived to be 108, most of those years spent in her Tudor-style cottage in Coconut Grove, which she built in 1924 and shared with her beloved cats. Her ashes were scattered over the 1.3-million-acre Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness Area in Everglades National Park, a fitting resting place for the woman who gave the River of Grass its enduring name. Today, her home and property are owned by the State of Florida and, since 2007, have been maintained by the Florida Park Service as a lasting memorial to the “woman who saved the Everglades.” It is closed to the public.
Douglas’ activism didn’t end with her book or speeches. In 1969, at age 79, she founded Friends of the Everglades, an organization dedicated to her mission of protecting and conserving the wetlands. Today, her legacy lives on through its ongoing work under the leadership of Executive Director Eve Samples.
Today, the Everglades face new threats, climate change, invasive species, water mismanagement, but the lesson endures: civic action matters.
As Betty Osceola, member of the Panther Clan and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, reminds us:
“The Everglades is a skeleton of its former self. I want to help heal the Everglades...”
Her words echo the legacy of May Mann Jennings, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and the generations of women who came before.
“The River of Grass still flows, in no small part because women refused to let it disappear.”
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Great article and post, thank you, Millie. Can you imagine having Marjorie Stoneman Douglas in person as a guest speaker back in the day !!! Hoo Rah ... 🥰